'London 2012 - The Official Videogame of the Olympic Games' preview - Digital Spy
London calling! Chelsea bid to become first capital club to win Champions League - Daily Mail
By Dan Ripley
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For Chelsea, the Champions League final against Bayern Munich presents an opportunity for the club to win the competition for the first time in their history.
Only since 2003, when Roman Abramovich started bankrolling the club financially, has the dream really seemed possible for Blues fans, who in the last nine years have seen enough near misses.
But it’s not just Chelsea who could see their first crowning moment as Europe’s kings – it’s the city of London too.
German mission: Chelsea face Bayern in Munich on Saturday night
England’s capital has its fair share of top football teams - without failure it serves up plenty of London derbies in the Premier League each year.
But since the formation of the European Cup in 1955, only three London sides have played in Europe’s premier club competition with Tottenham and Arsenal also appearing.
Along with the Blues, they too have come close to sealing Europe’s biggest prize for the capital, but have also suffered heart-breaking failure.
Here, Sportsmail assesses how London’s trio have fared among Europe’s elite...
Chelsea
Times appeared: 10
Best result: Finalists (2008)
Worst result: Last 16 (2006 and 2010)
Heartache: Chelsea lost the 2008 final to Manchester United
Despite being league champions, Chelsea did not take part in the first ever European Cup tournament and didn’t make their maiden appearance until reaching the quarter-finals in 2000.
They have been a permanent fixture since 2003, reaching four-semi finals before this season, but it’s the 2008 final in Moscow that still hurts fans.
Having already missed out on the league title to Manchester United, Avram Grant’s side went to penalties against the Red Devils and snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
John Terry could have won the trophy for Chelsea but hit the post with his spot-kick after slipping, before United recovered to triumph in the competition for a third time.
Arsenal
Times appeared: 16
Best result: Finalists (2006)
Worst result: Group stage (1999 and 2000)
Seeing red: Jens Lehmann (left) was sent off as Arsenal lost to Barcelona in the 2006 final
Before the Champions League era started in 1992, Arsenal only twice featured on the biggest stage, being eliminated in the 1972 quarter-finals and the second round 20 years later.
Since 1998 the Gunners have contested every single campaign but have only once visited the final despite getting out of the first group stage in each of the last 12 seasons.
The 2005/06 campaign is the closest Arsenal have been to becoming top dogs. Arsene Wenger’s side reached the Paris final after setting a record number of 10 consecutive clean sheets before losing 2-1 to Barcelona.
The Gunners also reached the semi-finals in 2009 but were thoroughly outclassed over two legs by Manchester United, losing 4-1 on aggregate.
Missing out: Arsenal were knocked out by AC Milan this year
Capital winners
Real Madrid (9) 1956-1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002.
Ajax Amsterdam (4) 1971-1973, 1995
Benfica (2) 1961, 1962.
Steaua Bucharest (1) 1986
Red Star Belgrade (1) 1991
Tottenham
Times appeared: 2
Best result: Semi-finalists (1962)
Worst result: Quarter-finalists (2011)
Spurs don’t have the staying power to make the Champions League a habit but have made a real fight in the only two times they have featured.
A controversial semi-final defeat against Benfica ended their hopes in 1962, with Bill Nicholson’s side crashing out 4-3 on aggregate after seeing three goals contentiously disallowed over the two legs.
Real hiding: Spurs lost to Madrid in last year's quarter-final
It wasn’t until 2010 that Spurs returned to the biggest stage where they starred in the tournament, topping a group that contained holders Inter Milan – even defeating the Italian giants along the way.
In the last 16 they shut-out AC Milan to progress 1-0 over two legs before crashing to a 5-0 aggregate defeat against Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
London 2012: Haile Gebrselassie considers Olympic options - BBC News
Haile Gebrselassie has not ruled out the possibility of qualifying for the 10,000m at this summer's Olympics.
The 39-year-old said his Olympic dream was over after failing to win a place in Ethiopia's marathon team.
But the two-time Olympic 10,000m champion is considering his options ahead of a 10,000m race in Hengelo, the Netherlands, on 27 May that will serve as the Ethiopian Olympic trial.
He said it would be "wonderful" to compete in London.
The veteran is cautious about his chances of finishing one of the two fastest Ethiopians in the race in order to qualify for the Olympic team - but told BBC World Service Sport that his enthusiasm for the Games remains undimmed.
"I wish to take part in the Olympics because it's London," said Gebrselassie, who has won four World 10,000m titles.
"I believe London is going to host one of the best Olympics Games. These Olympics are going to be very special.
Haile Gebrselassie's medal haul
1993 World Championships: Gold (10,000m), Silver (5,000m)
1995 World Championships: Gold (10,000m)
1996 Olympic Games: Gold (10,000m)
1997 World Championships: Gold (10,000m)
1999 World Championships: Gold (10,000m)
2000 Olympic Games: Gold (10,000m)
2001 World Championships: Bronze (10,000m)
2003 World Championships: Silver (10,000m)
"The organisation here is so perfect and the people organise such wonderful races. I don't want to miss the Olympics, even if it's to watch."
While in no doubt that qualifying for the Ethiopian team will be difficult, Gebrselassie also knows that claiming a third Olympic gold in London would be an even greater challenge.
"If I qualify for the 10,000 metres, don't forget who will be there this year. Not just Kenyans and Ethiopians, also athletes like Mo Farah - they are stronger," he admitted.
"If Farah is in the same shape like last year he will be the one. Kenenisa Bekele will be strong too but there are many others."
Gebrselassie also spoke about the difficulties of facing up to the end of his competitive racing career ahead of running in Sunday's 10k Great Manchester Run, which he has won in each of the last three years.
"If you think about retiring then you retire automatically. It's the mind, not the body," said the 39-year-old.
"I don't want to miss a single race. It doesn't matter which one, a race is a race. I want to win each and every race - and if I don't win then at least run a good time."
The 2012 Great Manchester Run will be live on BBC Two at 10:00 BST on Sunday 20 May.
London Olympics 2012 torch relay starts in Britain - Raw Story
Yachtsman Ben Ainslie was the first torchbearer as the Olympic flame began its 70-day journey around Britain and Ireland on Saturday ahead of the 2012 London Games.
With the Atlantic Ocean behind him at Land’s End, England’s most southwesterly point, the triple Olympic gold medallist waited while the flame was flown in by a Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter.
Lieutenant Commander Richard Full carried the flame off the helicopter in a golden lantern, posed briefly for photographers, and took it a short distance to light the torch that Ainslie was holding in the bright morning sunshine.
Ainslie then set off, barely breaking into a jog as he let some of the 3,500 spectators lining the route touch the golden torch whose design has led it to be nicknamed the “cheese grater”.
After travelling barely 300 metres (yards), he passed on the torch to 18-year-old Anastassia Swallow, a surfer who is hoping that her sport will one day become an Olympic discipline.
Over the next 10 weeks, the torch will travel 8,000 miles (12,875 kilometres) around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and will also visit the Republic of Ireland.
Some 8,000 people — one for every mile of the route — will take part in the torch relay as it heads for the Olympic Stadium in east London for the opening ceremony on July 27.
Ainslie, who just a day earlier won a sixth world title in the Finn class as he steps up his efforts to win a fourth Olympic gold, said it had been a special moment for him to start the relay in his home county of Cornwall.
“I’m really very proud for the whole nation,” said Britain’s greatest Olympic yachtsman, who wore the number 001 on his white London 2012 top.
“It was pretty emotional, so much effort has gone into getting the Olympics in London and it means so much to everyone involved.”
On its first leg, the torch was to be carried through Cornwall to the city of Plymouth.
On its 70-day odyssey, it will travel through 1,019 cities, towns and villages and visit landmarks such as Stonehenge.
From June 3-7, it will go to Northern Ireland and then the Republic of Ireland — the only country outside the United Kingdom on the route.
No overseas legs of the relay have been planned this year after those before the 2008 Beijing Games were hit by protests against China.
The flame was lit in Ancient Olympia in Greece on May 10 and was handed over to the British delegation in Athens in a rain-sodden ceremony on Thursday.
It was flown to Britain on board a British Airways plane renamed The Firefly for the occasion, accompanied by football star David Beckham and Princess Anne, the daughter of Queen Elizabeth II.
Beckham had the honour of lighting the first torch at the Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall on Friday.
In contrast to the shoestring operation when Britain last hosted the Olympics in 1948, just three years after World War II ended, this year’s relay is a big-budget affair, with parties and public events at each of its stops.
The oldest runner will be a 100-year-old woman, while Olympians past and present and soldiers injured in Afghanistan will also take part.
But the London 2012 organisers wanted the bulk of people taking part in the relay to be unsung heroes who have helped their community, individuals involved in sport and younger people.
Swallow, the teenager who had taken over the torch from Ainslie, said it was a memorable day but admitted she got “a bit excited and a little crazy and ran too fast”.
“I was really surprised by the atmosphere here today. Everyone was cheering and calling my name. It is something I will never forget.”
Olympic torch starts journey to London - SBS
The Olympic flame was greeted by thousands of cheering spectators as it began its 70-day relay journey around Britain and Ireland on Saturday ahead of the 2012 London Games.
Triple gold medal-winning yachtsman Ben Ainslie was the first torchbearer, setting off from Land's End, England's most southwesterly point, before a succession of runners carried the torch through Cornwall to Plymouth.
With the Atlantic Ocean glistening behind him in the early morning sunshine, Ainslie waited while the flame was flown to Land's End by a Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter.
The yachtsman barely broke into a jog as he let some of the spectators lining the route touch the golden torch whose design has spawned the nickname "cheese grater".
After travelling barely 300 metres, he passed on the torch to 18-year-old Anastassia Swallow, a surfer who is hoping her sport will one day become an Olympic discipline.
Over the next 10 weeks, the flame will travel 8,000 miles (12,875km) around England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and will also visit the Republic of Ireland.
Some 8,000 people -- one for every mile of the route -- will take part in the torch relay as it heads for the Olympic Stadium in east London for the opening ceremony on July 27.
Ainslie, who just a day earlier won a sixth world title in the Finn class as he steps up his efforts to win a fourth Olympic gold, said it had been a special moment for him to start the relay in his home county.
"I'm really very proud for the whole nation," said Britain's greatest Olympic yachtsman, who wore the number 001 on his white London 2012 top.
"It was pretty emotional, so much effort has gone into getting the Olympics in London and it means so much to everyone involved."
On its 70-day odyssey, it will travel through 1,019 cities, towns and villages and visit landmarks such as Stonehenge.
From June 3-7, it will go to Northern Ireland and the Irish capital Dublin -- the only time the torch will leave the United Kingdom on the route.
On the first day, the specially trained police officers who will run alongside the torch throughout its journey swiftly tackled a man who they thought was trying to get near to one of the torchbearers.
They pushed him into a hedge and the relay continued without a pause.
The flame was lit in Ancient Olympia in Greece on May 10 and handed over to the British delegation in Athens in a rain-sodden ceremony on Thursday.
It was flown to Britain on board a British Airways plane renamed The Firefly for the occasion, accompanied by football star David Beckham and Princess Anne.
Each runner is allowed to keep their torch, but although organisers have said they hope they will be cherished as souvenirs, one appeared on eBay on Saturday, attracting bids in excess of STG2,000 ($A3,200).
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London 2012 - Idowu impresses in Shanghai - Yahoo! Eurosport
Great Britain's Phillips Idowu won the trimple jump at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting to give his Olympic preparations a boost.
Former world champion Idowu made a good start to a season he hopes will climax with Olympic gold medal on home soil with victory in the triple jump with a leap of 17.24 metres.
"I am in great shape," said the Londoner.
"My timing was slightly off and my technique was not perfect, but this was the first one of the year and I feel great."
China's Liu Xiang lit up a rain-soaked meeting with the quickest 110 metres hurdles time of the year, sprinting to victory in 12.97 seconds to the delight of his home town crowd
If the former world champion was trying to lower expectations about his chances of regaining the Olympic title he relinquished through injury in Beijing, he went about it in the wrong way in front of more than 40,000 screaming compatriots.
A blistering start put him well clear by the halfway mark and he raced across the line half a metre ahead of American David Oliver (13.13) before ripping off his shirt in delight at the first sub-13 second time of the year.
"I am really happy. I executed well, I ran my own race and wasn't thinking about the others. I just did what I had to do and I won," the 28-year-old told reporters.
"The crowd came out despite the wind and rain and I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I had to put on a fantastic performance for them."
Former world record holder Asafa Powell won the men's 100m easing up but he failed to add to his record tally of sub-10 second times when he crossed the line in 10.02 ahead of American Michael Rodgers (10.08).
"I did technically well so I'm happy," the Jamaican said. "I felt good, it went well but it was raining so I didn't push too hard."
His compatriot Veronica Campbell-Brown was not able to ease up in her first 200 metres run of the year as she did battle with American Carmelita Jeter in a showdown of the world sprint champions.
Jeter came at the Jamaican three times down the home straight but Campbell-Brown, who will be going for a third straight gold in the event in London, had enough in the tank to see her home in 22.50 seconds.
"The more I win the more confident I become," she said. "This was my first 200 metres of the year and I have a lot of work to do but I know from how I felt in this one that each race will get better so I'm just praying for good health."
World indoor champion Genzebe Dibaba did not hold back in the women's 1500 metres either and sprinted home in three minutes 57.77 seconds, by far the fastest time of the year and the quickest ever run by an Ethiopian woman.
"I am very, very happy," said Dibaba, the 21-year-old sister of Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m champion Tirunesh. "I felt strong and I had a good feeling that I would win."
Her compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, whose 5,000-10,000 metres double was one of the highlights of the Beijing Olympics, managed just fifth place in his first 5,000 of the season behind compatriot Hagos Gebrhwet, who won in 13.11.00.
Olympic pole vault champion Steve Hooker's revival proved short-lived as just a week after he nailed the London qualifying height in Perth with a jump of 5.72m, he failed to get into the air in three attempts at 5.30m.
Heavy rain made a lottery of some of the field events.
Olympic men's javelin champion Andreas Thorkildsen managed three throws before calling it quits and Czech Vitezslav Vesely won the event with a throw of 85.40m.
Kent murder trial: Hillfields suspect made fuel "gaffe" - Coventry Telegraph.net
A COVENTRY man on trial for a fatal arson attack said a can of petrol he bought 20 minutes before the blaze was for a friend’s car – even though it ran on diesel.
Danai Muhammadi told a jury the fuel was for co-accused Farhad Mahmud’s Vauxhall Astra, rather than to start a fire that killed his estranged wife and their son in Kent.
But on his sixth and final day in the witness box at Maidstone Crown Court, Muhammadi, 24, of Britannia Street, Hillfields, was told by prosecutor Mark Dennis QC: “Can I tell you the problem about the fuel?
“You bought over seven litres of petrol. The Astra ran on diesel.”
Muhammadi replied: “That’s correct. I made a mistake.”
The court heard Muhammadi had even bought the Astra for Mahmud - and Mahmud was with Muhammadi when he bought the fuel that night.
“So who knew, as you were selling it on to him, that the car ran on diesel?” Mr Dennis asked. “I knew, he knew,” Muhammadi replied.
“So why did you put petrol into the can for a car you knew took diesel?” Mr Dennis asked.
“My brain is not a computer,” Muhammadi said.
Mr Dennis said: “You have made rather a gaffe, haven’t you, in your attempt to add fact and fiction.”
Muhammadi denies using the petrol to set fire to a house in Chatham in the early hours of September 10.
The blaze killed his former wife Melissa Crook, 20, their 15-month-old son Noah, and Melissa’s dad Mark, 49.
Prosecutors say he was angry after Melissa ended the relationship a few months earlier. But Muhammadi claims the blaze must have been started by two men who were trying to blackmail him for £5,000.
Mr Dennis said: “This is nonsense, isn’t it?”
“It’s not nonsense,” Muhammadi replied, “your thinking is different than my thinking, I didn’t think th e way you want me to think.”
Mr Dennis said: “I’m going to suggest you are a complete fantasist.”
“No it’s not [fantasy],” he replied, “it’s true and it’s fact.”
Muhammadi said Melissa told him not to tell police about the blackmailers.
Mr Dennis said: “I suggest this is pure fiction.”
Muhammadi finished by telling the jury: “It’s very difficult for me. I still can’t believe it. I wish to die.”
Muhammadi, his new girlfriend Emma Smith, 21, of The Barley Lea, Stoke Aldermoor, and Mahmud, 35, of Maidstone, deny three counts of murder and two of attempted murder in relation to Melissa’s mother Amanda and brother Bohdan.
The trial continues.
'); tm.siteLife.daapi.getArticle( "45-92746-31000391", function(article){ tm.siteLife.display.displayCommentCount( article, 'sitelife-commentsWidget-middle', false, 'Comments', true, false ); } ); })();//call anonymous function //]]>Flame for London Games arrives in Britain - star.com.my
CULDROSE, England (Reuters) - The flame for the London Olympics burned brightly on British soil on Friday after David Beckham stepped off a special flight from the Games birthplace of Greece to light a cauldron with a golden torch.
The British Airways 'Firefly' Flight 2012 from Athens landed on time at the Culdrose naval air station with Britain's Princess Anne, Games chairman Seb Coe and the former England soccer captain among the delegation.
The flame will start a 70-day torch relay around Britain on Saturday, with triple Olympic gold medallist sailor Ben Ainslie carrying it on the first leg from Land's End on the south-west tip of England.
The Games start on July 27.
London mayor Boris Johnson, his mane of unruly blond hair trimmed for the occasion, declared the moment to be "a big accelerator of the heartbeat".
"We've got 70 days to go," he told reporters before heading back to London on the golden-liveried plane.
"For someone in my position this is the final furlong for us and that's when the horses start to change places and so this is going to make the difference now between a good Games and a great Games."
British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg welcomed the Olympic torch on behalf of the British government on a clear evening in marked contrast to the torrential rain left behind in Athens.
"It is a fantastic moment for us, particularly at a time when there is so much anxiety and concern about the economy and other things, to be uplifted by this whole experience and to be able to showcase ourselves to the world as an open-hearted, generous, dynamic, positive country," he told the BBC.
"It's a wonderful opportunity for the country as a whole."
CUSTARD COMET
The arrival of the flame, with Princess Anne carrying it in a special lantern down the steps from the plane, was covered live on Britain's main BBC station with the plane circling overhead before landing to fit in with the schedules.
"It's only when the torch comes into your possession that you realise," the Princess said as she handed the lantern to one of the special security team who will guard it.
Beckham soon lit the Olympic torch and ignited a cauldron with the flame, which was then due to be transferred to Lands End for Saturday's relay start.
Johnson said the manner of the flame's arrival bodes well.
"The plane landed bang on time, in fact it was early," he declared enthusiastically.
"We circled over Cornwall like a custard-coloured comet and that is a metaphor in my view for everything that has happened so far in the London Olympics. It's been either on time or ahead of time and it's under budget."
On Thursday, the flame had been handed over at a damp ceremony in the Athens marble stadium that hosted the first modern Games in 1896.
The flame, lit from the sun's rays at the home of the ancient Games in Olympia a week ago, was presented under grey and rainy skies to former Olympian Princess Anne by the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos.
Coe, who will head off to Munich on Saturday to watch his beloved Chelsea play Bayern Munich in the Champions League final, was confident the torch relay would light the fire for anyone still ambivalent about the Games.
"It does have a big impact," he said.
"I saw the test event the other day with a cardboard torch going from Leicester to Peterborough and they (the spectators) were three and four deep on the pavement, in the little villages.
"And every week I get letters from people who are talking about the things they are doing to mark the fact the torch is coming through. There's an emotional connect with this that I'm not sure all torch relays have got."
100 marks Steve Marks, can someone elaborate on why Chels missed out on 1955 inspite of having won the league and having an excellent team , one actually expects facts from reporters can't blame DM afterall they are anti-chelsea ....atleast they have got the stats right
- Suresh , Chennai & India (brown and proud), 19/5/2012 11:57
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