London 2012: Could the Olympics be rained off? - The Guardian
Here's a thought. What if, when our impeccably planned Olympics start on July 27, the weather doesn't co-operate? Some long-range forecasts are encouraging, and London has fewer rainy days in July than any other month, but isn't it possible that high summer in England could be as wet and dreary, frankly, as it usually is?
It rained right through many of the Olympic test events. It rained ferociously more-or-less throughout the jubilee weekend. It even rained in Athens during the torch-lighting. While the ever-jovial Danny Boyle, director of the opening ceremony, has promised that synthetic rainclouds will be included "just in case it doesn't rain".
The position at the London Organising Committee is simple: rain will not stop play. "We're a fairly sturdy lot," a spokesperson says. "Beach volleyball will continue in the rain, archery will continue in the rain – just like Beijing, where there were a number of events that continued in the rain." Indeed, lightning will be needed to stop most things.
A few events, such as the BMX and tennis competitions, might be delayed by rain, but the organisers are confident they could handle the rescheduling. So, for the record, if it does not stop raining from the moment the opening ceremony begins until the moment the games are supposed to end, will everything still be completed? "Yes," they say.
Continuing is not thriving, however. Outdoor competitors are used to rain, but they often perform worse in it. Usain Bolt, for one, has registered some early excuses. "He'd have to have the right conditions [to run 100m in less than 9.5 seconds]," says his coach Glen Mills, "and I'm not sure London is going to be kind."
Broadly speaking, then, a wet Olympics will see fewer records, but this varies by event. "For the endurance athletes there could be an advantage relative to hot conditions, in that it can help to keep them cool," says Peter Stanley, who coached Jonathan Edwards to a gold medal, and is now a mentor at England Athletics. "For the throwers, however, turning quickly in a circle that is slippery due to rain is more difficult… You could say a normal British summer would benefit a normal British athlete, but we will have to wait and see."
In truth, the people who would suffer most in a wet Olympics are probably the spectators. Yes, the toilets at the velodrome and the handball arena (which harvest rainwater) will be flushing well. But the roof at the Olympic stadium covers only two thirds of the seats, and there is no roof at all on the Riverbank Arena, where the hockey will be played, nor over all the seats at the beach volleyball, the BMX track, the equestrian events, or on The Mall for the road cycling. So if you've got tickets for one of those, bring a cagoule.
Will London Bus Strike Affect Olympics? - YAHOO!
While there's been a lot of positive good will and publicity coming out of London in anticipation of the upcoming London 2012 Summer Olympic Games, it looks like not everyone in the historic city is happy. The city's bus drivers, who drive those legendary red double-decker buses, are threatening a strike unless they receive a bonus of $778 or 500 British Pounds.
The Unite union represents about 20,000 bus workers in London and could certainly cause a disruption to the Games should they decide to strike. AFP is reporting more than 9,000 of those workers took part in the strike vote and they came down heavily in favor of striking. The bus workers are demanding the money after the Underground workers, those who work for London's subway system, won a $1,324 or 850 British Pound bonus, to compensate them for the heavier workload. A union spokesman also points out their request amounts to an extra 17 Pounds per day (about $26.50), which is barely enough to buy a "pint of beer and a portion of fish and chips at the Olympics." The Olympics are coming to London from July 27 through August 12.
Where were these drivers when the city was pushing so hard to host the Olympics? I think they are taking advantage of the situation to try to squeeze some money out of the bus companies that pay their salaries. I do agree they will be forced to work harder and probably longer during the games, but to threaten a strike to me is not the right way to achieve their goals.
I think they should be paid a bonus, especially when I see how the Olympic committee is spending their money. Just as the threat of the bus strike was hitting the news, the BBC reported the games would open with some kind of tribute to the British countryside, featuring live animals, including: 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens, nine geese, three cows, three sheep dogs, two goats. The opening ceremonies are being helmed by Danny Boyle, the filmmaker behind "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Trainspotting." Boyle also announced the the ceremony would include mosh pits (where sometimes violent music fans rumble together in a combination dance and fight) and techno music.
I guess if they have money to spend on farm animals and mosh pits, they can throw some of it towards the hard-working bus drivers who will have to drive all the people around during the Games.
Olympic and sports fan Freddy Sherman grew up in Philadelphia and went to school with two Olympic medal winners, Kim Gallagher and David Wharton. Watching their skill and determination inspired him. You can follow Freddy on Twitter: @thefredsherman.
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London 2012 Olympics: Athletes let down by UK sporting system over selection for Team GB - Daily Telegraph Blogs
Athletes by their very nature like to be in control of their destiny, which is why, on the eve of the London 2012 Olympic Games, there have been so many selection appeals – in taekwondo, fencing, triathlon, rowing, rhythmic gymnastics, diving and modern pentathlon.
Many are opportunistic and understandable or wild last-minute stabs to ensure no stone has been left unturned in the battle to make the GB team.
But many others have great legitimacy. Many athletes, not just those involved in high profile cases such as taekwondo player Aaron Cook, can rightly feel that the UK sporting system has failed them badly.
This is because some of the country's top athletes have had no control. Their sporting careers have been determined by blazer wearing officials whose opinion overweighs any objective criteria.
Circumstances in taekwondo over the past fortnight have exposed the flaws in this system. UK Sport has being missing in action – it has distanced itself from any responsibility over national governing bodies – even though the taxpayer and national lottery player are contributing the £100 million a year to keep many of these sports solvent.
For nearly four years UK Sport has been monitoring each sport to extract the optimum chance of Olympic medals but now, on the eve of that performance, worryingly significant governance issues are bubbling to the surface.
The British Olympic Association has tried to enforce some responsibility, by demanding adherence to the various selection policies, but its power is largely limited to Games-time operations once the team has been selected.
The Minister for Sport Hugh Robertson has been relatively quiet too, claiming to want to have the best team to win medals, but his Ministry has been lax in its oversight of many of the smaller sports procedures.
In this vacuum of scrutiny, many national governing bodies have instituted secretive, and on occasion, completely subjective policies where there is zero accountability.
Seemingly the one fundamental value – athletes' rights – has been overlooked within these policies. The sports appeals system restricts objections to whether the selection policy has been implemented fairly, but then sends the selection back to the same group of selectors for more clandestine meetings.
What happened to the notions of justice, procedural fairness and transparency? Surely the Olympic team shouldn't be a function of how good a lawyer an athlete can hire?
In the United States most of the team selections are objective. It is a cruel one-shot chance. Compete in the Olympic trials, finish in the top two (for swimming) or the top three (for track and field) and you are in the team. Injury or illnesses are not considered.
World rankings, Olympic medals, having a relative as a sponsor / selector / coach are immaterial: it all comes down to a single performance. Athletes in combat sports earn their place with victory at a selection tournament. Such a black and white approach has its failings of course, notwithstanding that the country's best medal hope might dip out by 100th of a second, but athletes are accepting of such a model simply because they know where they stand.
In Australia and Canada many of the sports have adopted a similar performance-based system. But those that haven't are required to publish their selection criteria openly on websites. Appeals are heard by quite separate selection panels. It may well have been the case that Cook's rival, Lutalo Muhammad would have been selected by both selection panels if such a system existed here in the UK, but at least Cook, and the public, would have some faith that the system was fairer.
GB Taekwondo has come in for particularly harsh criticism of late and rightly so. Even after three selection meetings, the taekwondo selection policy has remained secret. As outsiders we are puzzled by the decision and can only infer it has included an overweight “subjective'” component. For how else could a relatively inexperienced Muhammad, ranked 59 in the world, earn the Olympic berth repeatedly ahead of the world number one Cook?
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