UK committee to examine health legacy of London 2012 - The Guardian
London Olympics 2012: get set for the gridlock games - Daily Telegraph
Yet even if there are no non-Olympic tourists at all (unlikely), and even if double the usual number of natives stay away from the office (less unlikely), almost half a million people will still need to converge on a small area of east London, including 300,000 spectators, 120,000 staff and volunteers, and 70,000 members of the “Games family” (competitors, sponsors, officials and media).
At peak capacity, the seven railway lines serving Stratford can handle 240,000 passengers an hour. That would be fine if Games demand was spread evenly through the day, and nobody else in London needed to use those services. But the demands of broadcasters mean that events in the most popular disciplines, such as athletics and swimming, tend to be scheduled in two blocks, one from roughly 10am to 1pm and the other from about 7pm to 10pm. So there will be sharp spikes in demand – and most people going to or from the Olympic Park will have to make at least one of their journeys in rush hour, just as the rest of the city is travelling, too. This is probably the moment to mention that the Underground has only had three entirely problem-free weekdays in the last year.
Even if it all works perfectly, the busiest stations will be swamped. At London Bridge, charts on the Games website show that you will have to queue for more than 30 minutes to board a Tube train during the morning and evening peaks, and up to 15 minutes even at 10.30pm. On the worst day, August 9, there will be six hours in total of half-hour-plus delays.
And don’t even think about driving: according to the TfL website, a journey from, say, Hammersmith (west) to St Paul’s (east) will take an extra 57 minutes. Some of the busiest roads in central London will be totally closed to normal traffic, including Whitehall, Constitution Hill and Birdcage Walk. Westminster Bridge will be one-way. The Mall, incredibly, will be off limits to everyone – including pedestrians and cyclists – for almost four months, starting this month and not reopening until the last day of September. It seems a high price to pay for beach volleyball.
Then there are the famous “Zil lanes” – 30 miles of Tarmac for the “Olympic family”, halving the capacity of key routes such as the Victoria Embankment, Knightsbridge and the Cromwell Road, and cutting Park Lane, the Westway and Euston and Marylebone Roads by a third. The Blackwall Tunnel southern approach, one of the busiest roads in London, will be partly shut throughout the morning rush hour, even though the only Olympic users will be a few hundred shooters and riders travelling from Stratford to Woolwich and Greenwich – and even they will be going the other way at the time.
Disruption is also happening far away from the Olympic sites: Russell Square, for instance, is being taken over as the media transport hub. Wanstead Flats has been commandeered as a police camp. A huge area of south-western suburbia will be closed over three days for the cycling. Thirty per cent of London’s road network will be affected in some way, often with restrictions that will stop you parking outside your own home or your customers parking outside your shop. Some firms nearest the Olympic Park are so worried about the effects on their recession-shrunk balance sheets that they believe the Games will put them out of business.
In the end, how these transport problems and restrictions go down will probably depend on how we feel about the Games themselves. The travel difficulties during the Jubilee went almost ignored: people put up with them because they loved the event and they love the Queen. The Olympics, so far, have often presented a much less likeable face: it seems improbable that a million people will line the streets to cheer the chief executives of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola as they sweep past in their Zil lanes.
Olympic organisers protest that sponsors who support the Games must be cherished. But that doesn’t seem to apply to the biggest sponsors of all: the taxpayers of Britain. Even the transport system itself is feasting from the buffet at our expense. Those striking busmen, demanding £750 extra for the favour of turning up to work during the Games, are just the latest in a line of greedy Tube, rail and Docklands Light Railway staff collecting bribes simply for doing their jobs.
The usual history of the Olympics is that the worries beforehand die down as people get caught up in the excitement. If Britain is winning lots of golds, if the sun is shining and there are things to go to for those without tickets, Londoners probably will decide to roll with the punches and take extra holiday. So the real key figures in how the capital is seen to manage may not be the hapless, fluorescent-jacketed transport officials, but Rebecca Adlington, Chris Hoy and all Britain’s other medal hopes. No pressure then, guys.
Euro 2012: London fire safety posters translated - BBC News
Foreign language posters have been produced to target the problem of people causing kitchen fires while drunk during the Euro 2012 tournament.
London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it hoped to prevent the city's different nationalities leaving cooking unattended after drinking.
The posters come in seven foreign languages including Polish and Russian.
It is the first time translations have been used for an international competition, said LFB.
'Diverse city'The fire brigade's research shows drunk Londoners cause two fires a day.
It also shows a quarter of those who die in fires have alcohol in their systems and over half of alcohol-related fires happen because someone has fallen asleep.
Posters featuring the slogan "Goal" above a burger, will appear in pub lavatories across central London.
The posters have been produced in French, Polish, Ukrainian, German, Russian, Portuguese and Spanish.
They have been sent to different nationality newspapers in London, said LFB.
A spokesman for LFB said that the idea to translate posters was prompted by the BBC's story on London being considered France's sixth biggest city in terms of population.
He said: "London is a diverse city. It's not just England fans at risk.
"There was no extra cost and it will get the message out."
London Fire Brigade's commissioner, Ron Dobson, said: "During Euro 2012, many Londoners will go straight from work to the pub to watch the football.
"Our research shows cooking after having one too many plays a massive part in house fires and, sadly, one in every four fire deaths involves alcohol."
London 2012: Vancouver javelin thrower sets new Canadian record - Toronto Star
BURNABY, B.C.—Liz Gleadle had been awaiting this opportunity for a long time.
She didn’t disappoint her fans, or herself, on Sunday.
The 23-year-old Vancouver native set a new Canadian record at the Harry Jerome Track Classic, tossing her javelin 61.15 metres to all but confirm her first Olympic berth this summer in London.
“I love this meet, I love competing at home, my whole family was going to be here, and it was exactly what I wanted to do,” said Gleadle, who estimated she had 30 family members and friends on hand for the meet at Swangard Stadium.
Gleadle, who now trains in Lethbridge, Alta., set the record on her first attempt.
“As soon as it left my hand, it was like, ‘Yes, this is it!’ ” she said.
Gleadle broke her previous record of 59.85 metres and needs only to finish in the top three at the Canadian Olympic trials, which go June 27-30 in Calgary, to secure her ticket to London.
“I’ve been due for a real personal best, a real big jump, I felt, and today was the day to do it,” said Gleadle.
Vancouver’s Krista Woodward placed second with a toss of 53.27 metres. But the result spelled disappointment for Woodward, because she failed to meet the Canadian Olympic Committee’s B standard under calm conditions.
To qualify for London, athletes in field events must achieve the B standard twice or the A standard once.
Woodward has achieved the B standard once, but needs another B-level showing — at least 59 metres — to have a chance to go to London. She must get it by June 30.
Tiffany Perkins of Abbotsford, B.C., placed third with a throw of 52.02 metres.
Gleadle had previously achieved the two B marks.
“I feel like I’ve got a bit of a leg up now,” said Gleadle.
The kinesiology student overcame months of hard work, sacrifice and no shortage of pain to set the record. She took a year off from her studies to devote herself fully to training for the Games.
“I ate, I slept, I trained twice a day, I napped,” she said. “I ate well. I ate more. I put on 10 pounds. You make (aiming for the Games) your passion, you make it your life — and there are rewards to it.”
Gleadle has overcome arm and back injuries the past two seasons that hampered her performances at national championships and a freak leg injury earlier this year while training in Lethbridge. In January, she was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when a hammer thrower’s ball broke off from its chain and hit her in the leg, forcing her to miss a month of action.
She was to provide proof of the hard work to her friends and family on Sunday, who rarely get a chance to see her throw the javelin.
“I wanted them to know I don’t just go to the gym and run around in spandex,” said Gleadle. “I actually do throw javelin, and now you can see that I’ve done it.”
Meanwhile, Dylan Armstrong, one of Canada’s top Olympic medal hopes, won the shot competition with a toss of 21.24 metres while competing mainly against himself as the rest of the world’s best were absent. No other competitors cracked the 20-metre mark.
The Kamloops, B.C., native, who criss-crossed the globe in recent weeks to compete at international meets, said he was surprised to exceed 21 metres.
“It was a great meet, but I am tired, and to throw over 21 metres — considering what I’ve been through the last two weeks here, we’re right on track,” said Armstrong, who strives to produce strong performances when he’s fatigued and competes more frequently than his peers.
Ming-Huang Chang of Taiwan threw 19.82 metres to place second, while Justin Rohde, a Bainbridge, Ohio, native who is now a Canadian citizen and trains with Armstrong in Kamloops, placed third with a toss of 19.55 metres. He has met Canada’s Olympic A standard, but falls short of the International Amateur Athletics Federation requirement to be a citizen for at least two years of a country he wishes to represent.
In other highlights Sunday, 800-metre runner Jessica Smith of North Vancouver, B.C., earned a berth at the Games, pending an expected top-three finish at the Olympic trials, as she came from behind to win her event in one minute 59.86 seconds.
A euphoric Smith ran under two minutes for the first time in her career, and was hugged at the finish line seconds afterward by coach Brit Townsend and athlete Melissa Bishop of Eganville, Ont., who has already met the Olympic standard.
“I’m in disbelief that I’ve actually gone under two,” said Smith, who defended her 2011 Jerome title. “I ran under 2:01 here last year, and it was a three-second (personal best) from 2:04. I’ve run under 2:01 a couple times this season, and to get that consistent is amazing.”
Smith beat runner up Alice Schmidtby 0.007 seconds after the American posted a time of 1:59.93. Bishop finished third in 2:00.45.
In another feature event, Jessica Zelinka of London, Ont., won the women’s 100-metre hurdles in a wind-aided career best time of 12.76 seconds.
“I knew I could get under 13, but that was an amazing time for me,” said Zelinka, whose previous career best was 12.97 seconds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Ginnie Crawford (12.87 seconds) of the U.S. placed second. Former world champion Perdita Felicien of Pickering, Ont., who is considered a medal contender in London, placed third in 12.96 seconds, 0.02 seconds behind the winner.
“I wasn’t happy with my time, but I was happy with my first six hurdles and how I competed and how I fought,” said Felicien.
Zelinka’s clocking met the Olympic A qualifying level, but she is a heptathlete and does not plan to compete for hurdles gold at London. The heptathlon, which includes a number of events, was not on the Jerome schedule.
“I just come in here just solely to work on competing,” said Zelinka.
London Irish forward Gibson on bench for England - Reading Evening Post
Jamie Gibson has been named among the England replacements for their tour match against the South Africa Southern Barbarians in Kimberley on Wednesday (2pm kick-off).
The absence of London Irish team-mate Jonathan Joseph suggests he could start the second Test.
The 21-year-old centre impressed after coming off the bench for the final few minutes in Saturday's 22-17 defeat in Durban.
He was involved in England's solitary try and, with Brad Barritt and Mike Brown both ruled out, is a contender to start in Johannesburg on Saturday.
His pace helped create a last-gasp try for Ben Foden and he showed his promise to fuller effect a fortnight earlier against the Barbarians when he scored two tries.
England coach Stuart Lancaster said: “Getting JJ on gave us a little spark that ignited a try.
"This is a tour to win games, clearly, but it’s also a tour to look at players and options."
Joseph was dubbed “the next Jeremy Guscott,” by his then coach at London Irish, Mike Catt, who, is now in charge of England’s attack.
“JJ is special, he creates something out of nothing,” Catt said. “His footwork is phenomenal and his ability to do things at pace creates space for others.
"He hardly ever makes an error, which is what distinguishes a great player from a good player.
"And, no, I’ve not saddled him with the Jerry Guscott tag because that’s something he’s going to have to cope with. He knows how good he can be.”
Alex Corbisiero, the other Exiles player in the 42-man party, has yet to feature due to a knee injury.
England also have a match against SA Barbarians North on June 19 before the third and final test in Port Elizabeth on June 23.
England (v South Africa Southern Barbarians): 15 Alex Goode; 14 David Strettle (both Saracens), 13 Anthony Allen (Leicester), 12 Jordan Turner-Hall (Harlequins), 11 Christian Wade (Wasps); 10 Charlie Hodgson (Saracens), 9 Danny Care (Harlequins); 1 Matt Mullan (Worcester), 2 Joe Gray (Harlequins), 3 Paul Doran Jones (Northampton), 4 Graham Kitchener (Leicester), 5 George Robson (capt, Harlequins), 6 James Haskell (Otago Highlanders), 7 Carl Fearns (Bath), 8 Thomas Waldrom (Leicester).
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs (Leicester), 17 Rupert Harden (Gloucester), 18 Tom Palmer (Stade Francais), 19 Jamie Gibson (London Irish), 20 Lee Dickson (Northampton), 21 George Lowe (Harlequins), 22 Nick Abendanon (Bath).
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