London 2012: Organisers to release more tickets for opening ceremony - The Sport Review
London 2012 organisers are releasing a further batch of tickets for the previously sold-out Olympic opening and closing ceremonies – but the cheapest available seat will be £995.
In addition, they are making further contingency seats available in athletics, swimming, football at Wembley, volleyball, table tennis and boxing, priced between £20 and £720.
Tickets will go on sale on a first come, first served basis on the London 2012 ticketing website from 11am this Friday.
Organisers Locog have also confirmed that eight million tickets have now been sold for both the Olympics and Paralympics – under two thirds of the total available.
Just over half a million non-football Olympic tickets are still available, while under 50 percent of the 2.5 million available inventory of Paralympic tickets remains unsold.
But the biggest concern for organisers will be the seemingly sluggish sale of football tickets.
After the recent draw at Wembley, 1.4 million seats went on general sale but only 150,000 have been shifted in the last month – leaving 1.25 million still available.
Last month organisers admitted that only 10,000 tickets had been shifted for the opening event of the Games, when, two days before the opening ceremony, Team GB’s women footballers take on New Zealand at the 74,500 capacity Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
“With 50 days to go there are still plenty of ways to join in and be part of London 2012. We are at advanced stages of venue planning and these represent the final release of Ceremonies and other sport tickets,” said Locog commercial director Chris Townsend.
“Over the next few weeks we will release further tickets for other Olympic sports and keep people informed when tickets are available.
“We are delighted with ticket sales to date, and have sold another one million tickets in the last four weeks, prioritising people who were unsuccessful last time around.” 
London 2012 ticketing breakdown
London 2012 Olympics: 7 million sold, 1.8m still available (including 1.25m football)
London 2012 Paralympics: 1.25 million sold, 1.2m still available
London 2012: Great Britain name powerful rowing squad - BBC News
Great Britain have named 48 rowers in the squad for the London Olympics, with four places still to be decided.
Remaining selections in the men's and women's eights will be finalised "in due course", said a Team GB statement.
Katherine Grainger“There is a sense that the upcoming home Games will be on a different scale to anything we've ever seen before”
Britain will compete in 13 of the 14 rowing events at Eton Dorney, with the men's four and men's lightweight double scull defending titles.
The host nation hopes to improve on the record haul of six medals that saw them top the rowing medals table in Beijing.
"We go to the start in London ready to defend our status as the leading rowing nation from Beijing but we are under no illusion as to how tough winning medals, especially gold medals, will be at this Games," said David Tanner, GB Rowing Team performance director.
As expected, Andrew Triggs Hodge, Tom James, Pete Reed and Alex Gregory will attempt to win a fourth consecutive gold medal for Britain in the men's four, following in the footsteps of Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell among others.
The crew have won both World Cup races this year but were pushed hard by Australia in Lucerne last time out.
"I'm thrilled to be part of the biggest British team ever at our London Olympics," said Reed.
"I have been training for this all my life one way or another. I am a proud lieutenant from the Royal Navy, a proud Olympian and a proud Briton. I'm racing to win."
Anna Watkins and Katherine Grainger are firm favourites in the women's double scull, with Scot Grainger looking to win a first gold after taking silver at the last three Games.
Britain row to Beijing glory
"It's been an incredible honour and privilege to be part of the past three Olympic Games and, as wonderful as they have all been, there is a sense that the upcoming home Games will be on a different scale to anything we've ever seen before," said Grainger.
World and Olympic champions Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter will defend their men's lightweight double scull title, while Helen Glover and Heather Stanning are currently the world-leading women's pair.
Greg Searle will get the chance to go for gold in the men's eight 20 years after he won the coxed pairs title in tandem with his brother Jonny and tearful cox Garry Herbert in Barcelona.
Searle, 40, returned to the sport in 2010 having last competed at an Olympics in Sydney 12 years ago.
Only seven rowers have been named in the men's eight, leaving the door open for Constantine Louloudis to be named as stroke despite having missed both of this year's World Cup regattas with a back injury.
A world under-23 champion, it is hoped Louloudis could give Britain the edge after they pushed world champions Germany hard in Belgrade and Lucerne over the last month.
Ten rowers have been named for the women's eight, with selectors likely to use the upcoming Munich World Cup to assess their options once again before making the final decision.
Team GB rowing squad:
Men's Pair - George Nash, Will Satch
Men's Four - Alex Gregory, Tom James, Pete Reed, Andrew Triggs Hodge
Men's Eight * - Richard Egington, James Foad, Matthew Langridge, Alex Partridge, Tom Ransley, Mohamed Sbihi, Greg Searle, Phelan Hill (cox)
* one further rower will be added at a later date
Men's Single Scull - Alan Campbell
Men's Double Scull - Bill Lucas, Sam Townsend
Men's Quadruple Scull - Charles Cousins, Stephen Rowbotham, Tom Solesbury, Matthew Wells
Women's Pair - Helen Glover, Heather Stanning
Women's Eight * - Jo Cook, Jessica Eddie, Katie Greves, Lindsey Maguire, Natasha Page, Louisa Reeve, Emily Taylor, Victoria Thornley, Annabel Vernon, Olivia Whitlam, Caroline O'Connor (cox)
* Eight from the ten rowers listed will be confirmed as racing in the eight. The two rowers not racing in the eight will be selected as reserves.
Women's Double Scull - Katherine Grainger, Anna Watkins
Women's Quadruple Scull - Debbie Flood, Frances Houghton, Beth Rodford, Melanie Wilson
Lightweight Men's Four - Chris Bartley, Peter Chambers, Richard Chambers, Rob Williams
Lightweight Men's Double Scull - Mark Hunter, Zac Purchase
Lightweight Women's Double Scull - Katherine Copeland, Sophie Hosking
Shakespeare's Buried Curtain Theatre Unearthed In London - huffingtonpost.co.uk
Shakespeare experts have hailed the "thrilling" discovery of remains of the predecessor to The Globe theatre.
Plays including Henry V were first performed at The Curtain Theatre - immortalised in that play as "this wooden O" - and Romeo And Juliet might also have premiered there.
Parts of the playhouse's yard and gallery walls were excavated in Shoreditch, east London, by the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) as part of regeneration works.
Parts of the Curtain Theatre being excavated in Shoreditch, east London
It is hoped the site could be opened to the public and plays could be staged there in the future.
Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd said: "It is inspiring that the Museum of London has unearthed the foundations of The Curtain Theatre.
"I look forward to touching the mud and stone, if not wood, and feeling the presence of that space where Shakespeare's early work, including the histories, made such a lasting impact."
Actor Eddie Redmayne, who won last year's Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best Shakespearean Performance for his Richard II role at the Donmar Warehouse, said: "The discovery of The Curtain in Shoreditch is a thrilling prospect particularly in this year of the World Shakespeare Festival.
"With The Globe and The Rose having helped add such cultural vibrancy to Southwark, I'm excited to see what the exploration of this exceptional site will unearth and bring to this already brilliant area of the capital."
The Curtain, which opened in 1577, was operated by theatre manager James Burbage and was home to Shakespeare's Company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, before The Globe opened. It was the main venue for the Bard's plays from 1597 to 1599.
It disappeared from historical records in 1622 but could have remained in use until the outbreak of the Civil War, 20 years later.
Plough Yard Developments, which owns the site, is planning to make The Curtain central to its redevelopment of the area.
Further excavations are to take place of the remains, three metres below ground.
An artists impression of what the site might look like following regeneration works
A spokesman for the developers said: "This is one of the most significant Shakespearean discoveries of recent years. Although The Curtain was known to have been in the area, its exact location was a mystery.
"The quality of the remains found is remarkable and we are looking forward to working with Mola, local community and Shakespearean experts to develop plans that will give the public access to the theatre remains as part of a new development."
He added that there was a 50/50 chance that The Curtain, named after nearby Curtain Close, was where Romeo And Juliet was first performed.
Kim Stabler, archaeology adviser at English Heritage, said: "This is an outstanding site - and a fortuitous find in the year of the worldwide celebration of Shakespeare.
"Developer-led archaeology, investigating and recording a site before any construction begins, has undoubtedly enriched our understanding of our towns and cities. A sensitive and creative public presentation of these remains would be a fantastic addition to telling the constantly unfolding story of London."
Neil Constable, chief executive of Shakespeare's Globe, said: "The find is another wonderful opportunity to further our understanding of Shakespeare's theatres."
Chris Thomas, from Mola, said: "This is a fantastic site which gives us unique insight into early Shakespearean theatres. We are delighted that Plough Yard Developments plan to preserve the remains in place and open them up to the public as there are few similar sites across the UK."
A planning application for the redeveloped site is to be made this summer. Proposals for the site are going on display in Shoreditch on Friday.
London 2012 Olympics: David Millar faces battle to earn place with Team GB - Daily Telegraph
Millar, presently competing at the Critérium du Dauphiné, has endured an injury-disrupted season after breaking his collarbone and a bone in his hand racing in Belgium at the end of March.
Although his track record with GB is excellent and Cavendish has always insisted he wanted Millar in the team regardless of any BOA selection issues, the Scot badly needs to offer compelling evidence of fitness and form before being given the nod because GB have several viable options. With time running out, that effectively leaves Millar with a four-day race in Holland from June 9-17 and the first week of the Tour de France during which to impress.
Much the same goes for Steve Cummings - a powerhouse domestique and a key man at the World Championships last year - who is also returning from injury and Ben Swift, whose switch from the track programme to the road six weeks ago has been hampered by a shoulder injury after he crashed in training with Team Sky ahead of the Giro d’Italia.
Swift is embarking on a busy road programme with Sky and, although he might not feature in their Tour de France plans, the world scratch-race champion could force his way into the squad. If anything happened to Cavendish during the road race at the Games - a crash, mechanical or problems on the Box Hill climbs - he represents a potential Plan B with his climbing ability and sharp turn of speed The GB long list of eight will include obvious starting selections such as Cavendish and Wiggins as well as Chris Froome, back to health, and Ian Stannard, a stalwart worker for Cavendish at the recent Giro and in the form of his life. When naming the final five, Brailsford and the GB road coach Rod Ellingworth have strong candidates to fill the Millar role should he not regain his best form.
The veteran Jeremy Hunt, a lead-out specialist that Cavendish rates highly, could come into the equation, although the feeling is that if the Olympic race finishes in a sprint it will be contested by a relatively small bunch. The need for a pure lead-out man might not be paramount.
Just getting Cavendish to the final one-kilometre is the priority. He has proved many times, not least this season, that he can take it on from there alone if necessary.
Meanwhile, the competition for places in the women’s team is so strong that again British Cycling and the BOA will announce a squad of six squad rather than the four-rider team they must confirm on July 6. Lizzie Armitstead has been the stand-out rider all season, while reigning Olympic champion Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley, a silver medal winner in the time-trial at Beijing, have been less consistent although Pooley did claim a fine win, her first of the season, at the Emakumeen Saria race in Spain on Tuesday. Sharon Laws, Katie Colclough and Lucy Martin are also well in contention.
As with the men, the time-trial entrant - probably Pooley - has to come from the final four. The National Championship later this month could be the most important race in the selection process.
On an Olympic course that could suit both the sprinters and breakaways, the decision on whether Armitstead or Cook is the protected rider could be delayed until the day of the race. Armitstead’s form puts her in a strong position.
On the track, the only real issue likely to occupy the selection panel is whether the sole place in the individual sprint should go to reigning champion Sir Chris Hoy or to Jason Kenny, who has placed higher than Hoy at the past two World Championships, taking gold and silver. The selectors might again tarry - their only requirement before the Games is to name the men’s team sprint squad - though the memory of Hoy decimating the world’s best sprinters at the World Cup meeting at the London Velodrome could well hold sway.
London newspapers produce special Jubilee e-editions - Lancashire Evening Telegraph
A group of newspapers in South London has put together a series of online special editions enabling them to publish hundreds of pictures of Jubilee celebrations across the capital.
Newsquest titles including the News Shopper and Your Local Guardian series are bringing out the e-Xtra Jubilee specials alongside their usual e-editions today, tomorrow and Friday.
Other titles taking part in the initiative include the Surrey Comet and Richmond Twickenham Times.
The group’s web team worked over the Bank Holiday period to put them together, missing out on the chance to join in the celebrations themselves.
Web manager Paul Jones said: “When our readers started sending in details of their street parties and other jubilee events, we knew we’d struggle to do them justice in our papers due to space.
“So we decided to utilise our online newspapers, adding innovative and interactive content, allowing us to publish hundreds of pictures from across south London, as well as video and interactive maps from the weekend.
“It was a mammoth effort meaning myself and the News Shopper web manager, Jamie Ross, didn’t see much of the celebrations ourselves – but we hope our readers think it was worth it.”
Croydon Guardian assistant editor Matthew Knowles added in a Tweet: “Hats off to our snappers over weekend who between them went to more parties than the Queen could shake her sceptre at.”
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