Jessica Ennis was labelled "fat" by a senior official at UK Athletics, according to her coach Toni Minichiello.
A "high-ranking person" at the governing body said the 26-year-old poster goal of the London 2012 Olympics is "fat and she's got too much weight", according to Minichiello.
The 45-year-old has coached the heptathlete since she was 11, and poured scorn on the criticism, clarifying Ennis' weight hadn't fluctuated.
"The things you can't deal with are what we've dubbed 'silver bullets'," the 45-year-old told The Guardian. "And other people. You can't deal with the expectations and pressures that are on other people, like the BOA's [British Olympic Association] team management."
Born in Sheffield, like Ellis, Minichiello suggested the distractions in the build-up to the Games stemmed from "people in fairly high positions, who should know better".
Commercial activities have been ramped up with just over two months to go until the Olympics begin, and Minichiello bemoaned the "advice" he has personally received, claiming it is easy to get "distracted by" the "background noise".
The former civil servant however conceded Ennis' image has elevated as London 2012 looms, but stressed she remained humble.
"The difference is that she's now a 'personality'. If she walks into the dining room, people will go 'Ooh, that's Jessica Ennis from athletics.'
"Equally, she'd turn round and go 'Wow, that's David Beckham on the Great Britain football team.' So there's lots of distractions."
UK Athletics have declined to comment.
London picked as test bed for Skynet-like Intel tech - The Register
London will be a guinea pig for future smart city technology after Intel pledged to spend a slice of £25m ($40m) on a new lab in the capital. The chipmaker will also plough millions into research centres dotted around Blighty.
Intel will set up the unwieldily monikered Collaborative Research Institute for Sustainable Connected Cities in the capital in partnership with Imperial College and University College London, it announced today at an event at 10 Downing Street.
The company will spend the £25m over the next five years on all five of its Collaborative Research Institutes, but wouldn't give the breakdown of exactly how much London would be getting. ICL and UCL will also chip in some dosh, but again no figures were bandied about.
At the same event, Chipzilla said it will open a string of research centres around the UK, investing around £45m in an Intel Labs Europe UK R&D network: this will employ 350 researchers in labs including the one in London and others in Brighton, Swindon and Aylesbury to start with, and five more to be decided on by the end of the year.
"It is investments like this that will help us put the UK on the path we need to take to create new jobs, new growth and new prosperity in every corner of our country," Chancellor George Osbourne said at the launch.
"We are determined to make the UK the best place to do business in the world and a great place for technology companies to invest and build new business. It is encouraging to see major tech partners like Intel investing in this country as a result of the policies that the Government has put in place," he self-congratulated.
Intel will use the London lab to suss out smart city technology and it will also team up with Shoreditch's Tech City entrepreneurs to use their "social media expertise" to "identify and analyse emerging trends with cities".
"Using London as a testbed, researchers will explore technologies to make cities more aware by harnessing real-time user and city infrastructure data," the company said in a statement, describing similar Skynet-like smart city research elsewhere.
"For example, a sensor network could be used to monitor traffic flows and predict the effects of extreme weather conditions on water supplies, resulting in the delivery of near real-time information to citizens through citywide displays and mobile applications."
Rattner: City under pre-planned stress
Intel CTO Justin Rattner also said that the London Olympic games would give the firm a great opportunity to look at a city under pressure and figure out where the weak points are.
"London is, as everyone knows, the host city to the 2012 summer Olympic Games, and we plan to use the event to understand the experiences of a city under pre-planned stress. What systems worked or didn’t work and why? How were the daily lives of the citizens, workers, and businesses of London affected?" he wondered out loud.
As well as giving Intel the opportunity to see it mess up, London is also a good choice for the research institute as the fifth largest city in the world.
"It has the largest GDP in Europe, and with over 300 languages and 200 ethnic communities, its diversity is a microcosm of the planet itself, offering an exciting test bed to create and define sustainable cities," Rattner enthused. ®
London 2012: Anna Meares to lead young Australian team - BBC News
Australian sprinter Anna Meares says she will draw on the enthusiasm of a young team in her attempt to beat GB rival Victoria Pendleton in London.
Meares, 28, one of only two Olympians in Australia's track squad, is trying to win a medal at a third Olympics.
"I'm not saying anything personal against Vicky," Meares said. "We're both competing for that gold medal and unfortunately only one of us gets it."
She will compete in the individual sprint, team sprint and keirin events.
"This is a young team," said Meares. "With youth comes enthusiasm, motivation, desire - and that is contagious for me."
Australia's 2012 Cycling squad
- Sprinters: Kaarle McCulloch, Anna Meares, Matthew Glaetzer, Shane Perkins, Scott Sunderland
- Endurance: Jack Bobridge, Amy Cure, Rohan Dennis, Alex Edmondson, Annette Edmondson, Michael Hepburn, Melissa Hoskins, Glenn O'Shea, Josephine Tomic
Meares describes herself as the "old duck" of the Australian team and is expected to be the biggest danger to Pendleton's title hopes in the individual sprint.
She is aiming to be the first woman to win a fourth Olympic cycling medal and the first to win a medal at three different Olympics.
Pendleton beat the Australian at the world championships in Melbourne in April, on the way to a sixth world sprint crown.
The pair, who barely speak to each other, could also lock horns in the team sprint event.
Jack Bobridge, who will lead the team pursuit, joins Meares as the only other Australian with Olympic experience
Alex Edmondson, 18, and his 20-year-old sister and fellow pursuit rider Annette have also been selected.
London 2012 Olympics: Saudi Arabia Refuse to Lift Ban on Female Athletes - ibtimes.co.uk
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Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Brunei are the only countries that have never fielded women on their Olympic teams. While Qatar and Brunei have announced plans to take female athletes to London, the Saudis have yet to do so.
According to Rogge, discussions with the Saudis are continuing.
He ruled out the possibility of Saudi woman competing in London under the Olympic flag, rather than as members of the Saudi team.
The IOC has come under pressure from human rights groups for not imposing sanctions against Saudi Arabia for not sending female athletes.
Human Rights Watch Middle East director Sarah Leah Witson said: "Saudi Arabia is the last holdout denying women and girls the ability to take part in sports.
"The clock is running out for Saudi women to join the games and for the international community to insist that the Saudi government allow women to participate."
Although Saudi Arabia may not have women who meet Olympic qualifying standards, the IOC is prepared to offer them special conditions or look for other solutions.
As recently as the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, 26 national teams did not include women.
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London Olympics 2012: Ennis' Coach Dismisses UKA Fat Jibe - ibtimes.co.uk
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"I get emails, phone calls, text messages and voicemails giving me advice on what I should be doing with Jessica Ennis that's going to make a difference. It's a lot of background noise that you can get easily distracted by.
"I always read it and have a look and think maybe there is something there. Yes, it might be a great idea, but it's not a great idea for today, it's a great idea for next year. I've never had any issue with her weight or shape. There are times I've wished she was taller, but that's it."
Since winning Heptathlon gold at the 2009 World Championships, Ennis has been thrust into the limelight in the lead up to the London Olympics, where she is expected to spearhead a record Team GB medal haul.
The media circus surrounding the Sheffield-born athlete means she's among the most hyped competitors at this year's Games, and it is that new found fame that her coach believes could present a considerable challenge to Ennis.
"The difference is that she's now a 'personality'," said Minichiello. "If she walks into the dining room, people will go 'Ooh, that's Jessica Ennis from athletics.'
"Equally, she'd turn round and go 'Wow, that's David Beckham on the Great Britain football team.' So there's lots of distractions."
Ennis was involved in further controversy last weekend after running a personal best in the 100m hurdles, only for the time to be ruled invalid after officials at the Manchester CityGames set out the wrong number of hurdles.
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