London 2012: Mark Foster backs David Davies for Olympic gold - BBC News
Mark Foster says fellow British swimmer David Davies has a great chance of claiming a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics.
Welshman Davies, 27, won a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at Athens 2004 and then silver in the open water four years later at the Beijing Games.
Now five-time Olympian Foster is tipping Davies to complete the set.
"People always say can he go one better, I think he can go one better," Foster told BBC Wales Sport.
"He's an Olympic bronze medallist in the 1500m in the pool, then he went and did the open water and got a silver in Beijing."
Davies has already claimed his Team GB place in the 1500m , but must still win a place in his prefered open water event at a qualifier in Portugal in June.
Mark Foster Five-time Olympic swimmer“I wish him very, very well and you've got a national treasure in David Davies”
The Welshman has endured a difficult few years and considered quitting because of the fatigue problems that forced him to withdraw from the World Championships, but Foster believes those problems are behind Davies.
"David went off for a few years but he just got over-training fatigue syndrome and basically people don't understand it but you train too hard and his body just shut down," Foster said.
"He had to rest up a little bit, train differently... he seems to be getting back to his best and hopefully in three weeks he can qualify.
"If he gets a position in that race, the open water at the Olympic Games, he could win it. It's one of those ones that could be anyone's but he could be in it.
"I wish him very, very well and you've got a national treasure in David, I don't think any swimmer has medalled in three consecutive Games so get behind him and support him."
Foster believes that the open water is Davies' best chance of a medal and ideally he should put all his efforts into just one event.
"If you said to me before the Games what he should concentrate on then I'd say the open water without a shadow of a doubt, I think he's got the best opportunity in the open water," added six-time world champion Foster, who competed in the 50m freestyle and butterfly for Britain.
"But he hasn't got that luxury at the moment, he's got to do the pool and the open water.
"He had to qualify in the pool to be able to go and get this spot in the open water, so he had to do the pool anyway."
Paralympics 2012: London Games 'the biggest ever staged' - BBC News
Organisers have confirmed that the 2012 Paralympics will be the biggest ever.
With 100 days to go, the International Paralympic Committee says athletes from 165 countries will compete - 19 more than in Beijing four years ago.
The number of competitors will also increase, to around 4,200.
"It is pleasing that Great Britain, the spiritual birthplace of the Paralympic Movement, will get to host the biggest ever Paralympics," said IPC president Sir Philip Craven.
The opening ceremony for the Games will take place on Wednesday, 29 August with Coldplay confirmed as the star act for the closing ceremony on Sunday, 9 September.
More than one million tickets for the Games go back on sale at 11:00 BST on Monday. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) sold the same number during last year's opening phase of sales.
"It is a massive move for the Paralympic Movement that so many tickets have been sold so far out," 11-time Paralympic gold medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson told BBC Sport.
"I think it has fed off the excitement of the Olympics where a massive number of people applied for tickets, but there is also a genuine passion for Paralympic sport.
"We want the stadiums full with lots of British people supporting the home athletes. I don't mind why people come and watch the Paralympics. Sometimes it might be because they didn't get Olympic tickets but they got Paralympic ones, or they might be genuine sports fans, or they want to come and have a nose around the Stadium and the Park at Games time.
"The most important thing is that people are sitting in their seats cheering on performances and they will see some amazing performances.
"In Barcelona in 1992 the stadiums were full but most of those tickets were sold on the day. People had enjoyed the Olympics and then because the tickets were quite cheap they came and watched the Paralympics.
"Once the Olympics start I think people again will start thinking about getting Paralympics tickets but those who have bought early have been really sensible because I think it will get more difficult to get tickets the nearer you get to the Games."
Among the events going back on sale on Monday will be both the opening and closing ceremonies, athletics at the Olympic Stadium and track cycling in the Velodrome, which sold out in last year's opening phase of sales.
Locog chairman Lord Coe said: "The athletes involved in the Paralympic Games are incredible sportsmen and women and I urge everyone to take this chance and to form memories that will last a lifetime."
A total of 16 countries will be making their Paralympic debut in London - Antigua & Barbuda, Brunei, Cameroon, Comoros, Djibouti, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, North Korea, San Marino, Solomon Islands, Trinidad & Tobago and US Virgin Islands.
Craven added: "The Games won't just be the biggest ever in terms of athletes and countries either. I also believe the levels of athletic performance will reach new levels and a record number of TV viewers around the world [will] tune in.
"The recent Paralympic test events gave us all a flavour of what we can expect later this summer, and between now and 29 August the excitement levels will continue to rise to astronomical levels."
The 100-day mark comes as some of the world's leading Paralympic athletes prepare to take part in the Paralympic World Cup, which begins in Manchester on Tuesday.
The multi-sport event, which features athletics, men's and women's wheelchair basketball and seven-a-side cerebral palsy football will be a key part of preparations ahead of London.
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