London 2012 - Snowsill's triathlon defence over - Yahoo! Eurosport
Olympic triathlon champion Emma Snowsill, the most successful woman in the short history of the sport, has conceded her London dream is over after an appeal against her omission from the Australia team failed.
The three-times world champion, who won gold in Beijing by more than a minute, missed out on the team for London with Beijing bronze medallist Emma Moffatt, Emma Jackson and Erin Densham selected instead.
The 30-year-old's appeal, on largely technical grounds, was heard on Monday with the Olympic Appeals Tribunal concluding that "there was always going to be one exceptional athlete disappointed in the outcome."
"Whilst I am upset with the outcome, I have to respect the decision of the tribunal and will not be pursuing the matter further," Snowsill posted on her website.
"I would like to again apologise to those affected by my appeal and to thank the other athletes for their discretion in the matter.
"My appeal was never a criticism of their abilities and I sincerely wish them all the best for their preparations and performances in London."
The women's triathlon at the London Olympics will take place in Hyde Park on August 4.
London 2012: Oscar Winner Danny Boyle Details Olympics Opening Ceremony Plans - Hollywood Reporter
LONDON -- Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle plans to transform the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics into a surreal vista of a "green and pleasant land" at the newly built host stadium in Eastern London.
Boyle, wearing his hat as London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony artistic director, will orchestrate a cast of thousands of people and live animals, including 12 horses, 10 chickens, nine geese and 70 sheep.
Also on show before any athlete has performed will be a village cricket team; a model of Glastonbury's Tor (Hill), known for the world-famous music festival; and a parade of nurses.
Each of the four nations in the United Kingdom will be represented by their national flower -- the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland, the daffodil of Wales and flax from Northern Ireland.
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The opening scene promises real grass, real plows, real soil and, according to Boyle, clouds that would supply "rain" if there is none on the night in order to ensure an authentically British atmosphere.
"The ceremony is an attempt to capture a picture of ourselves as a nation, where we have come from and where we want to be," Slumdog Millionaire director Boyle said. "The best part of telling that story has been working with our 10,000 volunteers."
He also told gathered media Tuesday that there will be British humor and that the country's history will be represented, but "not in a box-ticking way," and that the show will reflect "parts of our heritage but looking forward as well."
To date, a total of 157 cast rehearsals have taken place, with volunteer performers giving up their evenings and weekends to take part in preparations at a site to the east of London.
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The ceremonies prop store at the East London studio facility 3 Mills Studio is producing 2,956 props, and staff in the costume department are working to produce 23,000 costumes for all four ceremonies. The work includes sewing 24,570 buttons onto the costumes for one of the opening sequences.
Boyle already had revealed that the three-hour Opening Ceremony would be entitled "Isles of Wonder," a title based on a speech by Caliban in Shakespeare's The Tempest that will be referenced throughout the four ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Boyle said the opening show would not be a musical but a narrative set to music.
British electronica band Underworld has recorded two lengthy tracks at Abbey Road to score the action. The Closing Ceremony promises to be a more traditional celebration of British music.
The ceremonies will cost a total of £81 million ($126 million).
The British government recently said it was pumping in an extra $64.3 million from a $14.6 billion public sector funding package to double the budget for the Games ceremonies, justifying the move by saying it was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity to promote the U.K.
The opening evening is expected to run as an hourlong cultural extravaganza before the traditional parade of athletes and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron and the fireworks.
Boyle said the giant bell will ring to begin the show.
The London Olympics run July 27-Aug. 12.
London 2012 Olympics: Olympic fencing squad selection marred by appeal over selection process - Daily Telegraph
She added: "I believe the selection process absolutely followed the procedures."
Anna Bentley, Husayn Rosowsky and Sophie Troiano were named as the remaining three fencing athletes selected to Team GB for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The three were included in the ten-man squad so Team GB can compete in the men’s and women’s team foil competitions at the ExCel Arena.
The two reserve athletes are Martina Emanuel and Laurence Halsted.
The announcement came a day after Keith Cook appealed his omission from the Olympic team.
The Scottish fencer was told in correspondence from British Fencing officials that because of a technicality involving his paperwork — he did not provide contact details — the governing body did not believe he wanted to be considered for selection.
Cook, ranked 95 in the world and still in the British top six having battled against recent injury, believes proper procedure was not followed.
The BOA announced the names of seven athletes on June 1.
The initial selection caused controversy, with four athletes unsuccessfully appealing the selection citing issues including bias and alleged conflicts of interest.
Only two of the seven actually qualified – Richard Kruse and Polish-born Natalia Sheppard in the foil – while the other five were awarded host nation spots.
Sophie Williams and Louise Bond-Williams were selected for the women's sabre, despite Joanna Hutchison and Chrystall Nicoll both being ranked higher.
The ExCel in London Docklands will host a total of ten fencing events, six for individuals and four team competitions, contested in a knockout format across the three different weapons: epee, foil and sabre.
No British fencer has won an Olympic medal since 1964, when Bill Hoskyns added a silver in the epee to an earlier silver won in Rome, but Kruse reached the quarter-finals of the Olympic foil competition in Athens and has been in good form since the last Olympics in Beijing, winning World Cup silver in Seoul last year.
In April he scored an impressive win over world champion Andrea Cassara on his way to bronze at the Wakayama Grand Prix in Japan.
Selection policies across the 26 Olympic sports have been under great scrutiny following Aaron Cook’s exclusion from the British Olympic taekwondo team in favour of rival Lutalo Muhammad, despite Cook being ranked No 1 in the world.
The British Olympic Association intervened but stopped short of overruling the governing body.
Keith Cook said on Monday: "I saw all these things going on in the press with people lodging appeals and I am like 'how do they know they have not been selected? What have I missed here?'
"It was getting closer to the Olympics and I was thinking 'this is not right'.
"I emailed the performance manager and asked to be let known what was going on because I had not received any information. I got one back saying it was to do with not giving your email address and phone number – and I said 'you must be joking'."
British Fencing said in a statement: "British Fencing strongly denies any bias or inappropriate action in the non-selection of Keith Cook for a discretionary Home Nation place at the London 2012 Olympics.
"We have made what we think are the best decisions, both for 2012 and 2016. We have a good squad and it is time for everyone to get behind them and let's go forward."
The addition of the three final fencers brings the total number of athletes officially selected to compete for Team GB at London 2012 to 215 across eighteen sport disciplines: archery, athletics - marathon, badminton, boxing, canoe slalom, diving, fencing, hockey, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, synchronised swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, triathlon and weightlifting.
Team GB fencing squad:
Louise Bond-Williams - Women's Sabre (age: 30, born: Cheltenham)
James Davis - Men's Foil (age: 20, born: Edgware)
James Honeybone - Men's Sabre (age: 21, born: Truro, Cornwall)
Richard Kruse - Men's Foil (age: 28, born: London)
Corinna Lawrence - Women's Epee (age: 21, born: Plymouth)
Natalia Sheppard - Women's Foil (age: 28, born: Gdansk, Poland)
Sophie Williams - Women's Sabre (age: 21, born: Rinteln, Germany)
Anna Bentley - Women's Foil (age: 31, born: Aberdeen)
Husayn Rosowsky - Men's Foil (age: 21, born: Sheffield)
Sophie Troiano - Women's Foil (age: 25, born: London)
Reserve athletes:
Martina Emanuel (age: 26, born: Milan, Italy)
Laurence Halsted (age: 26, born: London)
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