OLYMPIC GAMES

January 11 - The British Olympic Association's (BOA) two leading officials remain staunchly adamant about winning the fight to maintain their blanket Olympic ban on drugs cheats.

March 12 has been set as the date at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for the BOA to defend its controversial anti-doping bylaw which, if it is overturned, would see the likes of Dwain Chambers and David Millar being allowed to compete at the London 2012 Games.

The BOA filed a formal appeal last month with the CAS to challenge the decision in November by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which declared its controversial anti-doping bylaw non-compliant.

Speaking publicly for the first time since the hearing date was set, BOA chairman Colin Moynihan (pictured) admitted the dispute was an unfortunate distraction but reiterated that the BOA were fiercely committed to its anti-doping principles.

"It's a widely debated issue nationally and internationally because the importance of it is central to sport," Moynihan told insidethegames.

"It's about the right of a national sports body to select athletes and ensure those who are selected are clean.

"Our selection policy has stood the test of time."

Moynihan argued WADA itself needed to put its house in order.

"If you look at other National Olympic Committees, under 50 are fully compliant with the processes and procedures written down by the WADA code," he said.

"It is not the case that 203 out of 204 are fully compliant."

The BOA, Moynihan revealed, would not be content just with winning the high-profile case in March.

"The second challenge is to see far reaching and fundamental reforms of WADA in the context of the current review of the WADA code which will be finally implemented in January 2015," he said.

"We want to play a key and central role in arguing for far reaching changes across the board – including the testing procedures.

"We believe there should be a total review of the policy whereby many athletes in the world who are clean currently feel they are guilty because of the procedures imposed upon them by WADA and have to prove themselves innocent.

"That's got to change."

If the BOA loses its case at the CAS, it will leave the way clear for Chambers, the world indoor 60 metres champion, and cyclist Millar, the 2010 world time trial silver medallist, to compete at London 2012.

The BOA bylaw pre-dates the WADA code and Moynihan was supported by BOA chief executive and Team GB Chef de Mission Andy Hunt (pictured).

"Someone has to take the lead for what is right," Hunt told insidethegames.

"We are passionate about clean sports and sometimes someone has to stand up and be counted over issues like this.

"We are on track to defend the right of a national committee to select athletes on the basis on which it chooses."

By Andrew Warshaw

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

The organisers of the London 2012 Olympics marked Monday’s 200-day countdown to the start of the Games by confirming legacy plans for three of the event’s key competition venues.

Construction giant Balfour Beatty PLC has secured the contract to run the Olympic Park, which includes the 115-metre high AccelorMittal Orbit feature, following the Games in a 10-year deal worth a reported £50 million. Meanwhile the Aquatics Centre and multi-use Handball Arena will be operated by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL). The new contracts are expected to create at least 254 jobs on the Park, which will host showcase events such as athletics, track cycling and swimming when the Games commence on July 27.

By combining two venues in one contract, the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) has ensured that the Aquatics Centre will not require any additional public subsidy as the Arena will cross subsidise it. Further revenue will be generated from naming rights for both venues, which will be on offer at a later date. The agreements mean that only anchor tenants remain to be found for the Olympic Stadium and Press and Broadcast Centre, with organisers claiming their progress puts them ahead of any other Olympic host city at a comparative stage.

“GLL and Balfour Beatty WorkPlace will play a key part in the creating a Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park that is a thriving visitor destination with world-class sporting venues that are both affordable and accessible to the public,” said Baroness Margaret Ford, chair of the OPLC. “Today’s appointments are just another example of how London’s legacy plans are further ahead than any previous host Olympic City. By working closely with sporting bodies and our local communities now, we can ensure that these venues will have a full and compelling programme of activities for when they reopen after the Games.”

As part of the 200-day countdown, London 2012 also released details of new Games-time naming for selected venues and spectator areas in the Olympic Park. The Hockey Centre will now be known as the Riverbank Arena reflecting the venue’s location next to the River Lea in the Olympic Park. Meanwhile, the Handball Arena will be renamed as the Copper Box with a view to the venue’s boxed-shape and distinct copper cladding.

Monday also saw UK Prime Minister David Cameron hold his first cabinet meeting of the New Year at the Olympic Park, instead of at Downing Street. The British government will stage a number of business summits during the Games which it hopes will raise an additional £1 billion of revenue for British companies. “I want the message to go out loud and clear, from tourism to business, sport to investment, we are determined to maximise the benefits of 2012 for the whole country,” said Cameron. “Today, as we mark 200 days to go, and six out of the eight Olympic venues having already secured their future, we are well on track to delivering a lasting legacy for the whole of Britain.”

By Matt Cutler

Source: www.sportbusiness.com

January 10 - Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt (pictured) has spoken of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) plans to encourage participation in sports up to and beyond this year's Olympics and Paralympics after the proposed new UK School Games received a massive injection of cash.

Alongside a panel featuring the Sport and Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson, chair of UK Sport Baroness Sue Campbell and the chief executive of Sport England, Jennie Price, Hunt admitted that their intention was to build upon the promise Sebastian Coe made following London 2012's Olympic bid triumph in 2005 when he spoke of inspiring a new generation to participate in sport.

The chances of that sporting legacy coming to fruition was given a huge boost today when Sainsbury's pledged a £10 million ($15.5 million/€18.2 million) package to support the new School Games competition over the next four years.

A further £14 million ($22 million/€17 million) from the Department of Health plus a further £8 million ($12.4 million/€9.7 million) from Sport England will extend funding for School Games organisers from two years to four years, up to 2015.

And sponsorship from adidas means that the 1,600 young athletes who take part in the first event scheduled to take place between May 6 and 9, with the final day's events being held in the Olympic Park, will be provided with sports kit.

Hunt is sure that London hosting this year's Olympics and Paralympics will provide fertile breeding ground for Britain to produce its next batch of champions.

After revealing he used to work in his local Sainsbury's, Hunt said: "Seb spoke to me about sitting cross legged in a hall at school, watching the 1968 Olympics, 'and by the time I was back in that classroom', he said, 'I knew what I wanted to be'.

"In 1984, he became the first person ever to win Olympic gold in the 1500 metres twice in a row – an historic moment for British sport.

"Just as historic was what was happening at home at that moment, when a 14-year-old Kelly Holmes watched Seb's win on TV and decided she wanted to be a 1500m Olympic champion.

"And when she won double gold in Athens in 2004, it was 14-year-old Stacey Smith who decided that she wanted to follow in Kelly's footsteps.

"Even now she says she still watches the video of Kelly's wins for inspiration."

Among those athletes who attended today's launch was former badminton player Gail Emms (pictured below right), who won an Olympic silver medal at Athens in 2004, and Andrew Lapthorne (below left), a quad tennis player who, with Peter Norfolk, is ranked number one in doubles and one of Britain's leading hopes for a medal in the Paralympics later this year.

Hunt said: "The Olympic inspiration is not just for future champions.

"For every Seb, Kelly or Stacey, there are thousands more young people who can be inspired into sport for the sheer pleasure of taking part.

"When we talk about the once in a generation opportunity of hosting a Games at home, this is what we mean: a priceless chance to catch young people at the crucial moment and set them on the path to sport, for life.

"This is what Seb recognised when we promised we would use the Games to inspire a generation.

"As we enter our Olympic year, this is the moment that we need to make good on that promise, and secure the sporting legacy of 2012."

By Declan Warrington

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

January 9 - Australian Olympic cycling duo Patrick Jonker (pictured) and Stuart O'Grady have backed the British Olympic Association (BOA) lifetime ban for drug cheats, such as 2010 world time trial silver medallist David Millar, and believe that the same ruling should apply in their country.

The BOA are now the only National Olympic Committee to have the ruling in place but it could soon be forced remove it after it was declared "non-compliant" with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code.

The issue will be settled in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on March 12 and if it is overturned then Millar, who was suspended for two years after admitting his use of erythropoietin after police found the drug in his home in France in 2004, would be eligible to compete at the Olympics.

But Jonker, a 1992 and 1996 Olympian who was placed 12th overall in the 1996 Tour de France, and O'Grady, the 2007 Paris-Roubaix champion who hopes to compete in his sixth Olympics at London 2012, gave their support to the BOA bylaw saying that doping offenders like Millar.

"I like David Millar," Jonker told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I would like to see him race the London Olympics, but to set an example for everyone: if you do get caught using performance-enhancing drugs, you should never ride the Olympics again.

"I think the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) should follow the British position if it's blatant, like absolutely black and white and premeditated where it cannot be accidentally ingested.

"There should be a grey area where the athlete can appeal, which there is, but in black and white cases like those of Floyd Landis, David Millar and Tyler Hamilton; for all the black and white cases, there should be a life ban for the Tour de France and Olympics."

O'Grady (pictured left with Millar) agreed with Jonker despite admitting that the issue was certainly a complex one.

"It's a tough one," he said in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.

"I'm good friends with Dave, but I also believe that if you have done something like that, it's not unreasonable that you get a life ban."

Millar is now an outspoken advocate for clean sport and sits on WADA's Athletes' Panel.

The 35-year-old is also the only British rider to have worn all three of the Tour de France's main jerseys (yellow, green and polka dot) and the only Briton to have led all three of cycling's grand tours in France, Italy and Spain.

WADA have argued the BOA bylaw goes beyond their own regulations and amounts to an extra sanction for a doping offence.

But Colin Moynihan (pictured), chairman of the BOA, today continued to defend the bylaw and promised he would do all he could to keep in place for London 2012 when the CAS hear the case.

"The current WADA policy of a serious doping offence just leading to a two-year ban is sending out absolutely the wrong message to young people across the world," he said.

"Our message is different.

"Our message is: if you go out there and you take a cocktail of drugs and you knowingly cheat a fellow member of your team out of selection from the British Olympic team, you will never be selected.

"That message will have stopped a lot of athletes who might have been tempted to take drugs to enhance performance in the past from ever going near them.

"That's why we have had very few positive tests because everyone knows the consequences to those who use drugs to cheat.

"If they are taken away, we think that would be wrong and it would be sending out simply the wrong message.

"We want to make sure we select clean athletes for the Games and we want to make sure that aspiring athletes know that we are going to take a very tough line."

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz