Olympic Park hotels open for start of London spectacle - The Sun
IHG showed off their flagship Holiday Inn and plush Staybridge Suites located at the epicentre of what will be London’s finest spectacle this summer.
Not only are IHG the Official Hotel Provider to the Olympic and Paralympic Games but they are also tasked with the overseeing of the Olympic village which will be housing 17,000 world class athletes.
Denise Lewis, 39, former British Heptathlete with three Olympic games under her belt attended the launch and described life in the Olympic Village as "daunting". The gold medal winner also gave the thumbs up for the running of the village to be handled by experts in hospitality: "It’s good if someone takes care of you so you can take care of your performance; it needs to feel home from home."
This seems to be the mantra for the Staybridge Suites which aims to be more home than hotel. Rooms are decked out with their own kitchen and they are also the first hotels to be kitted out with Apple TV in the UK so guests can play their music through the television or download movies from iTunes. Already five people have booked a room for a year.
Denise was joined by Great Britain’s leading ribbon gymnast Frankie Jones, 21, to create a special routine for the opening who will be competing on the 9th and 10th August. The ex-Olympian said: "As one of Team GB’s Olympic hopefuls it’s exciting to hear about Frankie’s preparations, coupled with seeing the area come to life. The views from the hotel are incredible and give a sneak preview to guests of the action and excitement to come this summer.”
Not only do the hotels offer spectacular views of the Olympic Park and London skyline but it’s also located right next door to Westfield, Europe’s largest shopping centre complete with a hub of transportation links from Canary Wharf and the O2 Arena to the centre of London.
It's certainly looking like the Olympics have given Stratford the golden touch, let's hope the same can be said of team GB and the likes of Frankie now!
London 2012 - Olympics hits home for Grainger - Yahoo! Eurosport
Even in the current climate of questionable selection policies it would have taken the keenest of imaginations to concoct a scenario where three-time Olympic silver medallist and nigh-on untouchable world No.1 Katherine Grainger could be overlooked for London 2012.
But despite her pre-eminence the Scottish rower admits it is a week which included a brush with the Olympic flame - and the much-expected rubber-stamping of her British spot for London 2012 - that has finally brought home the reality of a home Games.
If the sporting Gods - and the Edinburgh University Boat Club - hadn't intervened, Grainger could have been a fellow martial artist such as Aaron Cook, who has found himself in the middle of an almighty selection row in recent weeks.
Despite being ranked the world's best fighter at -80kg Cook, having been overlooked for selection in favour of Lutalo Muhammad, is most likely facing up to a legal battle to secure his Games participation.
In contrast Grainger's progress has been serene - indeed in the last two years, since an comparatively unsuccessful foray into the world of single sculling in 2009, she and double sculls partner Anna Watkins have barely broken sweat in going through successive seasons unbeaten.
That equilibrium was thrown slightly off course in a rare day off the water when Grainger took her turn with the Olympic flame in Glasgow last Friday.
And, while insistent she's exactly where she wants to be with London 2012 just around the corner, the 36-year-old admitted getting up close and personal with the torch brings with it a sense of trepidation.
Rowing redemption - in the shape of Olympic gold at the fourth time of asking - is Grainger's unequivocal London goal and she said: "It was an emotional moment holding the torch.
"Partly because of the chaos getting to hold it and rushing through the traffic to get there but also partly because when you hold it you think, this is it, this is the flame that's going to light the London Games in a few weeks time.
"It definitely brought the Games very close, a lot of the time when you are training you are away from the spotlight and it is in dark sweaty gyms or on windswept and rain-swept waters.
"So in a way you feel quite detached from the experience of an Olympic Games. We hear about it the whole time on the radio and TV and newspapers but when we go training day-to-day you still feel a little bit away from that.
"And then with a combination of the selection and the torch you suddenly realise that, one you're very much a part of this huge, massive ongoing building experience to what will be this greatest show on Earth and tow that we are now counting it in days.
"We have counted in years for a long time and then it was months, weeks and now it is days so it does feel like we are getting to the end now."
The end - London 2012 - for Grainger will be a career-defining moment regardless of the outcome. After three consecutive Games silvers Grainger has been vocal in her win or bust attitude towards the home Olympics.
And in carrying the torch the 36-year-old admitted she had a moment of clarity - realising just how all-encompassing the Olympics has been on her life.
"The flame and the torch is such a symbol of the Games so to actually be holding that means so much to me and my life," she added.
"London is something that I have been building to for seven years and to be honest the last 15 years of my life has been slightly defined by the Olympic Games.
"Last week was massive with both the official selection, although it wasn't a huge surprise, and carrying the torch.
"It wasn't whether or not we had been picked it's that big milestone that we are now officially part of Team GB.
"Although you know it's been coming for a long time it's the first moment when you know it's definitely going to happen and you're definitely going to be a part of it."
London 2012 Olympics: Australian weightlifter accused of demanding cash - The Guardian
The Australian Weightlifting Federation chief, Michael Keelan, has accused Daniel Koum of demanding A$5,000 (£3,205) to compete at an event where his participation was essential for Australia to win a berth at the London Olympics.
Keelan said he and other team members had been forced to dig into their pockets before the Cameroon-born Koum would compete. Koum said he was "very disappointed" at the allegations.
"I'm very shocked," he told Australian Associated Press. "I've always been competing. I've put all my financial money to represent this country and they're accusing me of [asking for] $5,000?
"With past competitions, I just went to represent Australia in the world championships and it cost me more than $10,000."
Keelan claimed the incident occurred at the Oceania championships in Samoa last week, which doubled as an Olympic qualifier and where the Australia men's team needed a good finish to win a place in London.
Concerned that Koum was not sufficiently motivated to reach his potential in his competition, Keelan offered him a $1,000 incentive, the official told ABC radio.
"You think that everyone who's representing Australia does so with pride and with commitment and, unfortunately, we heard that wasn't the case with Daniel Koum," Keelan said.
"So I personally thought, well, the best way to negate any negatives out of all this would be to, by offering, sort of, some money, whereby he could actually compete and have some incentive to do the total that we asked of him ...
"But then later on, it changed from an agreement to actual demand and he said that he would not lift unless he got $5,000, before he started the warm-up for his own event.
"And then it was pretty frantic ... we had to find that money. And say, within about 30 minutes we handed over the $5,000."
Koum came to Australia to compete at the 2006 Commonwealth Games for Cameroon before becoming a citizen and competing for his adopted country at the 2010 Commonwealths in Delhi.
The Australian Olympic Committee said it had spoken to the AWF and was launching an investigation into the incident.
"The AOC is working with the AWF to investigate the matter," read a statement. "The AOC investigation will be ongoing."
Koum could conceivably yet represent Australia at London 2012 after the AWF nominates its single male entry to the AOC this weekend.
Keelan said he had no regrets about offering the incentive. "(I felt) sick in the guts," Keelan recalled. "I was under duress. We had to make a call very, very quickly. And, you know, the call was that we would submit to his demand."
'London 2012 terrorist threat' adverts banned - The Guardian
An advertising campaign by a firm aiming to cash in on the fear of terrorism during the London Olympic games by using images of the 7/7 attacks to sell bomb-blast window film has been banned by the advertising watchdog.
The Advertising Standards Authority described the campaign, which used an image of the bus destroyed in Tavistock Square in the 7 July 2005 bombings, as "wholly inappropriate and shocking" and likely to cause serious offence.
In its ruling the ASA said that the campaign had "exaggerated the potential threat faced by businesses due to the Olympic Games and could have caused undue fear and distress to someone who received the mailing".
The advertising regulator added that the campaign was in breach of the advertising code and banned it.
Used as part of a direct mail campaign by a company called Northgate Solar Controls that aimed to drum up orders for its anti-shatter window film, the 7/7 image was sent to about 4,400 businesses.
Northgate Solar Controls told business owners they may have already been visited by the Metropolitan police or another "government agency" to warn of a "red alert for the Olympic Games".
The campaign talked of a "very real threat" of suicide bombers entering the country more easily because of large numbers of visitors swamping ports of entry and "undetected terrorist sleeper cells" that could launch an attack affecting businesses.
Northgate Solar Controls said that it only targeted businesses in London and the home counties, where most of the Olympic activity is taking place, and that it was not scaremongering but instead wanted to "help minimise the risks in the event of an explosion by the application of bomb-blast film".
However, the business that complained to the Advertising Standards Authority about receiving the direct mail shot was based "almost 50 miles away from the nearest Olympics venue in Essex".
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