OLYMPIC GAMES

December 1 - The British Olympic Association (BOA) have announced that it will deliver the Team GB Ambition Programme at the London 2012 Games with the help of Prince William, Kate Middleton and Prince Harry after they were today unveiled as Official Ambassadors for Team GB and Paralympics GB at London 2012.

The programme itself will focus on athletes and coaches who aspire to represent Team GB at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games and the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Athletes and coaches from all 35 sports on the Olympic Programme for Sochi and Rio will be eligible for the Team GB Ambition Programme with participants to be nominated by their respective National Governing Bodies.

Approximately 200 athletes and coaches will be selected to take part in the programme, which will be directed by Sarah Winckless, the BOA Athletes' Commission chair and Athens 2004 Olympic bronze medallist in rowing.

Oversight for the programme will be provided by the BOA director of sport Sir Clive Woodward, with further support from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

"Athletes and coaches who have succeeded in the Olympic Games often reflect upon the importance of being aware of the complexities and pressures of the Games environment, and having confidence in knowing how to deal with those challenges," said BOA chief executive Andy Hunt.

"That's what this programme is all about: supporting British athletes and coaches at the highest level of international sport by providing an invaluable introduction to the Olympic environment.

"We are particularly pleased to draw upon the experience and inspiration of Sarah Winckless and our Team GB Ambassadors, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry."

The Team GB Ambition Programme aims to provide practical insight into the unique aspects of the Olympics, to inspire young athletes and their coaches to continue pursuing their ambitions, to develop greater awareness and understanding of the Olympic Values and to foster communication and a commitment amongst participants.

Programme participants will begin their journey with a two-day stay at the Team GB Prep Camp at Loughborough University, where they will take part in a Team GB orientation session, Olympic education programmes and their own version of 'kitting out'.

From there, the participants will travel to London for three days of hands-on experience in the Olympic Games environment, including two sessions of sport competition (including, where possible, their own sport), a behind-the-scenes tour of Team GB House, and inspirational presentations from Team GB Ambassadors.

The participants will be housed at Queen Mary University (pictured), where most members of the Team GB support staff for London 2012 will reside.

The final element of the programme will be a one-day workshop following the Olympic Games, during which participants will reflect upon and share their experiences, and develop strategies to share the knowledge and understanding gained with others in their sport.

"The Olympic Games environment is unlike anything else in sport," said Winckless.

"The Team GB Ambition Programme is instrumental in providing aspiring Olympians with the understanding and confidence they need to navigate the Olympic environment and ultimately, succeed on the field of play."

The Team GB Ambition Programme was introduced in conjunction with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and proved to be highly successful.

The inaugural programme included 152 athletes and coaches across every sport on the Summer Games programme.

Among the aspiring Olympians who participated in the 2008 programme and are now vying for positions on Team GB for London 2012 are triathlete Jonathan Brownlee, middle distance runner Hannah England, table tennis player Paul Drinkhall, gymnast Sam Oldham and weightlifter Zoe Smith.

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

All but two of the 25 records broken in swimming events at the Beijing Olympics were broken wearing the Speedo LZR Racer.

Now London 2012 promises to be just as challenging for timekeepers, as Speedo's new Fastskin3 swimwear system claims it will make sportsmen and women even faster.

The company's full body high-tech suits were banned in 2009 - due to technological doping. So they have designed a new system which covers less of the body but incorporates a cap, goggles and a suit.

The components all work together to streamline a swimmer's body.

Speedo claims that swimmers will gain an extra 11 per cent in oxygen economy by wearing the system - allowing them to swim stronger for longer.

It also reduces skin friction drag by 2.7 per cent and full body drag force by 5.7 per cent.

Dr Tom Waller, head of Speedo’s Aqualab development laboratory, said that although the three components would not work better than alternatives on the market when used individually, when used together they will make swimmers go faster.

'We hope this will result in new records being broken,' Dr Waller told The Telegraph.

'We believe we’ve created the opportunity for athletes to really reach their maximum potential.

'Every athlete is different and it’s impossible to predict but we believe we’ve taken a step on in terms of being able to shape their body, and give them that confidence and stability in the water.'

Making three components that work in unison is a new approach for racing swimwear and has already attracted the attention of the professionals including 16-time Olympic medallist Michael Phelps.

'We anticipate Phelps will wear the full system and we’re really excited about what he’s going to be able to achieve wearing it,' Dr Waller said.

British swimmers including Rebecca Adlington and Liam Tancock have also been working with Speedo for three years to help refine the system.

CGI 3D technology was used to produce a cap that exactly fits the contours of the head and face.

The flat, cat's-eye shaped goggles are the most visibly innovative part of the Fastskin3 system though, their shape minimises the chance of goggle movement during a race.

Fastskin3 already has one celebrity fan: 'It makes me feel completely at one with the water,' said Phelps.

'I feel confident, I feel comfortable and I feel good knowing I am wearing the fastest elements.'

Ben Titley, who coached the GB women’s team in Beijing, thinks the system is unlikely to have the same impact as the LZR Racer on times, but that those who wear it will be at an advantage.

He told The Telegraph: 'From a performance point of view athletes wearing the system at London 2012 are going to be in the best placed position to take advantage of the technical advances made in the last year.

'If someone doesn’t want to wear the system it’s their choice. All Speedo have done is designed something that I believe is the best on the market.

'Beijing was a quantum step forward. The LZR Racer was probably the most iconic image of the Games and a lot of hype was made of it. But with the current regulations there are limits to what can be done.'

The LZR Racer was worn by 89 per cent of the swimming medal winners in Beijing, including 94 per cent of the gold medals.

The winner of every men's event wore the suit and 23 out of the 25 world records broken, were achieved by swimmers competing in the LZR suit.

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, 43 more records were broken as other manufacturers caught up with Speedo's technology - but this eventually led to full body suits being banned.

When he LZR Racer was launched in 2008, three world records were broken within a week.

The Fastskin3 goes on sale today - and Fina, the International Swimming Federation, has approved the system which can be used in meets from January 1.

But we will have to wait until the Australian and British Olympic trials in March to see if Speedo again leaves its rivals in its wake

By Lauren Paxman

Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

November 29 - Tessa Jowell (pictured), the Shadow Olympics Minister, said she is deeply concerned and sceptical over what the school sports legacy from the London 2012 Games will be due to the fact that the new coalition Government altered the plans for school sport when they came to office last year.

Jowell served as Culture Secretary for six years in the last Labour Government and is widely credited with getting the support of her Government and then Prime Minister Tony Blair for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic bid at a time when there was little backing for the idea.

Jowell then played a major role in helping the London 2012 bid secure an unlikely victory in Singapore in 2005 before setting up a strong support scheme to get school children participating in more sport because of the Games.

But Jowell now fears that the school sport legacy plans promised back in 2005 could be ruined due to the fact that the current Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and Sports Minister Hugh Robertson have a far different approach to school sport.

The duo have been instrumental in setting up the new School Games, which builds on the success of the previous Government's UK School Games, but Jowell says that this event alone will not be enough.

"I really do commend Hugh Robertson and Jeremy Hunt for the cross-party support that they have created on the Olympics and I sit on the Olympic Board with both of them so I'm still heavily involved in the Government decision making process around London 2012," said Jowell here in central London.

"We disagree only one thing and that is school sport.

"I am a huge supporter of the School Games which build on the UK School Games our Government set up.

"I am however sceptical that the School Games, on its own, will be enough for school children who operate outside that event.

"I'm just deeply concerned because not all school children will get the opportunity to compete in the School Games and there is no real sports participation plan for them.

"We promised in Singapore to provide a real legacy for young people from the London 2012 Games and we were certainly delivering that under our Government.

"Had we kept our scheme intact, the figures show that 90 per cent of children would have participated in two hours of sport in school per week by London 2012 and that 70 per cent would have participated in five hours or more of sport in school per week by the Games.

"But the drop off rate in the last year since the new Government broke up our system has been alarming."

The new Government's strategy to school sport was heavily criticised when in last year's Comprehensive Spending Review, Education Secretary Michael Gove (pictured) announced that the entire £162 million ($260 million/€190 million) funding for the School Sports Partnerships would be axed.

The decision was met by a huge wave of protests from teachers, pupils and Olympic athletes, like teenage diver Tom Daley, who forced the Government to partially backtrack on the decision.

The Department for Education (DfE) therefore agreed to pay the School Sports Partnerships to the end of the last academic year at a cost of £47 million ($73 million/€55 million), while £65 million ($101 million/€76 million) from the DfE's spending review settlement has been allocated to allow every school in England to release a PE teacher for one day a week for the following two academic years.

But Jowell says that this is not enough.

"We can see that at this rate, with the current scheme in place, the problem is not going any better," she said.

"But my key point is that there is still time to solve this problem.

"It is not too late to go back to the old system and stop all the redundancies of those passionate people who go into schools to help with sport.

"At the moment, I just think that is a crying shame that the rug is being pulled from under the feet of a great system that really was showing fantastic results in terms of school children participating in sport.

"If there is a significant fall between 2010 and 2014 in terms of school sport participation, we would have missed a major, major opportunity.

"The jury is obviously still out on that one but things don't look good right now unless we start making changes and start making them quickly."

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

Indian athletes are threatening to boycott next summer's London Olympics in an extraordinary stand-off with the head of the 2012 Games, Lord Coe, over his controversial sponsorship deal with a chemical company.

Lord Coe is under personal attack for signing the deal with Dow Chemical – under fire in India for its ownership of Union Carbide, whose Indian subsidiary was responsible for the Bhopal industrial disaster, one of the world's worst, estimated to have killed up to 25,000 people and injured over half a million.

The former Olympics minister Tessa Jowell, who worked closely with Lord Coe to win the Olympics for London, last night called on the former British Olympian to cancel the deal with Dow before the controversy irreparably damages the standing of the 2012 Games. Ms Jowell told The Independent: "There is a point at which you have to say you cannot take the reputational risk."

Lord Coe has one week to talk the Indian Olympic Association out of a boycott: on 5 December athletes and sports bosses in the world's second-most populous country will meet to vote on walking out of the London Games. Both the British and Indian governments will be asked to intervene to stave off the boycott as international outrage from politicians, athletes and human-rights groups mounts. A boycott by India, which does not boast a history of great Olympic success but has significant business and cultural links to the UK, would be a major embarrassment for Britain.

Dow is a core sponsor of the International Olympic Committee – a $1bn (£647m) deal that Lord Coe can do nothing about. But it is the London Games' recent awarding of a much smaller £7m sponsorship deal to Dow, allowing it to "wrap" the stadium in company fabric – and giving the chemical giant a global media profile next summer – that has outraged some athletes and politicians in India.

The chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, the state of which Bhopal is the capital, has demanded the Indian government support an athletes' boycott if the Dow deal continues. Shivraj Singh Chauhan said: "The funds intended for sponsoring the Olympics would be far better spent in alleviating the misery suffered by the people of Bhopal." He intends to take up the boycott with Sonia Gandhi, president of India's ruling Congress Party, while Ms Jowell travels to Delhi this week to seek views from ministers and athletes.

The 1984 gas disaster dogs Dow through its full ownership of Union Carbide Corporation, whose subsidiary Union Carbide India ran the Bhopal pesticide plant. Dow bought Union Carbide in 2001 and insists that the legal claims surrounding the incident were resolved long before it acquired the company – which the London 2012 organising committee accepts. Dow claims the $470m paid by Union Carbide in 1991 to the disaster victims was final, although this is being contested in the Indian Supreme Court.

Dow and Union Carbide are defendants in an Indian public-interest litigation case for clean-up of the factory site which campaign groups say continues to cause deformities and cancers among families using contaminated groundwater.

Other criticisms of Dow have included anger over its manufacture of the defoliant Agent Orange, used by the US in Vietnam. In 2010 India's government blacklisted Dow AgroSciences India for five years for bribing government officials. Dow AgroSciences is a wholly owned Dow subsidiary. In 2007 the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Dow AgroSciences India Pvt Ltd of making "improper payments" between 1996 and 2001. Dow paid a civil penalty of $325,000 in 2007 without admitting or denying the allegations. Ms Jowell said: "I believe Sebastian Coe and Locog [the organising committee] want to do the right thing. It is not in their interest to have an association with a company with a record that is inconsistent with Olympic values.

"The unacceptability of Dow hinges on the continuing nature of the crisis for people who live in that area. It is better to have an unwrapped stadium than one wrapped in controversy."

The pressure from inside India is mounting. Aslam Sher Khan, an Olympic gold medal winner who became a politician, said the ongoing suffering in Bhopal made Dow's involvement in London "very concerning". He said: "The anniversary is coming up and the people of Bhopal are still shaken by what happened and the ongoing contamination. I am writing to Sonia Gandhi to put pressure on the British Government to rethink its association with this company."

Nobody from Locog was available for an interview but a spokesman said: "We have had absolutely no indication from the Indian National Olympic Committee that there are any plans or discussions to boycott London 2012".

Lord Coe has said: "I have looked at it very closely and I am satisfied that the ownership, operation and the involvement either at the time of the disaster or at the final settlement was not the responsibility of Dow."

Scot Wheeler, of Dow, said last night: "While it is understandable that human emotions evoked by the tragedy remain, allowing a misrepresentation of facts and to rewrite history – as some are trying to do – is not only wrong but sends an unfortunate and inaccurate message that obscures rather than clarifies the Bhopal tragedy.

"These attempts to misdirect responsibility do not change the fact that Dow has never had a connection with the disaster or its aftermath."

By Nina Lakhani

Source: www.independent.co.uk