London 2012: Olympic medals locked in Tower - BBC News
The London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic medals are being locked in the Tower of London vaults on Monday evening, ready for the Games, which open on 27 July.
The 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals, made at the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, near Cardiff, will be kept at the London landmark until needed.
They will be awarded in 805 victory ceremonies, taking place from 28 July.
The Olympics medals were designed by artist David Watkins, the Paralympics medals by jewellery artist Lin Cheung.
At the tower, Rio Tinto, the mining company which has produced the metals for the medals, will hand them over to London organising committee chairman Lord Coe and they will be taken down to the vaults.
Eight tonnes of gold, silver and copper has been taken from mines in Salt Lake City in the US and in Mongolia.
The Olympic medal has a design featuring the Greek goddess of victory, Nike on the front, stepping out of the Panathenaic stadium.
On the back, the River Thames, under the London 2012 logo, is intersected by shards.
The Paralympic medal has a section of one of Nike's wings on the front and a depiction of the surface close to her heart on the other.
A ceremony will take place at the Tower, where the Crown Jewels are held, on Monday evening, attended by children from Tower Hamlets, one of the Olympic boroughs.
Seb Coe said it was "great the London 2012 medals will be kept safe and secure" at the central London royal palace and fortress.
He said: "For an athlete, winning an Olympic or Paralympic medal represents the conclusion of thousands of hours of training and reaching the highest level in sport.
"The victory ceremonies then provide the moment they can truly celebrate their success."
Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson said: "To the athletes competing to win these medals, they are as precious as the Crown Jewels, so it is fitting that they should be stored for safe keeping in the same iconic location."
The first medals will be awarded for shooting on Saturday, 28 July.
London 2012: Michael Phelps ready to battle with Ryan Lochte - BBC News
Michael Phelps has opted out of the 200m freestyle at the Olympic Games and will instead chase seven gold medals.
The American is expected to concentrate on two butterfly and two individual medley events as well as three relays.
His coach Bob Bowman said Phelps was "removing the individual 200m freestyle from his Olympic programme. This will give him a full slate of seven events."
Phelps is the most successful Olympian ever, having won a total of 14 golds, including eight in Beijing in 2008.
Phelps' epic eight Olympic medals
"It makes sense - no-one should be expected to do that twice," tweeted Bowman. "Once was enough."
"This change will allow him to focus more energy on relays for Team USA."
Phelps had seemed ready to compete in eight events after he won three at the US trials.
But although he won the 200m freestyle in Beijing four years ago, he has since been beaten over that distance in the last two World Championships.
US head coach Gregg Troy said Ricky Berens, who finished third in the 200m freestyle at the trials, would replace Phelps in London.
"It was a fun week but there are still a lot of things that need to be perfected," said Phelps after the trials.
"It shows that I can do it in a programme at a high level again. I was struggling over the last few years."
Ryan Lochte“In the past four years, I've gone a lot faster and I know what my body can handle ”
He has won a total of 38 world and Olympic gold medals in his career but admitted he struggled for motivation after Beijing 2008.
He has also faced increasing competition from fellow American Ryan Lochte, who will now be favourite for the 200m freestyle after Phelps's withdrawal.
At last year's World Championships in Shanghai, Lochte, 27, won five titles, one more than Phelps, who is also 27.
The Phelps and Lochte rivalry is expected to be one of highlights of the Games, which begin later this month.
"Neither one of us wants to lose," said Phelps. "When we get in the water we race as hard as we can, whether we're playing cat and mouse by the end, we're going all out.
"They're fun, exciting races and Ryan has proved he's been the best over the past couple of years."
Lochte sounded a warning to Phelps after the trials. "I'm used to racing against him, I've been doing it for eight years now," he said.
"In the past four years, I've gone a lot faster and I know what my body can handle. This meet was just stepping stones for what I really want to do in London."
Lochte, who does not normally compete in the 100m butterfly, missed out on Olympic qualification after Phelps caught Tyler McGill to win in 51.14 seconds - the world's fastest time this year.
McGill took the second Olympic spot in 51.32secs, with Lochte close behind in 51.65secs.
Phelps finished first in the 200m individual medley final and the 200m freestyle final earlier in the trials, while Lochte beat him in the 400m individual medley final and also won the 200m backstroke final.
Missy Franklin, 17, is set to become the first US woman to swim in seven events at the Games after she won the 200m backstroke in 2:06.12.
"I felt really strong. It really hurts so bad at the end but if it doesn't then you're not doing it right," she said.
"I can't believe I have seven events. It's so overwhelming but so exciting at the same time."
London Olympics 2012: Pearce Defends Beckham Omission - ibtimes.co.uk
"I have a vast amount of respect for David and what he's done in bringing the Olympics here. David as a professional and David as an England international and what he's done for England, but I've got a duty of care within this squad in my mind the best squad.
"The only relevance I really have is footballing terms; I treated all the players in the same manner. I've given plenty of my time to watching all of the players in terms of the form and fitness and I think this is going to be a very competitive squad."
Beckham, who has 115 England caps to his name, spoke of his disappointment on learning of his omission last week, however Pearce has opened the door for the former England captain to be involved as one of Team GB's stand-by players.
The England Under-21 manager is at liberty to alter his squad should injury dictate in the lead up to the Games, before submitting his final 18-man squad on 25 July.
Pearce says he has watched Beckham three times during LA Galaxy's MLS campaign, and says the door is still ajar for a potential call-up to the squad.
"I've spoken to David a number of times, over the summer and before our season had finished, about whether he would have an interest in being involved in the Olympic Games, I also did that with several other players to gage their view point on whether they would be interested in being involved, while making no guarantees to any individual at that stage," Pearce added.
"I spoke with him Thursday evening in relation to his non-inclusion in this squad, I know he had a real burning passion to be part of this squad, I understand that,as the rest of the players showed as well. I thought it was right and proper that he heard from me directly and that was the case. I have been to watch David on three occasions in the states and I've probably watched every game he's player on DVD he's played this season with the Galaxy.
"It was a decision he was very disappointed with, like many of the remaining players who were on the 35-man list and who are now on the stand-by list. If there are any injuries leading into the tournament then obviously he's in that criteria with other players.
"I think one thing I can say is that I've treated everyone in exactly the same manner no matter of their age, whether they're underage or overage I've treated them in the same way and I've chosen a squad who in my eyes are the best in terms of footballing ability."
The inclusion of Beckham was expected to spark a splurge of ticket sales for the Olympic football competition, for which there are still over a million remaining.
The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and the British Olympic Association are likely to be have been surprised by Beckham's exclusion, and despite LOCOG being on the brink of reaching their revenue target, both bodies were relying on his inclution to improve sales.
Despite the number of tickets still to sell, Pearce says he was put under no pressure to select Beckham upon being appointed as coach.
"From the offset I sat with the chairman sometime before Christmas when Mr Bernstein offered me the opportunity to pick this squad, if at that stage he had said to me there are certain individuals that must be in your squad I probably wouldn't have done the job.
"I don't know any manager worth their salt that would have done the job in that situation. Right through the whole process I've had cart-blanche to pick whatever players I deem to be right and proper in regards to doing the leg-work that I do. I take my profession very, very seriously.
"I do enough hours watching matches I think I've taken due-diligence on all the players, so in terms of ticket sales, merchandising, whatever, I'm a football man, I pick solely on football ability and my opinion and I have to back my opinion and that's what I've done here.
"I feel very sorry for David and I understand how much it would have meant to be part of this I do understand that but I have to take a duty of care to all the squad and I think I've done that."
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Samurai sword used in armed robbery in Ardglass - BBC News
Two men - one of them armed with a samurai sword - have robbed a filling station in Ardglass, County Down.
The pair went into the filling station on the Downpatrick Road at about 22:45 BST on Sunday and threatened a member of staff.
They escaped with cash in a silver Vauxhall Vectra car towards Ardglass. The car was discovered by police in the Meadow Court area a short time later.
The member of staff was not injured in the incident.
The two men were dressed in dark clothes and had their faces covered.
Police have asked anyone with information about the incident is to contact them at Downpatrick on 0845 600 8000.
London 2012 Olympics: New Zealand could be the dark horses of eventing - Daily Telegraph Blogs
London bound: New Zealand's Mark Todd in action at Barbury (Photo: PA)
Spectators need their heads on a swivel to get the very best out of the international horse trials at Barbury. The cross-country course is on open hills above Marlborough and the most panoramic in Europe.
On top of that, the competition sends out runners in reverse order of merit, not their initial order-of-go, meaning that the best are clustered at the very end of the four-hour cross-country marathon: if you want to watch Mark Todd pinging through the line at the foot of the valley, you must forsake William Fox-Pitt at the complicated quarry behind you.
Yesterday’s event, sponsored by St James’ Place, was even more exhilarating – and frustrating – by incorporating selection trials for both the red-hot New Zealand and US teams. Eight of their contenders were on course alongside top Brits Oliver Townend, Pippa Funnell, Lucy Weigersma and the already Greenwich-bound Mary King (Imperial Cavalier) and Tina Cook (Miners Frolic) – both looking fabulous – within the space of 30 minutes.
The Barbury buzz engenders a culture of fast, accurate riding. Watching the highly skilled in such concentration is a sharp reminder that absent Germany is not the only country Britain has to beat at London.
Kiwis Andrew Nicholson (Avebury), Jonathan Paget (Clifton Lush) and Mark Todd (NZB Campino) filled the first three places out of 110 starters in the principal three-star competition, after dressage and show jumping. Although Paget tripped up in the water and Todd missed out fence 21, for a technical elimination, their current form suggests these aberrations will be forgiven, making the riders even more determined not to mess-up in London, and a stung Kiwi is a very dangerous beast.
More significantly, Nicholson won with Avebury and moved up 11 places on Quimbo into second place.
Nicholson, 50, is preparing for his sixth consecutive Olympic Games and seventh in all, and exudes the quiet confidence of one who believes it’s his time to shine.
He came to Britain in 1980 as groom to Mark Todd, then a dairy farmer making his first Badminton bid. He has lived here ever since. Nicholson has won many team medals and Burghley twice, though as a championship individual he was mostly stuck in the shadow of Todd (Olympic champion 1984-88, individual bronze 2000) and team-mate Blyth Tait (Olympic champion 1996 and world champion 1990 and 1998.) While Todd and Tait took lengthy sabbaticals, Nicholson kept at it. His only concession to age is the pair of utility specs he now wears for cross-country.
More remarkably, Avebury and Quimbo are Nicholson’s second and third options for London. First choice is his 2010 world bronze medallist Nereo, off to Aachen this weekend, just three weeks before the Games and a window in which most rivals aim to keeping their horses on low-risk tick-over.
“Aachen is even more pressure than Barbury, but a great preparation for the Olympics,” he said. “I don’t want to wrap them up in cotton wool. They are used to competing and trying to win prizes, and for both me and them it’s important to keep to the system and hope it takes us to where we want go.”
Few would disagree that the world’s most naturally gifted rider, Michael Jung, will be partnered at the Olympic Games by the world’s very best horse, La Biosthetique Sam – it doesn’t often marry-up like that.
Last week, US team coach Captain Mark Phillips told me that he thought New Zealand had re-emerged as the big threat at London, and that Mystery Whisper, the ride of US veteran Philip Dutton, was the horse most capable of challenging “Sam” for the individual. Dutton’s overnight Barbury dressage score of 48 (14th), suggested he still has a little work to with Mystery Whisper, though Captain Phillips could be right on his other point. The Kiwi menace is the one to see off.
Peugeot arm to handle GM’s Europe logistics - Financial Times
July 2, 2012 5:11 pm
Bolt struts a London catwalk - YAHOO!
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