Mohamed Sbihi has described his selection in the men's eight boat for the London Olympics as "a dream".
The 24-year-old took up the sport nine years ago after being discovered through a talent identification scheme while at school in Surbiton.
He told BBC London 94.9: "An opportunity has become a dream and the dream has started to become a reality.
"I feel very fortunate. It's almost like a fairytale. If I hadn't gone into school that day, I wouldn't be here."
The Molesey Boat Club member was identified after British Rowing's World Class Start programme visited Hollyfield School in south west London.
"They wanted all the tall kids in the year to go to a special PE lesson," Sbihi added.
"I didn't really want to go because I wanted to play football but my PE teacher pulled me back and told me that as I was the tallest guy in the year, I had to go.
"Before I knew it, I was in the top four out of 10,000 kids who had been tested in our area. I didn't like it to start with but then it slowly hooked me.
"I feel honoured and proud to wear the GB flag. I have to thank everyone who has been involved in my development."
London 2012 Olympics: David Beckham set for inclusion in Stuart Pearce's Team GB football squad for Games - Daily Telegraph
There are still over one million football tickets up for sale, with interest slowing down to the rate of just 150,000 sales over the last month. Beckham's inclusion in the tournament would certainly drive interest.
Last month Beckham fiercely defended his career record and insisted his involvement with Team GB would be on merit and not because of his fame.
"I have never said it before but that suggestion has always felt a but disrespectful," said Beckham.
"Whenever I have been asked about shirt sales or filling stadiums it has always felt it is a bit disrespectful. Throughout my career I have been pretty successful, I’ve played for some pretty big teams, represented my country quite a few times, and played for managers without sentiment.
“When you play for Sir Alex Ferguson, Fabio Capello, Sven Goran Eriksson or the manager that I have played under, they don’t pick players because they want to fill a stadium or particularly to sell shirts.
“I have always found it an honour that people have wanted to buy my shirt and an honour that fans turn up to watch the team I am playing in. I have always found that a huge honour.
“But no, I don’t want to be picked for shirt sales or as a stadium-filler, I want to be picked for what I can bring to the team. That has been the case throughout my career and I don’t want that to change.”
Team GB play a friendly against Brazil at Middlesbrough's Riverside Stadium on July 20 before taking on Senegal, UAE and Uruguay in Group A at the Games.
London 2012: Tickets For Olympics Opening And Closing Ceremonies Go On Sale - huffingtonpost.co.uk
More tickets for some of the most popular events at the Olympic Games go on sale today.
Thousands of tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as for athletics, swimming, boxing, table tennis, volleyball and football at Wembley Stadium, will be available through the official Olympic website from 11am.
Prices range from £20 to £720 across the 96 available sessions, while tickets for the two ceremonies start at £995.
All the remaining tickets, both for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, are on sale on a first come, first served basis, and more will be available in coming weeks.
As with previous tickets, they can only be bought using a Visa card.
Locog, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, said more than eight million tickets have now been sold across both games.
But there are still about three million tickets left up for grabs, including more than half a million Olympic tickets, 1.2 million Paralympic tickets and 1.25 million tickets for Olympic football.
Locog commercial director Chris Townsend said: "There are still plenty of ways to join in and be part of London 2012.
"We are at advance stages of venue planning and these represent the final release of ceremonies and other sport tickets tickets.
"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 1 million tickets in the last four weeks, prioritising people who were unsuccessful last time around."
For more information or to buy, visit www.tickets.london2012.com.
London close: Spain in focus after bailout rumours - Life Style Extra
- Fitch downgrades Spain to BBB
- Investors look ahead of Chinese data this weekend
Rumours about an imminent recapitalisation of Spain's banking sector and concerns over global growth were doing the rounds on Friday, yet the Footsie still managed to pare losses by the close.
According to a Financial Times article this afternoon, Spain may ask for bailout aid for its financial sector as early as tomorrow during a conference call with European finance ministers.
Fitch Ratings said last night that the "likely 'fiscal cost'" of restructuring and recapitalising the Spanish banking sector would be between 60bn and 100bn in a worst-case scenario. This came as the ratings agency downgraded its sovereign debt rating for the country from A to BBB.
Also weighing on sentiment today were yesterday's comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who "performed his usual trick of depressing the markets", according to Craig Erlam from Alpari. Analysts were hoping for hints of imminent stimulus measures but Bernanke failed to say whether the Fed would be embarking on QE3 any time soon.
"The positive sentiment from earlier in the week has been knocked over the last 24 hours. With the ECB, BOE and Fed all deciding against further QE or rate cuts this week, it's surprising that the markets have held up as well as they have," Erlam said in an emailed note.
This afternoon, President Barack Obama said that the ongoing crisis in Europe could have a "potential impact" on the US economy as he urged Eurozone leaders to act: "The sooner they act the more decisive and concrete their action, the sooner people and markets will regain some confidence."
Investors will still be digesting the recent interest rate cut from China, which initially spurred impressive gains for equity markets on Thursday. However, ahead of some key inflation and industrial production figures due out this weekend from the world's second-largest economy, some analysts are questioning whether the rate cut was a pre-emptive move ahead of what could be some disappointing data.
FTSE 100: Miners down, defensives up
Vedanta, Kazakhmys, Antofagasta, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Glencore and ENRC were among the worst performers of the day as investors fled from risk.
BHP Billiton was also among the fallers after Bank of America Merrill-Lynch reduced its profit forecasts for the group on the back of lower oil prices estimates. Kazakhmys announced late on that it has signed an agreement with JSC RusHydro, one of Russia's largest power generating companies, to consider establishing a hydro-electric power joint venture.
The defensive utilities sector benefited from its 'safe-haven' appeal today with Severn Trent, Centrica, United Utilities, SSE and National Grid making gains. Credit Suisse raised its target price for National Grid today after saying that Ofgem's new RIIO regulation presents a 2.5bn opportunity for the group.
Capita was a strong performer after JP Morgan Cazenove reiterated its overweight rating on the outsourcing giant.
Pharmaceuticals leviathan GlaxoSmithkline was also in demand after extending the offer period for its hostile take-over of US sector peer Human Genome Sciences (HGS) by a further three weeks.
FTSE 250: Bumi leaps on mining contract
Mining firm Bumi leapt into the top spot on the second-tier index after reportedly signing a contract to sell 50m metric tons of coal. According to Dow Jones Newswires, the coal will be sold at an average price of $80 per ton this calendar year. The firm's Resource Director, Dileep Srivastava, was quoted as saying: "The sales contract is 67% of our 75-million-ton output guidance for 2012."
Heading the other way was energy markets-focused engineer Lamprell which was battered after sneaking out a profit warning on Thursday after the London market closed, saying that it now expects to make a half-year loss of between $15m and $20m, compared with earlier guidance of "a small loss". The group also said that Chairman Jonathan Silver would step down.
"We continue to believe that management's credibility has fundamentally deteriorated," Nomura said in a research note this morning.
FTSE 100 - Risers
Capita (CPI) 649.50p +2.85%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,782.00p +2.71%
Centrica (CNA) 315.20p +2.20%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 696.00p +2.20%
Standard Life (SL.) 220.40p +1.90%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 680.50p +1.80%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 171.50p +1.51%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,879.00p +1.51%
Kingfisher (KGF) 279.00p +1.31%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 493.40p +1.31%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 935.50p -5.07%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,869.00p -4.84%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 423.80p -3.94%
Evraz (EVR) 279.20p -3.19%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 705.00p -3.16%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,767.00p -2.91%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,074.00p -2.77%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,535.00p -2.66%
Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 976.00p -2.59%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,060.00p -2.21%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Bumi (BUMI) 365.00p +11.93%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 694.50p +6.27%
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 326.10p +4.19%
Bellway (BWY) 770.50p +3.56%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 615.00p +3.36%
Grainger (GRI) 90.00p +2.97%
Synergy Health (SYR) 887.00p +2.60%
RPS Group (RPS) 202.00p +2.54%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 432.30p +2.32%
Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 233.60p +1.96%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Lamprell (LAM) 84.50p -22.26%
Kesa Electricals (KESA) 49.81p -7.93%
Afren (AFR) 108.40p -7.51%
Lonmin (LMI) 747.50p -5.62%
Essar Energy (ESSR) 117.40p -5.55%
Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 238.80p -5.50%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 94.90p -5.10%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 487.80p -4.17%
Avocet Mining (AVM) 157.00p -3.98%
Hays (HAS) 72.25p -3.73%
BC
London hotels persist with Olympian price hikes - Daily Telegraph
This week JacTravel, which provides wholesale accommodation for inbound tour operators, said its London bookings were down by 35 per cent during July and 30 per cent during August, compared with the same months last year. By contrast, it said that bookings for summer holidays to Barcelona and Berlin had grown by more than 100 per cent.
JacTravel found that some four-star London hotels were charging up to £415 per night for stays during the Games, nearly four times more than usual.
A second hotel booking website, Hotels.com, found that the average price for a room during the Olympics had fallen slightly by five per cent since March, to £202. However, this is still 93 per cent more expensive than the same period last year.
A spokesman for Hotels.com said that some cheaper rooms could still be found if travellers were willing to look to outlying districts.
Vauxhall Mokka SUV pricing announced - easier.com
Vauxhall will expand its already broad range later this year with the addition of the Mokka SUV, which is available to order from today at a starting price of just £16,995.
The new model will enter the growing sub-compact SUV B-segment, but despite its compact 4.28 metre length can accommodate five adults in comfort. Its key rivals will be cars like the Skoda Yeti and from Nissan, the Juke and Qashqai. Like all Vauxhalls, the Mokka comes with Vauxhall Lifetime Warranty.
Available in three trims – S, Exclusiv and SE – the Mokka comes with generous levels of standard equipment, including DMB (Digital Media Broadcast) radio, air conditioning, Descent Control System, cruise control, aux-in and a multi-function trip computer.
Three engines, ranging in power from 115 to 140PS, will be available from launch. The 1.6-litre petrol produces 115PS and 155Nm of torque, and with its standard Start/Stop system delivers a combined 43.5mpg. With 140PS, the 1.4-litre turbo is the Mokka’s most powerful petrol engine and brings with it standard four-wheel drive and sub-150g CO2 emissions.
The Mokka has a choice of two diesel models, both of which use Vauxhall’s 1.7 CDTi 130PS engine, with CO2 emissions as low as 124g/km. In front-wheel drive form, the 1.7 CDTi is available with a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, and with all-wheel drive the Mokka comes with the six-speed manual only. Like the petrol-powered cars, all manual models have Vauxhall’s fuel-saving Start/Stop system as standard.
“The Mokka takes its design cues from larger SUVs and integrates them into a compact, yet modern form,” said Duncan Aldred, Vauxhall’s Chairman and Managing Director. “We are now growing a compelling and diverse range of products that appeals both to retail and fleet customers, and the Mokka will complement this perfectly.”
Front- or four-wheel drive transmissions
The Mokka has been designed to perform efficiently in urban environments, but with the ability to be driven off-road when the need arises. Both front-wheel drive and four-wheel drive models are available, with the AWD system being fully adaptive. When the vehicle’s being driven on smooth, dry surfaces all drive is sent to the front wheels for maximum efficiency. But when the road surface is slippery, as much as 50 per cent of the drive automatically and seamlessly is diverted to the rear axle. The entire AWD system weighs just 65kgs, benefitting handling and fuel economy.
Mokka brings wide range of new tech to sub-compact SUV segment
A variety of state-of-the-art driver-assistance systems will be available in the Mokka. The Vauxhall Front Camera – first seen in the latest Insignia, and also the new Zafira Tourer – gives drivers access to Lane Departure Warning, Traffic Sign Recognition, Forward Collision Alert, as well as a rear-view camera, which works with park-assist sensors front and rear.
Reinforcing its role as a recreational car for families, the Mokka also has the option of Vauxhall’s latest generation FlexFix rear bicycle carrier. The carrier is fully integrated into the rear bumper, and slides out like a drawer to accept up to three bicycles at a time. The system even allows easy access to the tailgate/cargo area when the bikes are on the carrier.
Standard on all Mokkas is a comprehensive package of safety systems, including Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control, Hill Start Assist and Hill Descent Control, providing drivers with reassurance, no matter if they’re on or off-road. HDC is an excellent ally when a driver is descending a steep hill, when it determines and limits the speed of the vehicle, meaning that the brakes need not be applied.
Adding further still to the Mokka’s comprehensive safety armoury is Vauxhall’s Advanced Adaptive Forward Lighting (AFL+). This technology automatically adapts the Mokka’s lighting to suit its driving environment, whether it be motorway, country, urban, adverse weather, increased full beam, or cornering beam. The system is also equipped with High Beam Assist, which adjusts the high beams automatically so that oncoming traffic isn’t dazzled.
Bold SUV design combined with generous functionality
Muscular and attractive, the Mokka incorporates Vauxhall’s signature ‘blade’ on the body side, sweeping towards the rear. The Mokka’s stance is reinforced by its higher ground clearance as well as a 1540mm track and 18-inch wheels on most models.
Inside, the Mokka has 19 storage locations, 60:40 split rear seats, and an all-up load space of 1,372 litres with the rear seats folded down.
British team play integral role in RHD chassis development
Gerry Baker, Vauxhall’s manager of vehicle dynamics based at Millbrook, has been involved with Mokka chassis development from an early stage. “Early prototype cars were tested in the UK during 2011, to establish if bespoke damper settings were required for cars sold in Britain,” said Gerry.
“We’ve also been evaluating a RHD steering tune for the car, which is important, given the unique road conditions British drivers have to deal with. Finally, a large part of the Mokka’s durability testing has been carried out at Millbrook, here in the UK.”
There’s been great emphasis on the Mokka’s dynamic performance, both on- and off-road, The front MacPherson suspension has been fitted with side-load compensation springs to improve damper reliability and consistency. At the rear, a U-section compound crank is mounted ahead of the rear wheels, angled to suit either FWD or AWD set-ups, and ensuring that both on- and off-road dynamics are not compromised.
Vauxhall has adopted a state-of-the-art Electric Power Steering (EPS) system for Mokka, which provides more speed sensitive assistance for drivers, no matter what model they opt for. The specific settings for the steering will be tuned to suit the UK market.
Retail launch later this year
Customers can order the Mokka from today through the Vauxhall retail network. The car will arrive in UK showrooms in November this year.
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