OLYMPIC GAMES

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, has hailed the "legacy blueprint" laid down by the London Games before Wednesday's meeting with the prime minister, David Cameron, and its final inspection visit.
It was the legacy promises made by the London 2012 chairman, Lord Coe, in Singapore in 2005 that helped secure the Games, with the IOC particularly concerned to engage with a new generation.
In order to create continued competition among potential host cities, the IOC also recognises the need to prove that investing in an Olympics can be a driver of regeneration and leave a lasting legacy. Rogge said that London had delivered on its promises and created a new blueprint for future hosts.
"London has raised the bar on how to deliver a lasting legacy. We can already see tangible results in the remarkable regeneration of east London. This great historical city has created a legacy blueprint for future Games hosts," said Rogge.
Cameron said the opportunity to deliver on the myriad legacy promises made on behalf of the Games was the government's biggest challenge and the greatest opportunity.
"Legacy has been built into the DNA of London 2012. But by definition, of course, the true legacy of London 2012 lies in the future," he said. "Though much has been done, I am acutely aware that the drive to embed and secure the benefits of London 2012 is still to come. That is our biggest challenge. It's also our greatest opportunity."
The focus on legacy is part of a government drive to reframe the debate and highlight the benefits as justification for investing £9.3bn of public money in them at a time of austerity.
The government has been stung by criticism over areas of the promised legacy, most obviously in sports participation where a target introduced by Labour to use the Games to inspire one million more people to play more sport had to be dropped amid negligible progress, and will today publish a new 80-page document called Beyond 2012 as part of an attempt to redress the balance.
Cameron and the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, are expected to highlight the progress made in securing a lasting legacy for six of the eight permanent Olympic venues, despite the ongoing debate over the future of the iconic stadium.
Another recurring theme is the extent to which the Olympics have proved a boon to British business and acted as a calling card for the UK economy, as well as driving the regeneration of east London.
There has also been criticism of the decision to slash the dedicated school sport budget by more than half only 18 months before the Olympics.
But Hunt and the sports minister, Hugh Robertson, will counter it by pointing to the new School Games scheme backed by Sainsbury's – a network of inter and intra school sports competitions culminating in finals in the Olympic Park – and a reworked plan to encourage more grass-roots youth sport.
The IOC's co-ordination commission delegation, led by its chair, Denis Oswald, will start its final two-day inspection visit following the meeting at Downing Street, which will also be attended by Lord Coe.
It is the last of 10 visits to monitor London's progress that began in 2006 and, like those that preceded it, will largely consist of a series of in-depth updates on various aspects of the London 2012 preparation.
As well as the latest "Get Ahead of the Games" transport campaign to try to prepare businesses and the public for potential bottlenecks during the Games, the IOC will also be updated on the plans for the last phase of the sometimes controversial ticketing process.

-Owen Gibson

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Women beach volleyball players can now opt for more modest playing attire rather than have to sport a bikini, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) has confirmed.

The ruling means that players from countries with cultures and traditions requiring women to dress 'modestly' are able to do so – with shorts, long-sleeved tops and headgear all options.

Shorts, however, must be worn at least an inch above the knee during competition.

"Some countries for religious and cultural reasons required more flexibility," FIVB spokesman Richard Baker said.

"This option has now been implemented for all FIVB tournaments...the decision just gives them (the athletes) a greater choice."

Baker said the African federation had requested the change, and the new rule has been in place for five tournaments so far.

Confirmation that it will also apply to the London 2012 Olympic Games is good news for players from countries such as Morocco, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Algeria, all in contention for medals this summer should they come through their regional qualifiers.

Bikinis have been synonymous with beach volleyball since the sport made its Olympic debut at Atlanta in 1996.

The issue has become more pressing in the build-up to London 2012 as continental qualifying competitions have assumed a greater role in determining which nations make it to the Olympics.

Similar changes are being planned in football in which, following a campaign, a ban on women wearing headscarves is set to be lifted, pending healthy and safety checks.

Not everyone will be ditching the traditional uniform this summer, however.

One is Australia's Natalie Cook (pictured below), who insisted it was more practical than other types of kit to wear.

''The announcement was actually a shock," she told the Brisbane Times.

"The beach volleyball world has been in bikinis for 20 years.

''Some of the Muslim communities, such as Iran and India, have probably shied away from playing beach volleyball because of the uniform... you can now wear something that covers your shoulders and stomach like a singlet or T-shirt.

''But I think [the bikini] looks much better for our sport and it's much more functional, diving around the sand, to be in a bikini."

Cook played in the very first Olympic beach volleyball tournament in Atlanta 16 years ago, winning a bronze.

But the peak of her career came four years later in Sydney when she claimed gold.

Cook remains a "traditionalist".

"So," she added, "you will see me in a bikini in London.''

The beach volleyball tournament at London 2012 will run from July 28 to August 12 and takes place at Horse Guards Parade in central London.

-David Gold

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

March 28 - Less than a week after unveiling the team kit to be worn by British athletes at London 2012, adidas today revealed the uniforms that they have produced for Australia at the Olympics.

Sally Pearson, the world 100 metres hurdles champion, who is Australia's best hope for a gold medal in London, described the fluorescent colour kit, mixed with green and gold, along with ruched tracksuits and hidden kangaroo prints, as being so light that it made her feel naked.

"There's not much of it," she said.

"It's like a little bikini.

"In a way, it still feels like your skin, so it's kind of like you are naked."

Pearson's gold top and green shorts are among 80,000 items of apparel and footwear being supplied by adidas for almost 800 Australian athletes and officials in London.

The Opening Ceremony outfits will not be unveiled until May, but the competition, training and leisure suits were modelled in Sydney today by an array of Olympic stars including Pearson, world long jump silver medallist Mitch Watt, top distance runner Craig Mottram, swimmers Jess Schipper, Cate and Bronte Campbell, and beach volleyball veteran Natalie Cook, who won a gold medal at Sydney 2000.

The emphasis is on lightness, which adidas says will make the Australian athletes faster than ever.

Sport-specific compression suits for events such as boxing, athletics, rowing and weightlifting are designed to mirror muscle movement, which adidas says will generate a "slingshot" effect for explosive power and acceleration.

Athletes will also stay cooler, adidas says, thanks to ventilation zones, moisture management fabrics and conductive fibres that draw heat away from the body.

"The fabric is lightweight, so that's most important," said Pearson.

"You don't want to be carrying the weight around you when you're competing.

"It's really comfortable."

She described her shoes, which weigh under 200 grams, as "absolutely fantastic".

Pearson was supported by Watt, a contender for the gold medal in London having finished third and second at the last two World Championships.

"There's nothing better than going out there and feeling comfortable in your uniform," he said.

"It's part of the success.

"My spikes are so light I felt I was jumping further right from the start."

But inevitably, just as there was with the Stella McCartney-designed Team GB uniforms, there was some criticism of the designs.

Vogue editor Kirstie Clements said the Australian uniform, including the track modelled by canoe slalom paddler Kynan Maley (pictured), who has qualified for London 2012, was too busy.

"I think green and gold is tricky to start with," she said.

"It looks like regular trackwear, and it's very busy trackwear - there's ruching and edging and colours everywhere.

"It's a bit of a mash-up.

"I don't mind the bright fluoro, it's just that there's too much going on with the fluoro touches.

"I think a bit more of a streamlined style wouldn't have gone astray."

Some were even more brutal in their assessment.

"The Australian team could be headed to a 1990s Manchester rave rather than swinging London, with green hoods on gold jackets, voluminous tracksuit pants and clashing strips of neon," wrote Damien Woolnough, the fashion editor of The Australian.

Nick Green, Australia's Chef de Mission for London 2012, nevertheless claimed that the outfits could be the difference between success and failure.

"The AOC and adidas have enjoyed a great association over the years," said Green, a former rower who won Olympic gold medals in the coxless at Barcelona in 1992 and Atlanta 1996.

"Our athletes will not only look the part in adidas they will also feel confident knowing they are wearing uniforms created using the latest technology available around the globe."

-Duncan Mackay

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

• British Olympic Association insists it has 'strong case'
• Verdict could open London 2012 door to Dwain Chambers

The British Olympic Association will appear before the court of arbitration for sport on Monday in an attempt to uphold its lifetime doping ban, insisting it has a "strong case" despite most sports lawyers expecting it to lose.
If the Cas panel in London fails to uphold the BOA's appeal against the World Anti-Doping Agency's decision to find the ban noncompliant with its universal code, it will open the door for the sprinter Dwain Chambers and the cyclist David Millar to be picked for London 2012.
Opponents of the lifetime ban have long argued that it offers no opportunity of redemption for repentant drug cheats and is counterproductive because it punishes those who admit they took drugs and inform on others.
Chambers, who won a bronze medal in the 60m sprint at the world indoor championships in Istanbul at the weekend, said after the race that it would be "fantastic" if he became eligible for the London Games.
"I am living proof that you can make mistakes and get yourself back on the straight and narrow, and my being able to compete at this top level is living proof that it can be done. It is my opportunity to give back to the youth," he said.
The case has become a volatile mixture of dry legal argument and intense emotion, with much riding on the outcome. Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman, said Chambers should not be allowed to compete in the Olympics.
"For me this is not anti-Dwain Chambers … I do believe this is actually about the autonomy of sporting organisations to make judgments and bylaws that they think are in the best interest of their sports," Coe told reporters in Istanbul.
"I have a problem if individual sports, individual organisations are not able to set those parameters because I think it is really important they are responding to what they think is the right [thing]. I do think an NOC [national Olympic committee], ie the BOA, must have the right to agree that sanction if they think it is in the common interest of the sport," the twice Olympic 1500m champion added.
Current and former athletes have weighed in, with Chambers's agent Siza Agha this week accusing Daley Thompson of talking "utter garbage" in a newspaper column in which he backed the BOA's lifetime ban and criticised Wada.
"I have the greatest respect for Daley as an athlete, but I do think that they need to be more sophisticated before they start levelling criticism at the very people who are charged with the responsibility of trying to police it," he said.
Both Chambers and Millar, the latter banned in 2004 for two years after admitting to EPO use and subsequently an eloquent anti-doping campaigner, are expected to be selected for the Olympics if Wada's decision is upheld.
Wada is adamant that it was right to find the BOA noncompliant with its code, because the victory of the US Olympic Committee and the Olympic 400m champion LaShawn Merritt over the International Olympic Committee in a case before the Cas last year changed the game.
Its lawyers are convinced that the "double jeopardy" argument that overturned the IOC's "Osaka rule", which banned any athlete with a suspension of more than six months from the Olympics that followed, is directly analogous to the BOA life ban bylaw. It believes the universality that underpins its code is at risk.
The BOA, though, argues that its rule simply underpins its autonomy to select its own team. The BOA chairman, Lord Moynihan, will argue that the rule retains the support of the vast majority of athletes and that, crucially, its bylaw has an appeal mechanism that the IOC's lacked.
However, the support of athletes for the lifetime ban appears to have become more nuanced. Whereas the BOA's own polls previously put the number in support at more than nine in 10, a recent ITV survey found the figure was more like 70%.
"We believe we have a strong case and we appreciate the opportunity to appear before the panel and explain why fundamentally this is about the autonomy of every national Olympic committee to enforce their eligibility criteria," said a BOA spokesman.
Shortly before announcing it would take the case to Cas, Moynihan launched a typically impassioned attack on Wada, claiming it was "toothless" and failing in its anti-doping mission. That provoked an equally furious response from Wada, with the chairman, John Fahey, labelling Moynihan "misinformed and inaccurate".
Most sports lawyers expect Wada to win, but say it is not a foregone conclusion, putting the odds at around 70-30 in its favour. The BOA asked for the same Cas panel that heard the Merritt case to preside over its hearing in the belief they would better understand the nuances of their case.
Unusually, the case is being heard in London rather than Lausanne. The BOA will be represented by two QCs, David Pannick and Adam Lewis, together with Tom Cassels of Baker & McKenzie. Pannick and Lewis are understood to have waived a substantial percentage of their usual fee to take the case.
Whatever the verdict when it is announced in around four weeks' time, the argument will not end here. Wada's code is going through its quadrennial review process and the IOC and the BOA will argue for stronger sanctions for those caught doping.

By Owen Gibson and Andy Bull in Istanbul

Source: www.guardian.co.uk