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 2012 Olympics: Kosovo athlete barred from competing as independent - The Guardian
Kosovo's best medal hope, judo champion Majlinda Kelmendi, has said she will compete at the Games for Albania after the International Olympic Committee ruled that she could not enter as an independent under the Olympic flag.
The decision came as the IOC also ruled out the idea of female Saudi athletes competing under the Olympic flag as a way of circumventing opposition within the kingdom to their presence in a Saudi team.
Kosovo's independence is recognised by 80 countries including the UK but not by the UN or the IOC. The sports minister of the former Yugoslav province, Memli Krasniqi, said Kelmendi and Kosovo had been treated unfairly, and compared their case with the invitation to Yugoslav athletes to compete under the Olympic banner at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, when the Serbian leadership in Belgrade was under international sanctions for its participation in war crimes.
"It is an extremely disappointing development and contrary to the values enshrined in the Olympic charter," Krasniqi said.
"There are no good reasons to turn down a genuine request by an athlete who is among the best in the world. Kosovo sport has been suffering from this isolation for 20 years and we have athletes who have been forced to leave in disillusion to compete for other countries."
The minister said it was ironic that a Yugoslav team had been allowed to compete in Barcelona despite international sanctions imposed because of the role of the then leader, Slobodan Milosevic, in orchestrating crimes against humanity. Kosovo was one of the targets of Milosevic's ethnic cleansing campaigns and 10,000 Kosovans were killed before Nato intervention forced Milosevic to withdraw his troops in 1999.
"In Barcelona, when Yugoslavia under Milosevic was under heavy sanctions, the IOC was so humane it invited athletes from Yugoslavia to compete. We would love to have similar treatment for our athletes," Krasniqi said.
Kelmendi is the fifth ranked judoka in the world in the under-52kg class, and won three Grand Prix and World Cup events last year. She has both Kosovo and Albanian citizenships and had hoped to represent Kosovo for the first time in London.
The decision on her participation came at an IOC meeting in Quebec City, Canada, which also saw the organisation's president, Jacques Rogge, rule out Saudi women competing under a neutral flag. "There is absolutely no need to consider the possibility of the participation of Saudi women under the IOC flag," he said.
Saudi Arabia is one of three countries to never include women in their Olympic teams. The others, Qatar and Brunei, plan to bring female athletes to London but the Saudis appear unwilling, an attitude which has brought criticism from human rights groups and others. "It's not an easy situation," Rogge said of talks with Saudi officials on the issue. "There is a commitment. We're working steadily with them to find a good solution."
David Mepham, UK director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), which has called for tough IOC action over the Saudi team, said the group was worried at the seeming impasse. He said: "It's looking unlikely now that the Saudis will include women in their team for the London Games, which is a great concern for us."
HRW is calling for the IOC to bar Saudi Arabia from London unless it takes steps beyond just including women in the Olympic squad, Mepham said: "We also want them to take steps back in Saudi Arabia to ensure that women and girls can participate meaingfully in sport. We've documented the systematic discrimination which really prevents this – there are a few private gyms, but essentially women and girls are not allowed to participate in sport."
London Welsh plight reaches parliament - espnscrum.com
London Welsh's quest to overturn a Rugby Football Union decision to deny them promotion to the Aviva Premiership should they win the Championship final has been raised in the House of Commons.
Gareth Thomas, MP for Harrow West, urged the RFU to re-think their decision by tabling an Early Day Motion yesterday with the aim of attracting enough support to trigger a debate in parliament. The Rugby Football Union announced on Wednesday - a matter of hours before London Welsh's play-off final first leg against Cornish Pirates - that the Exiles had failed to meet the minimum standards criteria for the Premiership and therefore would not be promoted should they claim the Championship title.
London Welsh look set to appeal this decision and Thomas has moved to bring the matter to the attention of parliament - although it is highly unlikely that it will be debated. His motion read: "This House condemns the decision of the Rugby Football Union to reject the possibility of London Welsh gaining promotion to and playing in the Premiership in 2012-13.
"[It] notes the huge contribution London Welsh has made to both league and international rugby throughout its history; further notes the determination of the board of London Welsh to continue to develop both the performance and commercial sides of the club; and urges the Rugby Football Union to reconsider its decision."
Thomas also queried the RFU's decision to find fault with the club's proposed groundshare at Oxford United FC's Kassam Stadium when four other teams in the Premiership already operate under similar circumstances.
Thomas attracted support from Denis MacShane, MP for Rotherham, who recalled the plight of Rotherham when they were refused entry to the Premiership on similar grounds in 2002. He also heavily criticised the RFU, saying: "Frankly the men in blazers and those bright pink and orange corduroy trousers who control the RFU will not give any consideration to the passion of London Welsh, its players and its supporters.
"We experienced that in Rotherham when we got into the premier league and were then booted out. We had a wonderful ground and people could get right down to the touchline to watch the rugby. It is much better than sitting up in a big stadium, but those gentlemen of a particular class are the worst administrators of any of our major games. I wish my Hon. friend well, but he ain't going to get going until they change their corduroy trousers."
In addition, David Mowat, MP for Warrington South, raised the question of the Newcastle Falcons who look set to benefit if the RFU rules that Welsh have not passed the MSC for the Premiership. He claimed that their relegation would see the game have a strong dominance in the south of England, to which Thomas responded: "I certainly hope that when Newcastle takes its place in the Championship, as I hope it will, it continues to benefit from the RFU's support and largesse so that it can have a genuine chance of winning a place back in the Premiership.
"Nevertheless, we have to allow proper promotion and relegation to take place. I do not think London Welsh has been properly treated thus far."
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