London Welsh set to step up promotion push - espnscrum.com
London Welsh are unlikely to dwell on their RFU Championship triumph for too long before resuming their battle to overturn a decision to block their promotion to the Aviva Premiership.
The Exiles wrapped up the second tier title with a 29-20 victory over Cornish Pirates at the Kassam Stadium on Wednesday night having taken control of the contest with a comprehensive 37-21 victory in their first leg clash. But their hopes of stepping up were dealt a major blow last week when their application to join the country's elite was rejected by the Professional Game Board - a decision later approved by the RFU.
Club officials have previously vowed to fight the ruling, based largely on the 'primacy of tenure' requirement in the all-important minimum standards criteria, and with the Championship silverware now secured, they are set to step up their quest to realise their dream of bringing Premiership rugby to the Kassam Stadium - the home of Oxford United FC and their proposed new home should they be promoted.
"I don't want to get into threatening mode at this stage but let's put it this way, we are certainly not just going to lie down and be trodden on," said managing director John Taylor. "We are very sure that we have a very, very strong case and we've already taken some legal opinion on this and I think there is a huge groundswell of support for the London Welsh position."
Taylor also believes whatever the outcome of the Exiles' appeal - the relationship between the Premiership and the Championship has reached "tipping point".
"I think whatever happens things will never be the same," he said. "Everybody knows that if the RFU want a second tier of professional rugby they have to be seen to support it. This is their Championship, they created it, they are the ones who stepped it up a notch to try and turn it into a fully professional league rather than part-time professional.
"The feeling is that even if we were to be in a situation at the end of it for whatever reason we didn't win this appeal, and we are going to fight it very, very hard, things will never be the same again. They will not be prepared to go through this again at the end of next season. I don't think the message is that the Championship will not be a stepping stone to the Championship, it will be the absolute tipping point, and the whole thing will become much more integrated after this."
Like Taylor, club chairman Bleddyn Phillips is hopeful that the matter can be resolved successfully without going to court but it remains an option. "In an ideal world we would hope still that these things can be kept out of court but obviously we are not going to prejudice it by not appealing - that's for sure," said Phillips. "We're always hopeful that the spirit of the game and the way it is played on the pitch prevails and we can keep this out of the courts and conduct the appeal within the sporting arena."
A formal appeal is likely in the next day or two and Phillips is pressing for a swift resolution. "Time is of the essence and any legal process has to happen in a very expeditious fashion," he said. "I think therefore we have to try and resolve this in weeks clearly rather than months. That is terribly important for the sport generally because lots of other people are affected by it."
His sentiments were echoed by Taylor who added: "It is absolutely imperative. It's only three months to the start of next season so the thought of court proceedings and the like for all of us is a route we do not want to go down but that is not to say that we will back off. Because we won't."
Olympics: Pearson ready for London fairytale, says Freeman - Times of India
Freeman's emotion-charged dash to win the 400 metres gold at Sydney in 2000 was the crowning moment of a successful hosting of the Games for many Australians and it, of course, remains a fond memory for the retired 39 year old.
The crushing pressure in the lead-up to her triumph was another matter, however, and Freeman, her country's first Aboriginal athletics champion, still feels "sick" when she remembers the glare of the spotlight.
"When I think of those moments, my immediate reaction is, 'Oh, bloody hell, I'm so glad it's over!'" she said at Melbourne's Lakeside Stadium.
"I still look back and think 'Oh my god, how did I manage to keep it together?' I'm not quite sure.
"I think the answer is that I loved running and hated losing more so. I think it has to be (the competitive streak)."
Australia's last champion on the Olympic track, Freeman has acted as an informal mentor to 25-year-old world champion Pearson, who owns the year's fastest time in the 100m hurdles and will head to London as hot favourite to win gold.
Australian track and field champions have become a rare breed in recent decades and Pearson shoulders the burden of her country's hopes of an athletics gold at London.
The form struggles of other would-be contenders, including pole vaulter Steve Hooker, Australia's only athletics champion at the 2008 Beijing Games, has only cranked up the attention.
Pearson has frequently recalled watching transfixed as Freeman stormed home to win gold and has lauded her compatriot as an inspiring role-model in dealing with big-race nerves in the lead-up to London.
Freeman, who will be in London working as a brand ambassador, said she would return the favour as one of Pearson's loudest cheerleaders, but suggested there was little wisdom she could impart to the runner.
"It would seem so far in her campaign that she's on track, excuse the pun. She's got a really good head on her shoulders," said Freeman.
"She seems to have the makings of that fairytale story ending come London but it all remains to be seen.
"I haven't had Sally calling me up at one in the morning telling me, 'Oh my god, I think I'm losing the plot.'
"She's got such a wonderful ability to focus and really keep her life simple and effective.
"I make myself available but ultimately these athletes, especially athletes like Sally, are so self-driven and so self-motivated that there aren't really a lot of issues that I can actually have an input into."
Freeman remains a sporting icon in Australia and was mobbed at Lakeside Stadium by schoolchildren too young to have witnessed her gold medal run in Sydney.
Pearson had enjoyed similar attention less than three months earlier at the same venue after clinching the national 100m hurdles title.
Freeman's Sydney triumph was credited for helping to improve race relations in Australia, where the indigenous population suffer glaring gaps in health and education compared to the mainstream.
The gold medal itself remains locked in a bank vault but made its first appearance in about three years at Lakeside Stadium, where Freeman helped promote a sponsor's initiative to raise money for school sports equipment.
She laughed and showered the medal with kisses before grudgingly handing it back to an assistant. It was the culmination of having had something to stand for, apart from her individual pursuit of glory, Freeman said.
"For me it was a means of respecting the memory of my late sister who had severe cerebral palsy," she said of her older sister Ann-Marie, who died when Freeman was a teenager.
"I've made no secret of the fact that I'm very proud of my indigenous ancestry, which was very appropriate given we were in Australia back in 2000.
"And just for me, for myself personally. It's a very selfish pursuit trying to be the best in the world for what you choose to do."
London 2012: Games security staff '40% local' - BBC News
A total of 40% of Olympics security workers are from boroughs close to the Games site, a report has said.
Security provider G4S said 10,500 candidates from the six host boroughs are currently undergoing security screening and training.
More than 100,000 people have been interviewed for Olympic-related jobs, with 3,000 already deployed.
Olympic organisers Locog committed to recruiting locally for jobs in retail, catering, cleaning and security.
'On target'At least 40% of G4S's Olympic workforce is set to come from the local boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Greenwich, Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.
Mark Hamilton, managing director of G4S London 2012, said: "It was always our intention to mobilise a large part of our workforce from the six boroughs around the Olympic Park in east London.
"I am delighted that we are on target to secure the services of thousands of local people who will help make the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games safe and secure.
"I am also thrilled that so many have come forward to seek work. They have a very responsible, and I hope rewarding, part to play in the sporting extravaganza and they are helping to add to the buzz of excitement that is building around London 2012."
Most of the 23,700 security jobs will end after the Paralympics in September, but G4S said they will have gained valuable qualifications and work experience to help find more employment.
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