Chief of 2012 Olympics visits Morocco

Chief of 2012 Olympics visits Morocco to promote youth sports
Lord Sebastian Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the 2012 Olympic Games, met with Moroccan officials and athletes Monday (January 7th) to discuss how to promote sports among young people.

"Few countries are able to boast of having such sports stars as Nawal Al Moutawakil, Said Aouita and Hicham El Guerrouj", Lord Coe said at a press conference in Casablanca. "It's a great honour for me to be in Morocco, a country that has contributed so much to sport in general and athletics in particular."

According to Lord Coe, his discussion with National Athletics Federation President Abdessalem Ahizoune was quite relaxed. "We talked about a range of topics directly or indirectly affecting athletics in Morocco, with the sole purpose of bringing sport up to speed just four years ahead of the 2012 Olympic Games in London," he explained, adding that the big challenge today is getting young people to take up athletics rather than other activities. He emphasised that realising this goal is in everyone's best interest.

Legendary Moroccan athlete Hicham El Guerrouj said, "When I learned that Lord Coe had come to Morocco, I left Nice in France straight away to come and meet him, because he was always a role model for me." It is a great honour, the former Olympic and world champion said, to work with Coe on youth athletics in Morocco and elsewhere.

Nawal El Moutawakil, named Minister for Youth and Sports by King Mohammed VI last month, also appeared with Lord Coe at the press conference. She said Morocco needs the know-how of a great champion like Sebastian Coe to move forward in athletics. "I met Lord Coe at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, and for me he was a model to emulate, especially in his determination to succeed," said the minister.

In 1984, El Moutawakil became the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal. She is now a member of the International Olympic Committee and, as president of the IOC Evaluation Commission, helped choose the host nation for the 2012 Games. London won the rights to organise the Olympic Games, beating out Paris, New York, Moscow and Madrid.

The new minister is also vice-chair of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which uses sports programmes as a "universal language" to battle crime and drugs, "break down the barriers of war-torn nations and regenerate forgotten communities".

Sebastian Coe broke the world records for the 800 m, 1500 m and mile in the 1980's. He has been Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the 2012 Olympic Games since 2005. He is also Vice-President of the International Athletics Federation.


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Anti-doping body for 2012

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Britain sets up independent anti-doping body for 2012

The British government has announced the formation of an independent body to bolster anti-doping measures in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics.
UK Sport and the Departure of Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) said on Wednesday that the National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO) will be up and running well before the Games.
It will operate outside UK Sport, the goverment agency currently responsible for implementing and managing Britain's anti-doping policy.
The move follows a comprehensive six-month review of the country's anti-doping measures by a working party comprising members of UK Sport and DCMS.
Earlier this year a cross-party committee of British parliamentarians accused the government of being complacent in putting together a robust system to catch drug cheats.
Minister for Sport Gerry Sutcliffe welcomed the recommendations, saying the NADO will mean drug cheats have "no place to hide".
"Establishing a new, independent anti-doping organisation is a natural evolution in the fight against drugs in sport," he said in a statement.
"In the same way drug cheats are constantly finding new ways to beat the system, we have to constantly look at what we do to catch them.
"We have to ensure they have no place to hide and these new powers, implemented by an independent agency, will help us do that. By 2012 drug cheats will never have had it so bad."
The NADO will work more closely with law enforcement agencies to stem the supply of prohibited substances.
It will also take away the onus on national governing bodies to bring doping cases themselves -- a situation that has raised fears of conflicts of interest in the past.
Sue Campbell, chairman of UK Sport, said current anti-doping measures were in danger of being overtaken by the increasingly sophisticated supply and use of performance-enhancing drugs.
"People who are determined to cheat are increasingly sophisticated in the ways in which they go about their business, as are the people that supply and manipulate them, and we need to ensure we adapt our approach accordingly," she said.
"The scale of this type of operation, particularly in terms of the single focus required, simply means that the role of the NADO has outgrown its current position within UK Sport."

Debate over 2012 legacy

Sir Clive Woodward's involvement in London 2012 continues to attract suspicion from within Olympic governing bodies despite the peace deal between UK Sport and the British Olympic Association announced this month.
Athletics and cycling both used a hearing of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee in parliament yesterday to express doubts about what the Rugby World Cup-winning coach could bring to their sports that they did not already have. Woodward has developed a £150,000-a-year multi-coach training programme for athletes but the major sports appear to require some convincing of its worth.
"At this time we don't see anything that he has to offer cycling that we are not already getting from UK Sport, and UK Sport would be in serious difficulties if he could offer anything they are not," said Chris Boardman, the former Olympic cycling champion.
The UK Athletics chairman, Ed Warner, was also sceptical. "There are those who would say there are no new ideas in the Woodward programme," he said. "So far he has had no impact on athletics but he might do, provided that we can dictate what we can use to improve our chances. There has been a risk that we get caught up in the political backlash of two organisations [UK Sport and the BOA] locking horns over their rival programmes."

Debate over 2012 legacy
The role of Sport England in delivering the sporting legacy of the 2012 Olympic Games remains a major concern to MPs and sports' governing bodies. The question was repeatedly raised at yesterday's select committee hearing, with all the sports agreeing that Sport England should drive the legacy commitment but unclear as to its plans.

The quango is currently in negotiations with the government over its funding package from 2009 to 2011 but it remains to be seen whether its primary role going forward will be mass participation to encourage a health and fitness agenda or promoting sport.

Fundraising doubts
Serious concerns remain at UK Sport about how the government will raise £100m from the private sector to complete its total pre-London 2012 funding package of £600m. UK Sport's chair, Sue Campbell, told the select committee yesterday that she could not confidently predict that the money would be raised.

The DCMS is in the process of hiring an agency to help raise the cash but sponsorship has already been ruled out as an option.

England look to first base
England have narrowed their search for potential Euro 2008 base camps down to two or three options should they qualify for the tournament by avoiding defeat against Croatia at Wembley tonight.

The favoured option is understood to be a base in Switzerland close to one of the major cities, with a site on Lac Leman, near Geneva, among the possibilities.

With two of the Euro 2008 groups playing all their matches in Austria, however, they will wait until the draw on December 2 before allowing England's head coach, Steve McClaren, to have the final say.

Refreshingly the Football Association has no intention of repeating the World Cup 2006 mistake of selecting a remote base that cuts the players off from media, supporters and, in some cases, reality.

Dein under fire
The former Arsenal vice chairman David Dein, below, clashed with Andy Walsh, chairman of the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association, at yesterday's Future of Football conference in London over the issue of supporter representation on club boards.

Dein, who is fronting the Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov's attempts to take control of Arsenal, said he had never met a board member who was not a fan.

Walsh also spoke out against foreign ownership but found no one in the audience of financiers and football club employees to support his view.

The flood of foreign cash into the English game shows no sign of slowing, meanwhile, with the Dubai International Capital group, which tried and failed to buy Liverpool, understood to be still eyeing investment opportunities in the Premier League.

Coincidental clash
It was curious timing yesterday for the launch of the Legacy Trust, a new charitable body whose task is to fund "the sporting and cultural legacy of the 2012 Olympics".

Some 19 months after Tessa Jowell first announced it, the official launch event started just as officials from UK Sport and leading governing bodies were being grilled in parliament on issues including the sporting legacy of London 2012.

A spokeswoman for the DCMS said the clash was entirely coincidental.

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Guiding hand to make the most of the Olympics

BUSINESSES in Coventry and Warwickshire are being offered the opportunity to produce a guide to help other firms win London 2012 contracts.

West Midlands Business Council has invited the region's companies to pitch for a contract to design and produce the guide, which will then be distributed in the region.

The guide, which is targeted at smaller businesses, aims to assist bosses in winning the numerous lucrative contracts that the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will generate.

There are already several ways in which businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire can look for 2012-related contracts and a new electronic brokerage service is expected to be launched in early 2008.

The guide will contain all necessary information for businesses to find out about contracts and the best ways to win them.

More than £25 billion of work is expected to be generated when the capital hosts the Games and several companies in Coventry and Warwickshire have already secured 2012 contracts.

The Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership, a collaboration of private, public and voluntary organisations, is the local body working towards maximising the opportunities arising from the 2012 Games.

David Hartley is chairman of the partnership's business sub-group and director of business development and finance at the Coventry and Warwick-shire Chamber of Commerce.

He said: "Coventry and Warwick-shire's business community can reap huge rewards from the London 2012 Games.

"Bidding for 2012 work is a highly competitive field and many companies feel daunted by what they fear is a complicated process, but it is not as difficult as it may seem and there is plenty of help available.

"The Coventry and Warwickshire 2012 Partnership, working with local partners such as the Chamber and regional partners like the West Midlands Business Council, will make every effort to ensure companies feel confident in bidding for work.

"We all want to see the region maximising the opportunities available."

London Games creates hurdles for building offices in the City

The spiralling cost of construction in the lead-up to the Olympic Games in London in 2012 is undermining City office development deals, a report will reveal today.

A shortage of skilled labour, soaring prices of raw materials and a growing number of Olympics-related projects have given the building industry huge bargaining power over developers in the pricing of new schemes in the capital.

Building cost estimates have risen by about 25 per cent over the past year. The surge in costs, coupled with the recent credit crunch from banks, has turned the City office investment market into a virtual dead zone since the end of July, with little prospect of improvement until the new year, according to Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial property agency.

A total of £5.4 billion was spent on buying City office space in the third quarter of this year. While that represented an 8 per cent rise on investment in the previous quarter and 14 per cent more than the same period a year ago, all but about £350 million of deals took place before the start of August, Cushman’s figures reveal.

Since August, banks have tightened their lending criteria and are demanding far more upfront cash from potential investors – or they are not lending at all.

Meanwhile, the cost of building the foundations and shell for a City office block has risen from about £200 per square foot last September to £270 for a normal structure and up to £300 for the tallest skyscrapers, Bill Tyser, head of Cushman’s City investment team, calculates. Four years ago build costs would have been about £170 to £180 per square foot.

“People like to fix costs upfront and they are not being able to do so. The issue at the moment is that we are in a period where investors can’t get liquidity in the financial markets, so a lot of structured deals are not happening,” Mr Tyser said.

“What started this year off was a huge rise in the price of cladding and steel formation due to demand from China and India. Now we are beginning to see the impact of the Olympics building up. A lot of contractors are in command about what they want to do. Many are saying: ‘I do not want to do that – a City scheme – as I want to be in the frame for East London.’ So there have been really big build-cost jumps this year.”

City skyscraper projects with planning but still yet to get off the ground include Land Securities’ 20 Fenchurch Street, a 37-storey project rising to 160m (525ft) and dubbed the “Walkie Talkie” due to its concave shape. No decision will be made until next spring on a starting date for the building, including whether to construct speculatively, without a tenant lined up, or with a prelet in place, a senior company source told The Times.

Meanwhile, plans to build The Pinnacle, a 288m City skyscraper dubbed the “Helter Skelter” because of its twisted shape, still depend on securing the last slice of development finance. The site’s owner, an Arab Investments-backed offshore company, has been in talks for nearly a month to sign a definitive fixed-price construction contract with Multiplex, the company behind the delayed and overbudget Wembley stadium. It is understood that Khalis Affara, the managing director of Arab Investments, has signed only a heads of agreement with Multiplex, but a full contract is needed before the final construction funding falls into place. Construction is due to start early next year, with completion in 2009.

A start date has yet to be fixed for construction of New London Bridge House – in what will be London’s tallest tower at 310m – after the backers for the scheme, dubbed the “Shard of Glass”, confirmed this month that they were struggling to secure development finance. Talks are under way for a new investor, possibly the state of Qatar, to buy a one-third equity stake from Simon Halabi, the tycoon, while Credit Suisse is on standby to provide new finance.

The only significant Central London office deal to take place since August has been the £240 million sale by Legal & General of its Bucklersbury House site between Cannon Street and Bank stations, which in 2013 is destined to become Walbrook Square, the City’s largest new office and shops scheme in 25 years.

Questions have already been raised in the City over how the eventual buyer of the scheme, Metrovacesa, of Spain, will make a profitable return. Among those who balked at the prices needed to make it through to the final round of bids were Canary Wharf, the docklands developer.

Metrovacesa shot to prominence this year when it paid £1.1 billion for HSBC’s Canary Wharf headquarters, representing an initial yield - return from rent compared to price paid – of just under 4 per cent. Average City office yields have since shifted from about 4.5 per cent to 5 per cent, over fears of price falls.
source: business.timesonline.co.uk

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Government urged to fast-track immigration process of chefs in bid to avoid Olympics skills shortage

by Greg Pitcher

Foreign chefs must be given the same immigration fast-track as Premiership footballers to stop the 2012 Olympic Games being blighted by a kitchen skills crisis, Gordon Brown has been told.


Sector skills council People 1st and trade body the British Hospitality Association (BHA) have sent a joint letter to the prime minister urging him to act immediately on the issue.


London mayor Ken Livingstone has already warned that increasing the standard of hospitality the capital offers visitors is crucial to their perception of the 2012 Olympics.


Four in 10 UK chefs do not possess a Level Two qualification – deemed to be the minimum needed to prepare food from scratch.


Brian Wisdom, chief executive of People 1st, said: “The government has known for some time that employers here are struggling to find highly skilled chefs.


“There is a certain irony in the fact that a sushi chef with 12 years’ training – who we really need in this country – gets denied entry, yet footballers from the same part of the world with less years’ training behind them take priority.”


BHA chief executive Bob Cotton added that high-quality Asian restaurants were struggling to find enough chefs locally and needed to look abroad.


“With our food tastes evolving, there is an urgent need for great chefs, and this will become even more of an issue with the influx of millions of tourists heading to London in advance of the Olympic Games,” he said.

London shares down midmorning, off lows, July inflation falls below 2 pct

Leading shares remained weak midmorning but off lows as investors drew some comfort from July inflation news which showed the headline number fall back below the BoE target of 2 pct.

By 10.15 am, the FTSE 100 index was 14.7 points lower 6,204.3, with the FTSE 250 index was also recovering some of its earlier losses to trade 58.4 points lighter at 11,110.7.

Volume was fair, with 484 mln shares changing hands in 138,922 deals.

In economic news, inflation in the UK fell by the biggest amount in over five years during July, pushed down by falls in food prices and furniture, as well as utility and petrol costs and taking the key CPI rate below the Bank of England's target rate, official figures showed.

The Office for National Statistics said the annual CPI inflation rate slumped to 1.9 pct in July from 2.4 pct in June, well below analysts' forecasts for a decline to 2.2 pct and the steepest drop since May 2002.

This is the lowest CPI rate since March 2006 and is also the first time since that date that inflation has been below the 2.0 pct level that the Bank of England is charged with targeting.

The news is likely to diminish expectations for a further interest rate rise in the autumn, particularly in the light of the recent turmoil on financial markets.

Back among the blue chips, financials were weighing as ongoing credit concerns hit the banking and asset management sectors.

Inter-dealer broker Icap slipped 15 to 476, while Man Group slid 8 to 504.

Elsewhere, banks were lower after Credit Suisse advised its clients to stay away from the sector and backed up its concerns with a downgrade to Bradford & Bingley, off 12 pence at 417, and HBOS which eased 5 to 900.

Morrison also took a tumble, down 6 at 259, after issuing a warning of an e-coli outbreak in the Paisley area.

The outbreak was linked to sliced cold meat products at the delicatessen counters of its Lonend and Falside Road stores in Paisley, Scotland as the public health protection unit at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde started an investigating.

The move was precipitated after a 66-year-old woman died as a result of contracting the infection, while her husband remains seriously ill in hospital.

Sainsbury slipped 3 pence to 544-1/2, after it emerged the Qatari investment fund Delta Two which is targeting the UK supermarket group could reduce the debt proportion in its proposed 10.6 bln stg bid, according to a report in the Financial Times.

This move, said the newspaper, is an attempt to satisfy concerns that the supermarket group could withstand potential pressure on earnings from difficult trading conditions.

Philip Hampton, chairman of the UK's third-biggest supermarket chain, is expected to repeat demands for Qatari investment group Delta Two to restructure its offer proposal to include an additional 1 bln stg of equity when the two parties meet for a fifth time Wednesday, Thomson Financial News reported yesterday, citing city sources.

Sticking with M&A news, Royal Bank of Scotland bucked this morning's negative trend after a report in the Financial Times that the consortium led by the UK bank looking to buy ABN Amro has increased its stake in the Dutch bank to 3.25 pct. The move signals the group's determination to continue with its 71.1 bln eur bid for ABN.

There had been speculation that the consortium's takeover attempt could be undermined by tighter conditions in the credit markets, with concern centring on Fortis' debt-dependent contribution to the financing of the bid.

Lenders are currently demanding higher returns from all borrowers amid worries over a wave of defaults in the US sub-prime mortgage sector.

In broker driven news, BT Group rallied 3-1/4 to 311 after being upgraded to 'neutral' from 'underperform' at Credit Suisse, citing its cost cutting efforts and a slow take-up of full local loop unbundling in the UK.

Vodafone ticked up 1.3 to 159.6 as Germany's Federal Cartel Office said it had no objections to Vodafone, Telefonica's O2 and Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile plans to set up a mobile television joint venture.

The companies plan to base the venture on the DVB-H standard mobile TV technology.

Elsewhere, Anglo American benefited after HSBC upped its rating to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and raised its price target to 3,350 pence, from 3,200 in the wake of the company's H1 results. The shares rose 31 to 2847.

In earnings news, InterContinental Hotels Group reversed opening falls after unveiling H1 earnings broadly in line with the markets' estimates and which highlighted that signings continue to run at record levels.

The company also raised its interim dividend by 12 pct to 5.7 pence from 5.1 pence. IHG's shares added 10 to 1,111.

Miners also reversed early losses as investors focused on firmer metal prices overnight and as early profit taking following yesterday's sharp gains petered out.

Antofagasta added 6 to 691, Vedanta took on 15 to 1,682 and Rio ticked up 8 to 3,228.

Turning to the second line, National Express Group gained 16 pence at 1,163, after winning the race for the UK's prestigious East Coast inter-city rail franchise, with a pledge to pay the government 1.4 bln stg over the life of the seven year deal.

National Express finance director Adam Walker said differences between the new contract and the previous deal, including a new timetable from 2010, 20 pct more capacity and potential boosts to demand such as the London 2012 Olympics, should help it avoid the problems that led to GNER's demise.

From www.hemscott.com

School 'Olympics' face growth spurt

An increase from five to eight sports and a possible visit from Gordon Brown will further raise the bar of the second United Kingdom School Games when the four-day event opens in Coventry on Aug 23.

The Prime Minister, one of the event's most powerful supporters, first announced the Games in his 2006 Budget speech - he referred to it then as the 'Schools Olympics'. He is believed to be committed to pushing on with school sport development and grassroots sport investment for the next decade.

The sports programme for Coventry, in the wake of the inaugural event in Glasgow last September which was heralded as a great success, has seen an increase in sports. Badminton, volleyball and judo are added this year to swimming, athletics, table tennis, gymnastics and fencing. Table tennis joins athletics and swimming on the disability sport programme in Coventry.

Next year the UK School Games could branch out even further and add sports that do not feature in the Olympic, Commonwealth and Paralympic Games. There are many supporters of 'lifestyle' sports which are popular with youngsters. Arguments that skateboarding and BMX bike riding are not mainstream enough are facile: BMX has been included for the 2008 Games in Beijing and skateboarding is also being talked up as a possibility, too, for London in 2012.

Critics once said the same of snowboarding, but on vert ramps these days we are watching the scintillating skills of athletes in baggy clothes. Skateboarding is now one of the most visually spectacular events, both for television viewers and live spectators, at the Winter Olympic Games.

Street sports are already being organised in schools. Action Sports In Schools (ASIS), a non-profit sports coaching programme, has already been growing in schools over the past year. Just as dance and aerobics has become a popular activity for many teenage girls, so 'street sports' should also be included under the school sports umbrella.

The Youth Sport Trust, who run the Games on government funding, have established core themes underpinning the aims of the event and potential career pathways for teenagers in sport. They include developing the integration of Olympic and Paralympic themes, both with athletes and organisers; the experience of opening and closing ceremonies and life in an athlete village (this year at the Warwick University campus); volunteer training towards 2012 and beyond, and a change in the content, structure and presentation of competitive sporting opportunities.

All athletes will be accommodated on the campus, where they will experience the atmosphere of an Olympic village. The British Olympic Foundation are partners in the delivery of the Games, and are to provide first-hand experience of the Olympics to re-create a 'hub' which will become the 'melting pot' for 1,500 schoolchildren. Athletes will mix and learn about other sports. This year, 11 'athlete ambassadors', former and current Olympians, will live alongside the athletes.

Steve Grainger, the chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said: "Within England the UK School Games forms the apex of a pyramid of competitive sporting opportunities being promoted through school sport. The government announcement of July 13 committed additional funds to complete the roll-out of competition managers across all school sport partnerships from 2008.

"These competition managers will be key to implementing this enhanced competitive offer for young people. They will work closely with national governing bodies and local school sports federations to create pathways from high-quality intra-school competition." £2.3 million in National Lottery funding has been awarded to the Youth Sport Trust through the Big Lottery Fund to develop the UK School Games until 2011 and for the 2007 Games in Coventry.

• Visa is the presenting sponsor of the 2007 Games, which are also being supported by Coventry City Council.

• Tickets are available by phone on 0871 230 1080 or at www.ukschoolgames.com.

From www.telegraph.co.uk

Cuffy’s focused on London Olympics

The moment a Cayman cricket coach set eyes on six–year–old Tyrell Cuffy at the Owen Roberts International Airport, he said: “That boy is destined to be a sprinter.”

And sure enough, 12 years later, he’s been proved right. Cuffy is one of the Caribbean’s fastest teenagers, on the verge of being world class at 18 with Olympic ambitions firmly in his sights. The cricket coach was Andy Myles, there to welcome Tyrell’s dad Theo to Grand Cayman from Trinidad to take up the position of cricket’s technical director. Cuffy is still in the post and Myles his assistant. Little Tyrell, however, has grown into a strapping six–footer, improving virtually every time he runs the 200 metres. “I could tell Tyrell was a sprinter even then because he walked on his toes, not the balls of his feet,” says Myles. “He had a very smooth, easy step, sort of glided.”

“Even at George Town Primary School his teacher, Mrs. Ebanks, spotted his sprinting talent,” says Theo. “He played cricket, captained the Under–15s and went on to play for the U–19s but then athletics took over.”

And how. Cuffy has just completed his first senior season, always a difficult one for aspiring champions used to being top dog as juniors. He fared well too, running fast enough at the Pan Am Junior Games in Sao Paulo to take silver in the 200m that qualified him for the senior tournament in Rio de Janeiro a few days after where he got to the semis. “Going to Rio was a great experience where I met professional athletes who gave me good advice,” Cuffy says. “I learned to always stay focused and they told me to do my school work and stay disciplined.”

Cuffy roomed with his Caymanian team mates high jumper Omar Wright and multi–disciplined thrower Michael Letterlough. “That was fun too. Omar is more a wise guy, who advised me to leave the girls alone for now and train hard. Michael has more of a business brain and talked about how to make the money.”

All three are the products of an intensive Cayman athletics programme headed by coach Kenrick Williams, who is churning out high quality competitors with production–line precision. “Kenrick is the best,” says Cuffy. “I’ve been with him since I was eight and still keep in touch with him now I’m at college. He believes that if he can get you to the level of the Cafita Games then you are destined to make it.”

Cuffy’s closest sprinting pal is Kemar Hyman, a 17–year–old Caymanian who is also emerging as one to watch. “I also like training with Stephon Johnson. He’s the perfect role model. He sits you down and gives good advice. The twins Carl and Carlos Morgan (Caymanian athletes studying in American colleges) have just emailed me to say they’re training hard and coming after me in the 200m next year, so watch out. I’m looking forward to it. I love the competition.”

Established Caymanian athletes Kareem Streete–Thompson and Cydonie Mothersill are also great sources of inspiration for Cuffy.

A business administration student at King College in Bristol, Tennessee, Cuffy enjoys the small campus atmosphere and competing in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics league. Offers have come to move to larger colleges where he can run in more competitive Division One meets. But he’s happy with the parochial life there for now.

“I’m settled there with my coaches Johnny Bomar and Tom Murrell who are trying to improve my endurance by running occasional 400m relay. Studying always takes precedence though. Classes in the morning, I train at 3pm then back to my books in the evening.”

He adds with a big smile: “I’m not much of a party guy,” but does admit to having “a couple of girlfriends”.

With a degree firmly on his resume in three years’ time, Cuffy is coming back to Cayman with the intention of being a full–time sprinter. “My ultimate dream is the Olympics. I came this close to qualify for Beijing next year in the 200m with a time of 20.83 seconds when the qualifier is 20.75 so I hope to get that time next year.”

By then he’ll be bigger, stronger and better equipped for the rigours of the event. His size and shape lends itself more to the longer sprint than the 100m. “The way I run, the strides, I’m told I don’t have the ‘quick twitch’ action you need to be really good at 100m, but I am improving.” He’s still run a respectable 10.39secs.

Cuffy wants to emulate Jamaica’s world–record holder Asafa Powell. “That guy is unbelievable. He’s my idol. I’ll be rooting for him at the World Championships in two weeks’ time. I’ve met him in Jamaica and shook his hands. Nice guy.”

Cuffy hopes to compete in Beijing for the experience with a goal of reigning supreme at the London Olympics in 2012. “I’ve only passed through London as a sprinter but I’d love to visit there. Dad talks about it all the time.”

Tyrell believes he can reach Olympic medal status without illegal drugs. “I haven’t been offered any drugs and definitely wouldn’t take them anyway to be the best. I’d say about 80 per cent of athletes are clean. I run for the love of it, the money’s just a bonus. I could never take them because if you get caught you get a bad name and a bad rep. When Justin Gatlin got caught I threw all his images away. At least I know Asafa is clean.”

A wholesome family lifestyle is something he enjoys with his dad, mum, Sandra and sister Trisha, 20. They live in Newlands and still take family breaks together. “I was in Cayman Brac with my family last week and had so much conch. Mum wants me to take some back to college and freeze it. There’s no need to go that far!

“We’re very close. I talk to dad every day from college and mum is always encouraging me and keeping me motivated.

“My first month at college was tough. I was very homesick so when I came home for a week’s spring break it was great to go out with Trisha. We had a blast.”

As Theo was an outstanding cricketer, Tyrell obviously inherited his sporting genes. “Dad told me he used to run when he was younger, I can’t believe that.”

Bristling with pride, Theo says: “Tyrell knows how I feel about smoking and drugs and thankfully he doesn’t indulge. He gets a high from music. He doesn’t really love fast food, more his mother’s cooking.

“He’s recording excellent times for an 18–year–old and will be maturing in the next few years. I have high hopes for him. He’s set his goals, let’s see how he works towards it. Only the almighty determines that. He has a good coach in Tom Murrell who is like a father figure. Tyrell is a good product of Cayman and I hope he can be a lesson for all youngsters to show what can happen if you work hard. I want him to shoot for the stars but keep his feet firmly on the ground.”

London 2012 roadshow

CHESTER is to get its first taste of the Olympics this week when the London 2012 roadshow comes to town.


Sporting celebrities including Beth Tweddle will be appearing alongside aspiring Olympians from all over Cheshire this Sunday (5th August) as part of a campaign by organisers of the London 2012 games to get more local people involved in sport.
The roadshow was due to be staged at the Roodee as part of Chester Races Family Fun Day but has been relocated due to wet ground conditions. The racing fixture remains unaffected.
There will be opportunities for visitors to try a wide range of sports during a five-hour spectacular outside Chester Town Hall.

Olympics: Just five years to go!

THE five years left to go to the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games was celebrated when more than two hundred and five people working on the project came together on the site of the Olympic Village in Stratford to mark the moment.

They represented the 205 nations who will take part in the 'greatest sporting show on earth' in 2012.

Also as part of the milestone London 2012 hosted the inaugural Pierre de Coubertin Lecture in conjunction with the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce and the British Olympic Foundation.

Today is exactly five years until the Olympic torch is lit in the 2012 Games stadium in Newham.

Britain to consider criminalizing doping in sports

LONDON: Britain may consider imposing criminal sanctions for doping before the 2012 London Olympics.

The issue will be the focus of an anti-doping commission set up Tuesday by the British Olympic Association in the first major review of drug-testing rules in Britain.

The six-member panel will also examine the rule, introduced in 1992, that automatically bans any British athlete who has a drug offense from competing in any future Olympics.

Creation of an independent anti-doping agency, along the lines of bodies set up in the United States and Australia, will also be considered.

BOA chairman Colin Moynihan said criminalizing doping for athletes and suppliers was a delicate issue.

"You would need to introduce legislation that in practice deters those around the athlete who are actively involved in the doping scandal," Moynihan said. "Getting that right in legislation has been a challenge for a number of countries that have implemented it."

Italy, France and Spain are among countries with criminal anti-doping laws.

Foreign athletes training or competing in Britain would also be subject to any criminal charges.

Several European countries have passed laws in the past two years to criminalize doping in sports.

British cyclist David Millar faced a court case in France after testing positive for the banned blood-boosting hormone EPO, and Italian police raided the Austrian cross-country and biathlon team lodgings at the 2006 Turin Olympics in search of doping substances.

Spain introduced criminal legislation for doping in February following the Operation Puerto blood doping investigation. In Germany, legislation was proposed in March for tougher penalties for trafficking in performance-enhancing drugs.

The British commission is made up of the BOA and London 2012's chief medical officer, Richard Budgett; 2000 Olympics modern pentathlon champion Steph Cook; British Cycling Federation president Brian Cookson; International Olympic Committee member Craig Reedie; medical adviser to the Lawn Tennis Association Michael Turner, and lawyer Charles Flint.

Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IOC's medical commission, will be a senior adviser.

"Doping is unacceptable, a social crime," Ljungqvist said in The Times of London on Tuesday. "A coming host of an Olympic Games should show a good example here."

UK Sport, which currently oversees drug testing and punishment in Britain, had a mixed reaction to the creation of the BOA panel.

"Until there is greater clarity on the commission's purpose, therefore, it is difficult to see what value it is going to add over the next year and at a time when the UK system is already under close scrutiny," UK Sport chief executive John Steele said.

"The last thing British sport needs as we build up to Beijing 2008 and London 2012 is distraction, confusion about roles and duplication of effort."

Pressure on Olympic building plans

The London Olympics faces cost pressures because of stiff competition for contractors, labour and raw materials caused by a boom in construction projects, according to the man responsible for overseeing the building of the 2012 facilities.

David Higgins, chief executive of the Olympic Delivery Authority, says some contractors may also be scared off by the high profile of the Olympics, making it harder to generate competitive bids for games facilities.

The ODA, which has about £5.6bn of the £9.3bn overall Olympics budget at its disposal, is into its most intensive period of activity, working out budget costs and procuring work and concept designs.

Work began this week on clearing the 2.5 sq km Olympic Park site of contamination. Demolition work for the main Olympics stadium begins next week which also marks the five-year countdown to the 2012 opening ceremony. “We will be at full capacity within six months,” Mr Higgins told the FT.

But the key negotiations on construction costs are taking place during huge demand in the marketplace for contractors, he added.

“You just have to look out of the window at all the cranes everywhere, all around you. It is unprecedented, the level of development in the city,” Mr Higgins said.

“We are in a market which is very very competitive, to get the right level of staff and expertise. So we have to be attractive to clients. We have to give clear directions, clear decisions, have a clear client brief.

“We don’t have the luxury of choosing our time,” he said, referring to the fixed 2012 Olympics date.

Mr Higgins said there had been good responses from construction companies for tenders to build the media and aquatics centres and interest in less high profile Olympic projects such as bridges and roads building.

But asked if some construction companies were reluctant to get involved in the Olympics projects in general, given the controversy over Wembley stadium, he said: “High-profile iconic projects are always going to be a challenge. No one needs them on the front pages of their annual reports. No one needs any of that publicity.”

“Contractors worry about clients that can’t make decisions and change their minds. That’s the biggest risk.”

Mr Higgins’ own high profile in the Olympics project is likely to be reduced when John Armitt starts in September as ODA chairman, replacing Jack Lemley who resigned accusing politicians of political interference.

Mr Higgins denied the ODA had compromised on architectural design to cut costs, despite a big revision to the aquatics stadium. On the Olympics stadium, he said its design would be unveiled in November and would be “innovative”, providing a field of play twice the size of Wembley’s, yet surrounded by a structure not that much larger than the national football stadium’s, to house 80,000 seats.

Richard Rogers, he said, was “quite satisfied” with projects, despite his criticism about the ODA’s apparent disinterest in design. One architectural firm had left the Olympic masterplanning team, but that, said Mr Higgins, was the result of an internal issue.

The £9.3bn Olympics budget includes £2.7bn as a contingency for overruns, and Mr Higgins said there was no doubt elements of the contingency would be spent.

“It’s not there to be sat in a pristine box till 2012,” he said. “It will be used to manage risk, to spend money now in order to accelerate something to deliver it earlier.”

He added that the ODA was nearing a resolution on direct employment of workers, after warnings from construction unions that plans by the ODA to recruit self-employed migrant workers to cut costs would compromise safety.

“We’ll reach a sensible agreement. We don’t want to create something that doesn’t set an aspiration for us, but is realistic for the industry,” he said.

Athletics legend outlines Olympic benefits

Olympic organiser Lord Coe was in the North East to visit our sports facilities ahead of the 2012 games in London. But how will the Olympics benefit the region?

DOUBLE Olympic champion Sebastian Coe experienced the North East’s enthusiasm for sport and its desire to share in the benefits of the world event first hand when he visited the region.

The athletics legend saw a wide cross-section of sports when he was given a guided tour around the Sunderland Aquatic Centre, Gateshead International Stadium and Glenn McCrory’s International School of Boxing in Newcastle.

The UK Olympic football tournament is coming to St James’ Park, but what other benefits can people in the area expect from the Games?

Lord Coe said: “An Olympic games coming into anybody’s country has a massive spin-off and I see the event as being a very big driver of potential in all our local communities, including the North East.

“The impact of the games in London will have an impact on participation rates both in sports, the culture of a community and businesses engagements right throughout the country, so I don’t see this as simply being a London games.”

He added: “I know the North East pretty well. I have spent a lot of my time competing here and I have good friends here and visit the region a lot.

“I believe the majority understand that an Olympic games coming to a country gives a massive opportunity to a community like the North East that really does understand what sport is about.

“I know there is a deep and abiding love of sport in the region and a recognition that sport is the real hidden social worker in so many challenged communities throughout the country.

“The London 2012 Games are truly a games for the whole nation. I am delighted to be in the North East to be able to hear more about the region’s priorities and plans to maximise the benefits of the Olympics.”

During his visit to Gateshead International Stadium yesterday Lord Coe unveiled North East England’s Regional Plan in the run up to the Olympics, outlining the hope for new business contracts, tourism and culture opportunities.

Organisers of North East England’s Regional Plan intend to co-ordinate a range of services to ensure regional businesses are fully equipped to “maximise the potential opportunities associated with the Games in order to win direct and indirect business”.

It is also hoped the Games will provide a showcase for the region’s sports facilities, attracting visiting teams to regional facilities.

“North East England’s Regional Plan will help build on the massive passion there is for sport in the region,” explained Lord Coe. “It outlines the eight key areas in which we believe the region can benefit from the London Games.

“Research has shown one in eight North East firms can potentially benefit by winning contracts to supply the 2012 Olympics.

“It is felt the Games can help people focus on healthier lives and address some of the child obesity and diabetes issues.”

Today scores of youngsters and adults sampled different sporting activities at the London 2012 Roadshow at Concordia Leisure Centre, in Cramlington, Northumberland.

Hello velo 2012 cycling venue unveiled

The London 2012 VeloPark will be the best in the world, heralding a golden age for British cycling, the Olympic champion Chris Hoy claimed yesterday. Initial designs for one of the "big four" venues in the Olympic Park include a 6,000-seat velodrome and plans to create a lasting legacy for cycling in the capital after the Games.

One of the most eye-catching features is the double curvature of its lightweight roof. Mike Taylor, a director of Hopkins Architects, part of the winning design team, said the roof took its inspiration from the "speed, drama and geometry of a cycle track". Previous projects by Hopkins include the Mound Stand at Lord's and the National Tennis Centre at Roehampton.

The VeloPark design was selected from eight bids made in a competition, judged by a panel including Hoy, Sunand Prasad, president elect of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and Sir Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate.Hoy said: "I believe it will deliver the best velodrome in the world and will herald a golden era of cycling."

The VeloPark, expected to cost up to £40m, will include a BMX circuit, road cycle circuit and mountain bike course. The planning application will be lodged next year and construction start in 2009.

Olympic planners left IT out of the budget

The government failed to account for the costs of IT when putting together its budget for the 2012 Olympic Games, according to the bean counter watchdogs of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC).

In its 39th report, the PAC said the Olympic had neglected to include additional costs of £400m, which would cover "IT and site mobilisation and the costs of the CLM Consortium", a project management group appointed by the Olympic Delivery Authority to help it get everything in on time.

This £400m oversight was part of a £900m increase in the total budget for the Olympic Park, announced in 2006. The PAC says the massive underestimate was a result of using the costs of an "urban development corporation" as a benchmark for the running costs of the Olympic And they say private sector isn't leaner than public.

The report also found the authority has "seriously overestimated" the amount of private sector funding it was likely to receive. Planners budgeted for £738m of private sector funding, but it turned out that there was not enough time to negotiate the necessary contracts, so the money is unlikely to materialise.

The games were originally expected to cost around £2bn. That figure has since risen to £9bn. And although they managed a £400m tech-related oversight, at least planners managed to get Olympic in on time and looking just fabulous. ®

Olympic sites to be inspected

Inspectors are beginning a three-day examination of London's plans for the 2012 Olympics.

The 16-strong International Olympic Committee's co-ordination commission is being updated on progress since the last official visit in April last year.

Organisers are hoping last week's furore over the graffiti-styled London 2012 logo, hated by thousands, has died down.

More than 30,000 people signed a petition against the £400,000 image, calling for the logo to be axed. The logo is set to be at the heart of money-spinning marketing and sponsorship schemes to help stage the Games.

Then London 2012 was forced to pull a promotional video amid claims it had triggered epileptic seizures in some people.

Speculation over the spiralling Olympic budget were answered with the announcement that building and regeneration costs had trebled to £9.3bn.

It had been triggered by the resignation of Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman Jack Lemley who also claimed political meddling was hindering the scheme. John Armitt, the outgoing Network Rail chief executive, is taking over as the ODA chairman.

London 2012 will be keen to stress it has made an early start on preparations and is determined to control construction costs in its bid to bring the Games in on time and on budget.

Giant flag marks new phase for the 2012 campaign

London 2012's new campaign slogan has been launched with a giant flag urging supporters to 'Make Britain Proud'.

The flag, which measures 20m by 12m, was unveiled at the climax of the 'Parade of Heroes' celebrations in central London.

Olympians Kelly Holmes and Amir Khan were the first to add their signatures to the flag, which will tour the country collecting signatures from sports stars and celebrities.

Fans crowded into Trafalgar Square for the climax of the Athens celebrations saw the huge flag draped over the steps of the National Portrait Gallery.

After signing the flag, Holmes gave her backing to the campaign's 'Make Britain Proud' message.

She said: "It proves exactly what the British public are like with our sports people. They would be behind us 100 per cent.

"If they can come out for us today, God knows what would happen if we got the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games."

London 2012 Chairman Sebastian Coe said the flag marked a new phase in the campaign to bring the Games to London.

He said: "This flag and the 'Make Britain Proud' campaign are part of the new phase in our bid.

"The hard work on the Candidate File is reaching an end and the job of promoting the bid nationally and internationally is just beginning.

"The giant flag is a key symbol of this new phase. It will tour the country over the next months and be signed by a range of high-profile individuals from diverse backgrounds who have contributed to UK sport and society.

"Bringing the Games to the United Kingdom will increase our pride and our aspirations just ask the thousands of British sports fans that watched our medal successes in Athens."

Olympic sailing police need £21m

The cost of policing Olympic events in Dorset in 2012 is likely to be at least £21m, it has been revealed.

The Dorset force has put in a request to the government to foot the bill for the security needed for the sailing events for the 2012 London Olympics.

It is not yet known how much of the estimated final cost will have to be met by the force.

The cost of the operation in Weymouth and Portland has worried local MPs, who fear its knock-on effects.

Funding under scrutiny

The Home Office said £600m had been earmarked for Olympic policing needs.

A spokeswoman said it would "consider any proposals for Olympic funding from police forces".

She added the total sum allocated was under "continuing scrutiny in the light of the developing security assessment".

Annette Brooke, Lib Dem MP for Mid-Dorset and North Poole, said she was worried about the possible impact on frontline police services.

She added: "My greatest concern is to make sure this does come from central funds allocated for the Olympic Games and most of all that Dorset Police has the money up front.

"It's going to be such a huge proportion of their overall budget."

A spokeswoman for Dorset Police said: "We can confirm a bid of £21m has been put forward to the Home Office but this has not yet been approved and we are not expecting approval anytime soon. These things take a considerable period of time."

London 2012 Olympics Promo - Imagine