OLYMPIC GAMES

Barcelona 1992 was my second Olympic games and, after the injury disappointment I faced in Seoul in 1988, I was determined to get it right.

In Seoul I was never settled in the hotel or the country and it totally affected my preparations. Every athlete is different but the time difference, the food, the noise, it all played its part to unsettle me.

Then I had to withdraw with an Achilles injury.

I remember when the closing ceremony was taking place I stayed in my hotel room on my own; I didn't even watch. I never felt part of it or like I deserved to be there.

So I was determined to be a part of it in Barcelona four years later. I flew out to our base a week before everyone else, got settled into the hotel and felt good from day one.

As an athlete you have to get the little things right. Before anyone else had arrived I organised the rooms so all the noisy people were down at one end and I was right at the other.

If it makes you feel better, it will help, and the whole British team will have that benefit in 2012. The whole Games have been organised with them in mind.

I strongly believe that having the Olympics in their home country will be a huge advantage for our athletes. To be in London will be a massive boost - our athletes will feel at home instantly.

I felt good in Barcelona and I was running really well. I remember clocking 45 seconds dead in the heats without even trying and it had never felt so easy. So I was running for a medal, no doubt about that.

My hamstrings felt a little bit tight but nothing out of the ordinary. As a sprinter you get used to it after a few races in the space of a few days.

In the semi-final I got out of the blocks well but after 150m or so it felt like I'd been shot in the back of the leg.

The physical pain was intense and that was all that was in my mind for the first few seconds or so.

I got up and I honestly thought I could catch the rest of the runners and still make the final. Even when they were going round the final bend I thought if I started running I had a chance.

But I could barely walk.

There were some medical staff running over to me with a stretcher and ushering me to get on to it - but I just wanted to finish the race by that point.

It wasn't meant as a grand gesture or to prove the point that it is the taking part that counts. I never believed that and I don't think any athletes do. If I didn't think I had a chance of winning then I wouldn't have put myself through it.

It was then that I became aware of my dad running over to me.

He tried to talk me out of it at first. He was telling me that I had nothing to prove and that I didn't need to do this, but I told him I was going to finish. Then he said that we would do it together.

So we did, and I limped over the line in tears.

I wasn't aware of the crowd's reaction at that time; I wasn't really aware of anything at that point.

It was only after I had had some treatment on the injury and left the stadium that I saw all the press waiting for me. I didn't want to talk but agreed to hold a press conference the next day.

I was expecting a handful of reporters but the whole room was packed out.

It obviously captured people's attention and I have been very lucky from that day on. It could have gone one of two ways: people could have taken it as they have or they could have thought I was an idiot.

That was me done after that. I had about eight or nine operations but I was never fit enough to compete again.

Of course I wish things had turned out differently, but I had the chance to run at two Olympics and I'll never forget it.

Derek Redmond was talking to BBC Sport's Tom Rostance.

By Derek Redmond

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

As we have finally enter the year of 2012, there is no doubt that all things Olympic and Paralympic will dominate the headlines across all media outlets from now until September 9 when the Paralympic Closing Ceremony will officially bring the Games to a close.

Less than a week into the New Year, we have already seen 10,000 too many tickets sold for the Olympic synchronised swimming sessions, the Sports and Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson, declare a major warning over illegal betting scandals at London 2012 and the cyclist Bradley Wiggins claim that team-mate David Millar should never compete at the Games again following his doping ban.

Expect far more of these stories over the next 200 days or so until we reach the Games and then probably a lot of good news when Britain starts an unprecedented gold rush and the likes of Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps and Sir Chris Hoy respectively light up the Olympic Stadium, Aquatics Centre and Velodrome.

But once we hit that day in early September and all things London 2012 come to an abrupt halt, we will all no doubt start looking around for the next big thing in the UK that might help us all capture the essence of the Olympics.

Fortunately, one will not have to look far as London 2012 has a readymade successor in the form of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

I once heard Glasgow 2014 described cryptically by a fellow journalist as the event that will stop us all going over the edge of a cliff after London 2012 and I'm therefore happy that, at present, all in Glasgow is going rather well.

Preparations for the event have hit only one crisis so far which came when the former chief executive John Scott resigned last June.

It was a scandal that turned out to be slightly anti-climatic when it eventually emerged that his suspicious "error of judgment" was only to accept free tax advice from the accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Scott has since been replaced by the highly capable American David Grevemberg and under his watch; things so far look very good.

Yes, there was news this week that police are looking at a series of suspicious multi-million pound land deals in Glasgow which were bought in order to build venues for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in the city but one doesn't expect that to amount to much.

In any case, the issue has little to do with Grevemberg's Organising Committee and is more a matter for the City Council.

There has been an obvious media interest in Glasgow 2014, not only because of its proximity to London 2012, but also because of the events that unfolded in Delhi 2010.

Having been in the Indian capital for the entirety of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, I remain steadfast in my belief that Delhi hosted a very good event.

But a shadow may forever be cast over the event due to the shady dealings of the former Organising Committee Suresh Kalmadi, who remains in jail following allegations of corruption over the awarding of contracts for the Commonwealth Games.

With Kalmadi's grubby fingerprints all over the event, it was always going to be difficult for India to turn the Commonwealth Games into a springboard for a successful Olympic bid like London 2012 had with the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

While Glasgow 2014 has never openly tried to distance itself from Delhi, they are certainly going about their business in a very different way.

That much was abundantly clear to me when I visited the city last October for the first Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Coordination Commission for the Games.

Bruce Robertson, the CGF vice-president and chairman of the Coordination Commission, declared the event on time and on budget and said there were "no red flags" following an in-depth four-day inspection of Glasgow 2014.

The welcoming team at the Glasgow 2014 Organising Committee were also kind enough to give me a tour of the key venues being built for the Commonwealth Games, including the impressive Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.

But the tour was also a reminder to me that while the Commonwealth Games are a major sporting event, they are not the Olympics and Glasgow 2014 will not be London 2012.

The scale of the two events is perhaps best illustrated by this next fact.

Glasgow 2014 recently launched a global search for a team to deliver the Opening and Closing Ceremonies on a combined budget of £14 million ($22 million/€16.81 million) – which is obviously no small sum of money.

But in London, Robertson last month announced that an extra £41 million ($64.2 million/€48 million) will be provided for the London 2012 Ceremonies in addition to £40 million ($62.5million/€45.8 million) set aside by the Organising Committee.

Such facts, however, are unlikely to stop the world's media – and indeed the public at large – heading to Glasgow in 2014 and expecting Olympian standards from the Scottish city.

There is growing talk of Glasgow putting forward a bid for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games, perhaps another indication it cannot hold an event the size of London 2012, but my hope is that the 2014 Commonwealth Games are measured for what they are rather than in comparison to or as a platform for any other event.

Having met the likeable Grevemberg (pictured) on several occasions (who is very interesting – not least because he was formerly a United States Olympic team contender as a college wrestler) I feel he is probably ready for the avalanche of interest that will hit Glasgow 2014 after London 2012.

The whole team is probably ready in principle but in practice, things could be a whole lot different.

Things are quiet now in the Scottish city Glasgow organisers will most likely be able to observe the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics in relative peace.

But for them, London 2012 will very much be the calm before the storm.

By Tom Degun

Source: www.insidethegames.biz

A majority of people in 18 out of 21 countries said the way their team performs at the Olympics was important to their national pride, a study shows.

People in developing and middle-income countries get the greatest lift from Olympic achievements, according to the BBC Global Poll.

Nine out of 10 (91%) Kenyans asked linked Games success to national pride.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it was "pleased the Olympic dream continues to excite people".

A spokesman added: "Whether as hosts of the Olympic Games or thanks to the sporting exploits of their athletes, the Games have shown time and again their capacity to unite nations."

A total of 21,061 people were surveyed earlier this year for the poll.

Some 86% of Filipinos, 84% of Turks and 83% of Indonesians asked said the way their country performs at the Olympics affects their national pride "a lot" or "some".

Meanwhile the poll indicated the UK was one of the exceptions to the overall picture, with almost as many saying Olympic performance matters only "a little" or "not at all" to their pride in being British (48%) as those saying it does affect their national pride (50%).

'Triumphs and struggles'

And the number of people linking their national pride with their country's Olympic performance in France, (51%) and Spain (58%), was only slightly higher than in the UK.

In response to the findings the IOC added: "The scenes across Canada during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games and those in Afghanistan when it got its first medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games thanks to Rohullah Nikpai's performance in Taekwondo, are just two examples, among many, of how the Olympic Games and Olympic Movement have inspired countries and their populations."

Jehue Gordon, 20, a hurdler from Trinidad, said for him, national pride was a prime motivator.

He said: "Just thinking about my country's population and problems compared to the rest of the world, I'm intrinsically motivated to put the red, white and black out there on the map and instil some nationalism in Trinidad and Tobago."

And Merlyn Diamond, also 20, a Namibian sprinter, said: "Sport is the one thing that can unite a nation.

"An Olympic medal not only rewards an athlete's hard work but naturally a nation, helping the nation not only to pride itself on its talented athletes but to unite in one voice and strive to develop other young talents.

"An Olympic medal is what dreams of an athlete and nations are made of."

Rio is hosting the 2016 Olympics but the survey, carried out by GlobeScan between 3 July and 8 September 2011, showed that in Brazil, as with the UK and Germany, those who said Olympic success affects their national pride were in the minority.

'Remarkable achievement'

Some 48% of Brazilians asked said their athletes' performance affected their national pride, and 50% said it did not.

Doug Miller, chairman of GlobeScan, said: "The poll confirms that the Olympics are more than a sporting event, with national pride very much engaged, especially in developing countries and China.

"But Olympic performance least drives national pride in some countries that will soon actually host, and pay for, Olympic Games."

However, British Olympic Association spokesman Darryl Seibel said the results were encouraging and showed the Olympic movement, and the values upon which it is built, continue to resonate and unite people.

He said: "In an era in which strong differences of opinion and sharp rhetoric often define our public debate, to get half the population of a country to agree on something is a remarkable achievement.

"It speaks to the power of the Olympic movement and the inspiration people often derive from the triumphs and struggles of Olympic athletes.

"One of our objectives for 2012 is to inspire as many people as possible throughout the UK through the performances of Team GB athletes, and these results suggest we are working from a very strong foundation."

But London 2012 organisers Locog maintained: "Whilst we recognise the part team success plays in building national pride, we have always believed that the country will be more inspired by great British moments and exciting international sporting triumphs rather than a medals table."

By Jane Mower

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

The drug-buster's uniform has traditionally been the neatly-pressed white lab-coat.

But with the Summer Olympics year nearly upon us, a grimy Columbo-style detective's mac is starting to look like an ever more appropriate alternative.

The transition has been happening for some time, but I was alerted to the extent to which the tables – or, in this case, wardrobes - have now been turned by two recent events.

The first was a supremely thought-provoking speech delivered in New York by David Howman, Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); the second a briefing at UK Anti-Doping's London HQ at which the four-year ban meted out to athlete Carl Fletcher was discussed.

This case is a landmark for the national anti-doping body of next year's Olympic Games host-country, since it is the UK's first trafficking violation.

In the close co-operation it required between UKAD and relevant law enforcement agencies, it also highlights the sort of direction an increasing number of anti-doping investigations are likely to take in coming years.

For an explanation of why this evolution is taking place, one need look no further than Howman's excellent speech this month to the Partnership for Clean Competition Conference.

Howman (pictured) said (and I make no apology for quoting at length): "The fight against doping in sport has reached the stage where science alone will not eradicate cheating or often even detect it.

"Sample collection and analysis is getting more expensive.

"The rules appear to some to be getting more complicated.

"Laboratory directors and scientists in general continue to be conservative.

"Indeed it may be suggested that some err in favour of not returning adverse results for fear of the legal process and the time required to give evidence under attack.

"The clever cheating athlete on the other hand is becoming better at cheating, more sophisticated and funded extensively.

"That athlete might now be confidently of the view that he or she will avoid detection under the historical approach.

"What has become more apparent now is that the mode of collection of evidence need not be simply nor solely through the means of testing.

"Already we have moved far from being reliant only on such processes...."

This increasing onus on investigations, with the involvement of police officers and other specialist law enforcement bodies, makes a lot of sense.

It enables sport – and by extension society – to target networks rather than end-users.

If it works, it is likely to be far more disruptive to supplies, and therefore use, of performance-enhancing drugs in the same way that breaking up a cocaine cartel is likely to have a more profound impact on the market for recreational drugs than any number of police raids on high rollers' parties.

But it also raises a host of questions.

Many of these relate to matters of ethics and personal liberty that I don't want to delve into here.

But there is one which I think needs to be focused on with some urgency, particularly in Summer Olympics year.

The question is this: if science cannot eradicate, or even detect, clever cheats, shouldn't the anti-doping movement be shifting resources to methods and procedures that stand a better chance of success?

All the more so given the pressure on costs that Howman also alludes to.

Sure, the sort of in-competition testing that will no doubt be conducted with great solemnity at London 2012 is likely to unmask the occasional cheat.

As Howman observes, "There continues to be the "dumb" doper who is regularly caught through standard testing protocols".

This doper, he adds, "effectively catches him or herself".

But I would argue that it may also give everyone a false sense of security – as dope-testing has done in the past – by implying that the frequency of doping is much lower than it actually is.

Given that funding is all too finite, how much better would it be, if athletes were left to savour their crowning moment without peeing into a cup and the millions saved diverted into a) investigations such as the one recently outlined by UKAD and b) genuine unannounced, out-of-competition (and out-of-season) testing, which would have a much greater likelihood of making even the clever cheats sweat?

If anyone from an anti-doping lab is on your Christmas-present list this year, perhaps it is time to consider that Peter Falk mac.

By David Owen

Source: www.insidethegames.biz