The Olympic Report: Day 4

British medal watch

Great Britain took another silver medal this afternoon at Greenwich Park as the three-day eventers took second place in the team event. Mary King and Tina Cook both completed their first show jumping run without knocking down any fences, which coupled with Zara Phillips’ overall score from earlier was enough to confirm the silver medal. King and Cook went into the second run, which only counted for the individual event, in medal contention, but early fences knocked down saw them miss out on individual honours.

A huge crowd of over 70,000 people at Wembley witnessed Team GB complete a remarkable 1-0 victory over one of the tournament favourites, Brazil. Steph Houghton scored a goal inside two minutes, her third in as many games at the Olympics, to put Team GB ahead, a lead they did not relinquish. Importantly, the undefeated Team GB finish top of Group E and play Canada in the quarter-finals.

In the pool Michael Jamieson broke the British record twice in the same day in qualifying fastest for the final of the men’s 200m breaststroke. Jamieson broke the record in the morning’s heats and then extended it in the evening’s semi-final. He will go for gold in the final tomorrow, as will Andrew Willis, who was third-fastest overall. Willis would have broken the British record if he had been in the semi-final after Jamieson, swimming the second-fastest time ever by a Briton. At Wimbledon, Andy Murray defeated Finnish opponent Jarkko Nieminen in the second round of the men’s singles to progress to the third round. Murray won in straight sets 6-2, 6-4, to set up a match against Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus, whom he beat at Wimbledon earlier this year.

Two brilliantly worked goals from penalty corners saw Great Britain’s women’s hockey team record their second victory out of two at London 2012. Team GB took an early lead thanks to a goalkeeping error from their South Korean opponents. The South Koreans came back to level the scores, but then the two routines were executed to perfection to make it 3-1. The South Koreans didn’t give up, though, and levelled the scores in the second half as Britain went to sleep. But then they girls were awoken again with two quick goals, the first coming after a failed penalty corner routine, and the second a tap in.

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Germany had a successful day in the three-day eventing, taking gold in the team event and the individual with Michael Jung. The team gold, for which the top three of five scores count towards the total, was won with relative ease thanks to four strong scores, which meant the Germans were assured gold before their leading rider went round. The individual event was more dramatic as Sweden’s Sara Algotsson Ostholt, leading into the final round, clipped the last fence. At first it looked as though it would hang on, but the barrier dropped and Jung, who had a clear final round, claimed the bronze. Algotsson Ostholt settled for silver.

Ye Shiwen of China overcame the controversy surrounding her performance to pip Australian Alicia Coutts in the women’s 200m individual medley. Ye set a new Olympic record in the process. In the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay, Michael Phelps won his fifteenth Olympic gold medal, and nineteenth medal overall, as the USA cruised to victory. Ryan Lochte swan a lightning fast opening leg, putting a gap between the Americans and the field which never came close to being bridged. Phelps had earlier in the evening once again had to settle for silver after coming second in the final of the men’s 200m butterfly. Phelps led throughout the race, but South African Chad le Clos came back from behind and beat the American to the touch. The two medals means Phelps has leapfrogged Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina in the all-time medal-winners table. Latynina won eighteen medals at the Olympics.

China continued their dominance in the diving, as Ruolin Chen and Hao Wang took the gold medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform event. But it was the Americans who won a hotly contested women’s team gymnastics gold at the North Greenwich Arena. Some spectacular performances saw them stride to the gold ahead of rivals Russia, who won silver and Romania who won the bronze. China, the defending champions and one of the favourites, missed out on a medal, in fourth place. Great Britain finished sixth.

Russia’s Maria Sharapova fought off a spirited effort from Britain’s Laura Robson to get through to the third round of the women’s tennis. Robson took Sharapova to a tiebreak in the first set, and broke the Russian in the second set, but Sharapova came up with two breaks of her own to ensure a straight sets victory. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France and Milos Raonic of Croatia played a mammoth final set in the men’s singles at Wimbledon. The Frenchman eventually came out on top 25-23 in the third, after almost four hours of play. It was the longest match in the history of the Olympics.

The matches in Group F both ended in draws as Sweden and Japan ensured safe passage through to quarter-finals of the women’s football. Canada finished on four points, behind the leaders on five, which means they qualify as a best third-placed team. In Group G the USA kept up their 100% record with a tight 1-0 win over North Korea. France beat Colombia 1-0 to finish second and joining the Americans in the last eight. The North Korean’s missed out, however, as New Zealand took the last third-place qualifying spot. The all-whites, in the group with Team GB and Brazil, defeated Cameroon 3-1, and edged North Korea on goal difference.

Unsung Heroes

Tony Estanguet of France took his third career Olympic gold medal in the men’s C1 canoe slalom at Lee Valley. Estanguet won gold medals at Sydney and Athens in the same event, and added another with an assured performance down the rapids this afternoon.

Kazakhstan’s Maiya Maneza set a clean and jerk Olympic record on her way to winning the gold medal in the women’s under 63kg category. She lifted 135kg for the record, while a later world record attempt of 144kg did not succeed.

The Great Britain men’s basketball team have suffered a second defeat, this time at the hands of Brazil. They put in a colossal effort against a team ranked thirty places above them in the world rankings, eventually losing 67-62. But the game was still up for grabs right into the fourth quarter, with Team GB leading at a number of occasions even quite late on. But it was not enough as the South Americans edged the game at the buzzer.

Disappointment

Great Britain’s Gemma Howell was disqualified in the women’s under 63kg judo competition after performing and illegal move. Fellow judoka Euan Barton, in the men’s under 81kg event, was eliminated in the first round despite being touted as a medal contender. Barton was beaten in led than two minutes after suffering the highest level of manoeuvre. Swimmer Ellen Gandy, who is the women’s world championship silver medallist in the women’s 200m butterfly, has been knocked-out in the heats of her event.

David Florence lost momentum after a fast start in the men’s C1 canoe slalom semi-final, and failed to qualify for the final. He was eliminated after finishing tenth out of twelve in the semi, with only eight progressing.

49er class sailors Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes capsized their boat in the competition’s second race whilst in contention for a high finish. As a result, the pair came near the back, to go with their third-place finish in the opening race.

Other news

Water Polo may undergo football-style goal-line technology debates after a controversial match between Spain and Croatia. Croatia led 8-7 when Spain thought they had scored a last second equaliser, but it was adjudged not to have crossed the line.

A teenager, who criticised Tom Daley’s performance in the men’s synchronised 10m platform, saying he let down his dead father, has been arrested.

Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen has been accused by an American coach of doping. The coach described Ye’s rapid improvements at the Games as ‘disturbing.’ The accusations have been refuted by both the Chinese and other Olympic officials, and notably her father, who attacked the ‘arrogant west’ for the accusations.

Paul Goodison, Great Britain’s defending champion in the laser class sailing, may be forced to pull out of the event after the recurrence of a back injury.

Great Britain’s three-day eventers, including Zara Phillips, were awarded their medals by Princess Anne, Zara’s mother, after winning silver in the team competition.

Carl Lewis, the legendary American athlete, has backed the USA’s sprinters to beat their rival Jamaicans in the upcoming athletics programme.

The British Olympic Association has announced that it expects Phillips Idowu to be fit to compete in the triple jump.

Boris Johnson has invited controversial media mogul Rupert Murdoch to join him at swimming finals later this week.

And finally…

Bradley Wiggins has had his training kit stolen ahead of his attempt to win an Olympic gold in tomorrow’s time trial. Wiggins briefly left the kit on a bench in the locker room of the hotel in which the cycling team have been based.

Central London has been described as a ghost town, as the draw of the Olympics has affected attendance at normally popular tourist attractions in the capital.

Updated medal table

Another medal sees Great Britain sit 21^st in the medal table, with two silvers and two bronze.  China lead on 13, though the USA have maintained the gap with 9 golds. Both countries have 23 medals overall. France are third, the only other team with four golds. Japan sit with 13 medals, but only 1 gold. Japan have accrues the most bronze medals, with eight. 18 countries have now won a gold medal, with 34 having won at least one medal of any colour.

Tomorrow’s big events

Great Britain is ready to begin its assault on the medals table as the first of the rowing finals get underway. The women’s pair of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning is the best bet for gold on Wednesday at Eton Dorney. Richard Hounslow will hope to do better than team-mate David Florence as he competes in the K1 canoe slalom. Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins goes in the men’s individual time trial, with Emma Pooley the specialist in the women’s event. The table tennis women’s singles reaches its climax. In the evening, there are more swimming finals, and the Great Britain men’s football team take on Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium, looking to ensure passage through to the knock-out stages.

The Olympic Report: Day 3

British medal watch

Great Britain won its third medal, and second bronze, of London 2012 in the men’s team gymnastics event. The team came into the final as outsiders having over-performed to qualifying third. However they proved that third was in fact a true reflection of their skill by repeating the feat in the final. It was not a medal without controversy, though, as Britain was initially awarded the silver medal, until an appeal by the Japanese team saw them promoted from fourth into the silver medal position. Ukraine, originally given bronze, missed out on a medal as a result.

Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins comfortably qualified for the final of the women’s double sculls. The pair is now unbeaten in 22 races after posting an Olympic record time and are the hot favourites for the gold medal. The men’s eight won their repechage to qualify at the second time of asking for Wednesday’s final. The women’s quadruple sculls came from the back to qualify for the final of that event, in a thrilling finish in their repechage. Great Britain’s men’s four has won gold at three consecutive Games, and this year’s team have qualified for the final of that event with ease. However they will have their work cut out to win gold after Australia posted an Olympic record time in their heat.

Great Britain is strongly position for both team and individual honours after two days of the three-day eventing equestrian. A strong opening in the dressage was followed up with an even better cross country discipline. Three of our entrants had clear runs with no penalties, while the other two had only minimal time penalties. Going into tomorrow’s show jumping, Tina Cook sits in 5^th overall, Mary King 6^th, Zara Phillips 10^th, Nicola Wilson 20^th and William Fox-Pitt 22^nd. The individual event includes two show jumping runs tomorrow, the second of which is open only to the top 25, so all five are still in contention. Only the first show jumping run counts towards the team event, in which Britain sit 2^nd only marginally behind leaders Germany but followed closely by Sweden and New Zealand.

Heather Watson and Laura Robson both progressed into the next round of the women’s singles tennis with wins at Wimbledon. In the sailing star class, Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson have the overall lead after the fourth race. Larry Godfrey won his first two knock-out matches with ease to get into the last sixteen of the men’s individual archery.

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Lithuania’s Ruta Meilutyte, who is based in Plymouth, won gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke at the age of just fifteen. Michael Phelps was back on form, winning his 200m butterfly semi-final. Frenchman Yannick Agnel, who stunned Ryan Lochte and the USA team in yesterday’s 4x100m freestyle relay, won another gold medal, this time in the men’s 200m freestyle. In the diving, the men’s synchronised 10m platform was won by China’s Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang.

South Korea’s Shin Lam missed out on a fencing medal in controversial circumstances, causing a 70-minute delay with her protest. Shin was on the wrong end of a time adjustment, which gave German Britta Heidemann just enough time to strike the winning hit in the women’s individual epee. The South Korean appeal was to no avail, and Shin went on to lose the bronze medal match. Heidemann won silver, with Yana Shemyakina winning the gold.

Unsung Hero

Great Britain’s Zoe Smith set a new British record for the clean and jerk in the women’s under 58kg category. The new mark is 121kg. She finished second in Group B of the qualifying event. Meanwhile China’s Li Xueying set an Olympic clean and jerk record in the same event, with 138kg, taking the gold medal.

Disappointment

Tom Daley and Pete Waterfield missed out on a medal in the men’s synchronised 10m platform diving. The pair led for Team GB after three of their six dives, but had a disappointing fourth dive which put them outside the medal places. Two decent closing dives were not enough to claw back the lost marks, as they finished behind the gold medal winning Chinese, and the other medal winners from Mexico and the USA.

Ben Ainslie again finished behind overall leader Jonas Hogh-Christensen of Denmark in the finn class sailing, meaning he has much work to do to challenge for gold. After two second-place finishes on day one, Ainslie finished sixth and twelfth on day two, and has dropped to third overall. There are still six races to go.

Team GB had another frustrating evening in the pool as Liam Tancock and Gemma Spofforth both finished fifth in their finals. Despite high hopes going into the competition, Great Britain has only Rebecca Adlington’s bronze in the women’s 400m freestyle to show from three days’ worth of finals.

Other news

The Olympic cauldron has been moved from the centre of the Olympic stadium to its permanent position for the Games, at the south end of the arena. The cauldron had to be put out for the move to be made, but has now been relighted.

Paula Radcliffe has been replaced as Team GB’s participant in the women’s marathon by Freya Murray.

Rebecca Adlington has said she is determined to retain her 800m freestyle title, and will fight for the gold medal.

Kate Walsh, the captain of Great Britain’s much-fancied women’s hockey team, spent last night in hospital after being struck in the jaw by a stick during yesterday’s 4-0 win over Japan.
Swiss men's football player Michel Morganella has been expelled from the squad after he made a racist comment on Twitter.

And finally…

A number of London’s most famous statues have been given a patriotic makeover. Twenty statues have been given British-themed headwear, especially for the Games.

A video has gone viral of a woman using a megaphone to crank up the excitement of people outside the Olympic Stadium ahead of the opening ceremony.

Felipe Kitadai, winner of the men’s under 60kg judo bronze medal, has asked for a replacement medal. The Brazilian dropped his medal in the shower, denting it.

Updated medal table

Great Britain has dropped to 20^th in the medal table despite adding a bronze to the silver and bronze that were won on day two. China have extended their lead, now with nine golds to second place USA’s five. France and North Korea have three golds each. Germany has finally made an appearance on the medal table, having won a silver in fencing today.

Tomorrow’s big events

Britain goes for gold in the individual and team eventing, as tomorrow sees the final discipline of show jumping. The women’s football reaches the end of its group stage, with Great Britain taking on Brazil in the pick of the games. There’s another action-packed day at the pool with numerous finals in the evening including Michael Phelps’ strongest event, the 200m butterfly, and more heats in the morning at Eton Dorney for the rowing. Silver-medallist at Beijing, David Florence, tries to go one better in the men’s individual canoe final. The women have their team gymnastics final tomorrow also.

The Olympic Report: Day 2

British medal watch

Lizzie Armistead came home second in a thrilling women’s road race cycling to win Britain’s first medal of London 2012. Armistead was pipped to gold on the line by Dutch rider Marianne Vos. Later in the day, Rebecca Adlington took the bronze medal in the women’s 400m freestyle with a strong finish. She actually swam faster in this final than she did to win the gold in the same event in Beijing.

Kat Copeland and Sophie Hosking put in an excellent performance to beat the fancied New Zealand crew comfortably in the women’s lightweight double skulls event. They are now straight into the semi-finals. Their male counterparts, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter, also won their heat with a strong effort. The defending champions in that event are now also through into the semi-finals. In the sailing finn class, Ben Ainslie began the day with a great second place finish in the first race of the competition, and followed it up with another second in the second race. Both times he was beaten by Danish sailor Jonas Hogh-Christensen.

Tina Cook and William Fox-Pitt both received strong scores in the dressage section of the three-day eventing. Zara Phillips also posted a good total in front of her mother Princess Anne, grandfather the Duke of Edinburgh and husband Mike Tindall. Alongside Mary King’s effort from yesterday, Great Britain is strongly placed in both the individual and team events. Beth Tweddle put in a breath-taking performance on the assymetric bars to ensure qualification for the final of that event. Tweddle has announced that she will retire after London 2012. The women’s team also scored highly, and will take a place in the team final.

Great Britain’s men’s football team managed to defeat the UAE despite a temporary scare when their opponents levelled the scores at 1-1 in the second half. Ryan Giggs opened the scoring with a back-post header from Craig Bellamy’s cross. But Rashed Eisa found a hole in the Team GB defence to equalise. Scott Sinclair re-established the lead after the UAE keeper failed to deal with another Bellamy cross, before Daniel Sturridge got on the end of a through-ball on a quick break, and lobbed the keeper to make it three. Team GB now only need a draw to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Robbie Renwick has reached tomorrow’s final of the men’s 200m freestyle, while Liam Tancock was third-fastest in qualifying for the final of the 100m backstroke. In the women’s 100m backstroke, Gemma Spofforth ensured her qualification for the final after a solid swim. Meanwhile Team GB’s women’s hockey team started their campaign with a comfortable 4-0 win over Japan. The women’s beach volleyball pair came from one set down to defeat the Canadian team 2-1 in their first match. But the men’s basketball side started with a defeat at the hands of Russia.

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Neymar scored a magnificent second-half free-kick from 30 yards as Brazil came from behind to defeat Belarus in the men’s football. That made the game 2-1, but Brazil went on to add a third in injury time, after a lovely run and back-heel from Neymar, leaving Oscar to make a nice finish into the corner. The USA basketball team, filled with NBA all-stars, came through its first match against France with a 98-71 victory. Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City Thunder top scored with 22 points. Maria Sharapova has made her way through to the second round with a comfortable victory over Israeli player Shahar Peer.

In the pool, Dana Vollmer got the night off to a fast start with a world record in the final of the women’s 100m butterfly. Another world record fell in the men’s 100m breaststroke final as Cameron van der Burgh took the gold medal. The much-anticipated men’s 4x100m freestyle relay was won by France after a collosal swim by Yannick Agnel on the final leg, coming from behind to pip Ryan Lochte. France beat out the star-studded Americans who settled for silver and Australia who went without a medal.

South Korea ensured another archery medal with gold in the women’s team event. They narrowly beat underdog China, who had been ranked seventh out of twelve going into today’s play, in the final on the last arrow. South Korea has won this event in every Olympics since it was introduced, appropriately at the Seoul Games of 1988.

Unsung Heroes

China’s Guo Wenjun retained her women’s 10m air pistol title at the Royal Artillery Barracks. The Beijing gold-medallist qualified in first place but had to come from behind in the final event, pipping France’s Celine Goberville at the end.

American shooter Kim Rhode has won her fifth Olympic medal in consecutive games after winning gold in the women’s skeet. It is the third time she has won a gold medal. She is the first American to achieve the feat of five medals at consecutive games in an individual event.

Kazakhstan’s weightlifter Zulfiya Chinshanlo set a new world record in the women’s under 53kg weightlifting event. She became the first person in that category to lift 131kg in the clean and jerk. The nineteen year-old failed in her next attempt, at 135kg, but takes home the gold medal.

Disappointments

Judoka Colin Oates missed out on a medal in the under 66kg category after two defeats. Oates started the day with two wins, including a late nail-biter against the highly-fancied Mongolian Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar. But he lost in sudden-death extra-time in the quarter-final to Lasha Shavdatuashvili of Georgia. He was still in with a chance of bronze, but lost his first match in the repechage to Jun-Ho Cho of South Korea in controversial circumstances.

American world-champion all-round gymnast Jordyn Wieber has failed to qualify for the Olympic finals after finishing as the third-ranked competitor from the USA. Countries are limited to two gymnasts in any single event.

Spain suffered a second defeat, this time 1-0 at the hands of Honduras, which puts them out of the tournament. Spain also lost to Japan which means they now cannot reach the knock-out stages. They dominated they second-half against Honduras but were unable to break down their opponents’ resolute defence. Earlier in the day, Uruguay was defeated 2-0 by Senegal in the men’s football tournament, despite the victors being reduced to ten men in the first half. Moussa Konate scored two goals, one either side of Abdoulaye Ba’s sending-off, before half-time. They now need to beat Team GB in their final match to reach the later stages.

Other news

Fabian Cancellara may struggle to defend his men’s time trial title after picking up an injury in the road race. The Swiss misjudged a bend and went flying into crash barriers whilst leading a breakaway group in Saturday’s race. He also asked spectators to stand further back from the edge of the road during races.

Uzbekistan’s gymnast Luiza Galiulina has been suspended after failing a drugs test.

Paula Radcliffe has been forced to pull out of the women’s marathon due to injury. Radcliffe criticised a story in the Daily Mail which broke the news before Radcliffe had confirmed her decision.

Great Britain’s women’s football defender Ifeoma Dieke is out of the tournament after suffering knee ligament damage in yesterday’s victory over Cameroon. Dunia Susi is expected to be called up as a replacement.

Andy Murray blamed a flickering scoreboard behind the court for distracting him as he lost early points in his match against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.

The much complimented Olympic cauldron failed on one of its final rehearsals, its designer has revealed. Workers spent the night before the ceremony trying to fix a malfunction so that the cauldron was fully operational for Friday’s extravaganza. The engineers kept the issue secret from the designer, who was only told after the successful lighting on Friday.

And finally…

Hammadou Djibo Issaka, a rower from Niger, has become a crowd favourite at Eton Dorney for his effort in the men’s single skulls. Issaka finished over a minute and a half after the winner in the repechage, but the underdog was cheered home by the British crowd.

A man who was seen sunbathing on his roof during aerial shots of the men’s road race on Saturday has become an internet sensation.

Twitter users have been blamed for disrupted the BBC coverage of the women’s road race cycling today, after electronic updates failed to be sent to the commentary box.

Updated medal table

Great Britain have made their first appearance in the medals table with a silver and a bronze good enough for 16^th position after two days of events. China have increased their lead, with six golds, whilst the USA are now on three golds. A host of countries follow on two golds, including Kazakhstan and North Korea.

Tomorrow’s big events

18 year-old Tom Daley and his partner Pete Waterfield go for gold in the men’s synchronised 10m platform diving event in the pick of tomorrow’s action for Team GB. Meanwhile the three-day eventing reaches its second stage with the cross-country event. There’s another swathe of medals available in the pool tomorrow evening with Liam Tancock going in the 100m backstroke being Britain’s best hope, plus the men’s team gymnastics comes to a conclusion with Great Britain looking strong after qualifying in third.

The Olympic Report: Day 1

British medal watch (0 gold, 0 silver, 0 bronze)

Andy Murray and his brother Jamie, who are competing for Team GB in the men’s doubles, were eliminated today. They won the first set against the Austrian entrants, but lost the match 2-1. Elena Baltacha has reached the second round in the women’s singles after a straight sets victory over Hungarian Agnes Svaray. Heather Watson and Laura Robson were eliminated from the women’s doubles.

Great Britain’s women’s football team have qualified for the quarter-finals after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Cameroon. Casey Stoney opened the scoring with a back-post tap-in after a nice cross, with Jill Scott adding cool finish before half-time, getting on the end of a clever back-heel and passing to the keeper’s left. Steph Houghton, hero of the first game, scored another goal to cap off the victory, a thunderous shot from just inside the box after a nice lay-off.

Swimmer Hannah Miley finished fifth in the final of the women’s 400m individual medley, sadly missing out on a medal. The women’s 4x100m freestyle relay team also finished fifth in their final. But the British men’s gymnastics team qualified for the team final in third place, outscoring the favourite Chinese. Louis Smith also ensured qualification for the Pommel Horse final.

Helen Glover and Heather Stanning set an Olympic record in the women’s rowing pairs, in the process qualifying for Wednesday’s final. Mary King is ranked third overall after the dressage section of the three-day eventing competition

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Ryan Lochte took his first gold of a possible seven at London 2012 with a comfortable victory in the men’s 400m individual medley. Sun Yang from China took the men’s 400m freestyle gold, beating South Korean Park Taehwan with an Olympic Record. Ye Shiwen set a new world record for China in the women’s 400m individual medley.

Roger Federer was taken to three sets in his first match in the men’s singles, but came through against Alejandro Falla. Serena Williams is also through in the women’s tournament.

Italy took a clean sweep of the medals in the women’s individual foil fencing, with Elisa di Francisca taking the gold. China’s Wang Mingjuan took the gold in the women’s 48kg category in the weightlifting, leading an Asian-dominated competition.

The Brazilian women’s football team were made to work hard for their victory over New Zealand. A late lob from Cristiane ensured the New Zealanders’ hard work was to no avail.

Unsung Hero

The first Olympic gold of London 2012 was won in the shooting at about 11:30 this morning. The Women’s 10m air rifle was won by Chinese shooter and world number 1, Siling Yi. Sarah Menezes won gold for Brazil in the women's under 48kg judo category, leading to emotional scenes.

Disappointments

Great Britain’s hope for gold in the men’s road race, Mark Cavendish, came away without a medal after the peloton was unable to catch the breakaway group. Cavendish was also the only British cyclist not to win a medal at the Beijing Games of 2008. Michael Phelps, who won every event in which he was entered in Beijing, was also unable to finish in the medals in the Men’s 400m individual medley, with gold going to his compatriot Ryan Lochte. The dominant South Korean archery team had to settle for bronze in the men’s team event, being defeated in the semi-final by the USA. Italy took the gold medal.

Other news

South Korea’s Park Taehwan won silver in the men’s 400m freestyle, after successfully appealing against a disqualification in the heats. Park was adjudged to have false started, but after subsequent reviews was reinstated to the event.

Mark Cavendish has blamed the negative tactics of his competitors for his failure to win an Olympic medal in the men’s road race. Cavendish was part of the peloton, or the chasing group, but that group was reluctant to chase down the breakaway group, from which the winners came.

Almost 27 million people tuned in to watch the Opening Ceremony on the BBC, viewing figures suggest.

Aidan Burley MP, who was sacked as a parliamentary private secretary for attending a Nazi-themed stag party, criticised the Opening Ceremony on twitter, calling it ‘leftie multicultural crap.’ There have been calls for him to be reprimanded by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Campaigners have marched in East London in a protest against the corporate dominance of the Olympics.

And finally…

The man who was the Queen’s stunt double for the Opening Ceremony parachute jump has spoken about his ‘unsurpassable’ experience.

Bookmakers have agreed to refund bets placed on who would light the Olympic cauldron. Roger Bannister was the favourite, but Sir Steve Redgrave was the final torch-bearer. The cauldron, however, was lighted by seven future generation sports stars.

Updated medal table

China leads with four golds on the first day, plus two bronze. The only other nation to win multiple golds on day one was Italy. Six other countries won a single gold on the opening day.

Tomorrow’s big events

The evening sees another big session of swimming with another four gold medals up for grabs. Rebecca Adlington is Britain’s big hope, looking to defend her Beijing 2008 gold in the women’s 400m freestyle. Ben Ainslie, three time Olympic gold medallist, is looking to win gold for the fourth consecutive Games as the men’s Finn class gets underway at Weymouth. Nicole Cooke defends her women’s road race cycling crown. The Hockey events get underway, while Great Britain’s men’s football team plays its second match, against the United Arab Emirates, as part of a full programme of men’s football fixtures. The men's basketball also gets underway with Great Britain up against Russia.

The Olympic Report: The Opening Ceremony and Day 0

Top news

The Olympics have officially begun, with the Opening Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium tonight. Danny Boyle directed a masterpiece of a ceremony, ignoring many of the Opening Ceremony stereotypes and creating a unique spectacle, one quintessentially British in character, and ultimately a brilliant watch. It was eccentric and excellent.

Amongst the highlights was the musical medley, with a mix of some of the best artists Britain has produced both past and present. Rowan Atkinson, playing Mr Bean, made an appearance, an excellent cameo during the orchestra playing Chariots of Fire, brilliantly put together. Sir Kenneth Branagh also made an appearance, playing Isambard Kingdom Brunel and acting in a key role during the transition from the initial pastoral British scene to one representing the Industrial Revolution. The Olympic Rings in the sky were truly spectacular. Meanwhile recent Tour de France winner Bradley Wiggins was in attendance to start the celebration off. The identity of the man chosen to ring the bell, custom-made for the ceremony at the same foundry that produced Big Ben, was a well-kept secret, but it was former Olympic gold medallist Wiggins who was selected. During the athletes’ procession, a number of Czech Republic’s athletes came wearing wellies, fully prepared for typical British summer weather. They’ve clearly been checking the weather forecasts. The placing of the flags on the artificial hill which formed a part of the ceremony throughout was a nice touch and made for a great effect as the teams came in to the stadium. The final team into the stadium was Great Britain, led out by Sir Chris Hoy, wearing tracksuits that could have been mistaken as a tribute to the late Jimmy Saville.

Yet the highlight of the night was surely the appearance of James Bond, a.k.a Daniel Craig, alongside the Queen. Even up to the moment she turned her head, everybody was thinking ‘surely not’ but it was Queen Elizabeth II herself. The pair were transported to the stadium by helicopter and then parachuted down. Of course in reality the Queen was already there waiting, but the idea for the skit was brilliant, excellently produced, and fair play to Her Maj for taking part.

The Ceremony got the balance just right. History, spectacle, comedy, music, guest appearances and surprises were all involved. A truly unique event, brilliantly produced, directed and performed. Lord Sebastian Coe, IOC President Jacques Rogge and finally the Queen herself made speeches to declarethe Games open.

Then there was the lighting of the cauldron. David Beckham was shown driving the speedboat transporting the torch up the Thames towards the stadium. The final torch bearer was much speculated, but it turned out to be Sir Steve Redgrave, five time Olympic gold medallist. But the lighting of the cauldron, the design of which was another closely-guarded secret, was leftto specially nominated young people, emphasising the next generation of Olympians; a nice touch. This prompted the main firework display of the night centred on the Olympic Stadium but also the surrounding Olympic Park. The night was capped off by a performance by Sir Paul McCartney leading a truly rousing, as usual, rendition of Hey Jude, bringing to an end a truly inspiring ceremony.

Unsung Heroes

Amidst all the excitement around the Opening Ceremony, the archery got underway at Lord’s cricket ground on Friday. The South Korean archery team is accepted as the best in the world. Im Dong-hun set a new individual world record during the ranking round of the Men’s Individual competition. This is in spite of the fact that he is legally blind in one eye. The South Korean representatives in the Men’s team event also set a new world record today.

British medal watch

Larry Godfrey has qualified for the men’s archery individual event ranked fourth out of 64 participants. He is the highest ranked archer from outside South Korea. In the men’s team event, Team GB was ranked eighth out of twelve. The Great Britain women’s archery team were ranked eleventh out of twelve in the women’s team event, with all three individual entrants being ranked in the bottom half of the 64 competitors.

Other news

Gymnast Louis Smith has said he is thinking positively about his chances at the Games. Smith is a specialist in the Pommel Horse, and is looking to become the first male gymnast from Great Britain to win an Olympic medal for a century.

Ryan Giggs, captain of the Team GB men’s football team, has criticised yesterday’s opponents Senegal for their heavy tackling.

Judo medal hope Colin Oates has been handed a tough draw, facing world number 14 Ivo dos Santos in his first match. Should he win that, he would likely face Mongolia’s Tsagaanbaatar Khashbaatar, who beat Oates the last time they faced each other.

Great Britain’s Laura Robson, winner of the 2008 Girls’ Singles title at Wimbledon, has been given a late call-up to play in the Women’s singles event at the Olympics. Robson replaces Croatian Petra Martic, who has withdrawn. Robson was already due to play in the doubles, with Heather Watson.

And finally…

Team GB football players from Scotland and Wales have caused controversy by not singing along with the national anthem. God Save the Queen is often seen as representing Englishness, despite acting as the anthem of both England and the whole United Kingdom.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt suffered a mishap today, as the bell he was ringing as part of a ceremony to mark the start of the Olympics flew off its handle, narrowly missing people standing nearby.

Specsavers have capitalised on the Korean flag debacle with a new advert. The advert show the flags of both North and South Korea, with text in Korean written below which presumably reads ‘They should have gone to Specsavers.’

Tomorrow’s big events

So, the Games proper begin tomorrow with a feast of sport. Twelve gold medals will be up for grabs, the pick of the bunch being at the Aquatics Centre where Michael Phelps goes for his first gold of London 2012 in the 400m Individual Medley. This is the first of four swimming finals tomorrow evening. Sports Personality of the Year in 2011, Mark Cavendish could become the first gold medal winner of the Games, as he competes in the Men’s Road Race (start time 10am). There’s more women’s football with Team GB taking on Cameroon (kick-off 5:15pm). Other events getting underway include badminton, boxing, gymnastics, tennis and beach volleyball.

The Smoking Ban, Five Years On

Here's my latest article for The Student Journals, looking at the impact of the smoking ban on society, economy and your local pub, five years after it was first implemented across the whole of the UK.
http://www.studentjournals.co.uk/comment/britain/1541-the-smoking-ban-5-years-on

The Olympic Report: Day -1

British medal watch

Great Britain’s men were held to a 1-1 draw in their opening match against Senegal at Old Trafford. Craig Bellamy opened the scoring, dropping off play at the back post where the ball fell to him. Bellamy made no mistake with the strike. He should have had a penalty in the second half after a late, rash challenge by Saliou Ciss, but both referee and assistant saw no foul. Ciss, on a yellow card, was also lucky to continue playing. The game was a physical one, by the Senegalese in particular. But to be fair to Senegal, they came into the game a lot more in the second half and it could be argued that they deserved a point. They had a few decent chances, though the best came in the first half. A miscued clearance by keeper Jack Butland, who had an otherwise good game, fell kindly to Sadio Mane. However the Senegal striker could only chip the ball wide as Butland charged him down. But eventually Senegal made the breakthrough from a quick counter-attack with ten minutes to play. Moussa Konate was on hand to make a clever finish past Butland as Team GB were left short at the back. From then on the game could have gone either way, with Marvin Sordell hitting the bar from a header, shortly before Senegal went up the other end and could have scored. But it wasn’t to be as the game ended level. For Great Britain, Bellamy was lively and rarely was he not involved as the team went forward. Ryan Giggs, unsurprisingly, was also the key cog in the Team GB machine.

Top news

Elsewhere, Japan took a deserved 1-0 victory over Spain, having the best chances of the match. Spain were reduced to ten men in the first half, with the score already 1-0 thanks to Yuki Otso’s opener, after Iñigo Martinez was adjudged to have committed a foul as last man. In Great Britain’s group, Uruguay came from 1-0 to avoid an upset at the hands of the UAE, ending 2-1 victors. Meanwhile Morocco and Honduras fought out an entertaining 2-2 draw at Hampden Park in the day’s first game. Favourites Brazil came through a scare against Egypt at the Millennium Stadium. The South Americans took a three-nil lead inside half an hour and looked likely to cruise to victory thanks to some well worked goals. However Egypt came into the game with two goals of their own in the second half, leaving Brazil to sweat it out to hold on to a 3-2 win.

Unsung Heroes

Morocco’s Abdelaziz Barrada scored a thundering strike to open the scoring in his team’s game against Honduras. Not long before half-time, just outside the box, he got on the end of a knock-down and gave the keeper no chance as the ball flew into the bottom corner. Meanwhile Jerry Bengston scored twice in reply for Honduras.

Gaston Ramirez of Uruguay scored an excellent free-kick from 30 yards out to level the scores against UAE. The ball curled into the keeper’s top right-hand corner, an excellent strike.

Disappointments

Spain, one of the favourites for the tournament, was outplayed by Japan, who came away with a deserved victory. Far from out of the tournament, the Spaniards need to come back with a win against Honduras in their next match.

Elsewhere, Morocco’s Zakayra Bergdich was shown a straight red card for a petulant kick-out at Honduras’ Mario Martinez.

Other news

Greek high-jumper Dimitrios Chondrokoukis and Hungarian discus thrower Zoltan Kovago look set to miss the Games after failing drug tests.

Andy Murray has been given a tough first round draw against Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka. He could also face Richard Gasquet, Tomas Berdych and Novak Djokovic in the following rounds before a potential final rematch with Roger Federer at Wimbeldon.

Charles van Commenee, the head of British Athletics, has said he will not apologise to Phillips Idowu, the British triple-jumper. The pair fell-out in 2011 when Idowu used Twitter to announce he was pulling out of the European Championships. He also claimed to have considered dropping Idowu from the Olympic team.

American Presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who played an important part in the organisation of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and is currently on a visit to the UK, has described the organisation of London 2012 as ‘disconcerting’ whilst also revealing doubts about whether the British people will get behind the games.

Michael Phelps has identified his mind, rather than any rival, as the biggest challenge for him in the upcoming Olympics.

And finally…

The Games suffered another nationality related cock-up on Thursday, though one perhaps not as diplomatically significant as the North Korean flag error on Wednesday. Welshman Joe Allen, currently of Swansea City but touted for a move to Liverpool this summer, was listed as English in the official match programme.

Alan Hansen controversially described Great Britain and Manchester City defender Micah Richards ‘fat’ in the pre-match build-up. It was later announced that Old Trafford had run out of pies before the game kicked-off, in what is believed to be an unrelated incident.

Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders got into character as Edina and Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous to carry the Olympic torch through London today. An Ab Fab Olympic special aired on Monday and is available on iPlayer.

Boris Johnson, speaking at the Olympic Torch Relay evening celebration in Hyde Park, revealed his confidence that Great Britain will win ‘more gold, silver and bronze medals than it would take to bail out Greece and Spain!’ He was also critical of Mitt Romney during his speech.

Tomorrow’s big events

The Opening Ceremony! Coverage begins on BBC1 at 7pm with two hours of build-up to Danny Boyle’s extravaganza, which will be watched by billions of people worldwide. The ceremony itself is due to begin at 9pm. Additionally, the first non-football event is scheduled, as the archery individual rankings round is held at Lord’s. This will determine the seedings for the later knock-out competitions.

The Return of the King: Jon Stewart back on television in the UK

The Daily Show is the epitome of satire on television. Its host, Jon Stewart, is the king of fake news. And so it is with great joy that this week I heard that for the first time since before Christmas in 2010, every edition of the Daily Show with Jon Stewart would be available here in the UK. It had previously screened on More4, but at the start of 2011 that channel decided to cut down. It began showing just one show a week, known as ‘The Global Edition’ which was basically only a roundup of the week’s regular editions. But one of the joys of the Daily Show is its regular segments and its running jokes. By cutting out most of the week’s material into one twenty-two minute episode, some of the humour was lost.

The problem for More4 was not the quality of the programming. If one thing is for sure, it is that Stewart and his team of writers and ‘correspondents’ consistently come up with top-notch material. Every day (the Daily Show broadcasts four shows a week, Monday-Thursday in the USA) the show is able to live up to its high standards. True, it naturally concentrates on American society, politics and culture. Yet it is not restricted to these areas and regularly covers the big international stories. Major British events and stories are usually covered. It is the rarity of these forays into our own society which make those moments so magical. As Britons, we are given the opportunity to see what our news (most recently the LIBOR scandal, the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, the phone-hacking scandal, the London riots and the Royal Wedding) looks like to outsiders. You may not agree with Stewart, but you have to admit two things. Firstly, that he has a persuasive charm which could make even the staunchest nationalist appreciate his angle. Secondly, that he is damn funny.

On one occasion, covering the phone-hacking scandal, Stewart became memorably complimentary, even hysterical in praise, of our House of Commons, commending it on its being far more entertaining than the American legislature (the segment is online here, and is a must watch). Stewart regularly relies on footage from The Senate and House of Representatives, interspersed amongst the TV news clippings which are the shows bread and butter. Yet this is a medium banned for satirists in the UK. No Parliamentary proceedings can be used on TV for the purposes of comedy. That week’s showing of ‘The Global Edition’ was cancelled as it contained such images. Stewart came out in criticism of this, questioning whether Parliament was really “too fragile to withstand… a good natured kick in the clotted creams.”

Perhaps it is censorship like this which explains why nobody in this country has quite managed to emulate Stewart. The best I have come across is Charlie Brooker. His show Screenwipe looked at the world of television (a bit like a darker Harry Hill – both do what they do very well, polar opposite approaches to the same subject matter). Newswipe, a follow up focussing on television news coverage, has much overlap with The Daily Show (and was not afraid to cover American news coverage). Brooker’s segments on Channel 4’s Ten O’Clock Live are perhaps the highlight of the show, consistently funny every week. They are much like the segments on the Daily Show, and up to a similar standard. Yet Stewart does eight such segments (plus four light-hearted celebrity interviews) every week, compared to the one or two by Brooker each week on Live. That Stewart is still at the top of his game despite having been doing the show for sixteen years shows the quality of the product.

Perhaps his greatest qualities are his ability to criticise both sides, and that he is not afraid to cover the big stories. Earlier this week, Stewart devoted a whole segment to the news coverage of the shootings in a cinema in Aurora, Colorado, which killed fourteen people attending a screening of the new Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. Though the satire clearly did not cover the shootings themselves, merely how they were portrayed in the news, others may have shied away from coming so close to a controversial topic. But that is not Stewart’s style. He covers the big stories, as much as the ones which are more clearly ripe for satire. Importantly, when it comes to politics he can cover both sides of an argument.

Stewart is a confessed liberal, and as such has been criticised by conservative compatriots for singling out their side for criticism. Admittedly, Fox News is one of the core targets for Stewart’s satire. Yet this is not because of political motivations, but because of the fact that Fox News is often ludicrous and, as such, easy pickings. Stewart regularly is found to be critical of both Republicans and Democrats, and never is this more apparent than in this, an election year. Stewart, I have noted, has seemed to be more critical of President Barack Obama recently than when he first became President. Stewart’s fair and balanced, yet funny view on the American political scene, is a must watch especially in this election year, even here in the UK, as American politics have a notable influence on our own.

When watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, one is immediately struck by the involvement of the crowd. Stewart often refers to in-jokes with them at the start of the show. He does not shy away from interacting with them. This only adds to his popularity, and he has a core of devoted followers. I must admit, that I am one of them. I never miss a show. Since it was taken off More4 this has become increasingly difficult. But it was announced recently that the show would return to the UK, on Comedy Central Extra, with programmes being shown at 10:30pm the day after their release in the US (The Daily Show is shown in the US at a time equivalent to the early hours of the morning here, while the material can be distinctively post-watershed). And I rejoiced! For those of you that have that channel, I implore you to watch. The Daily Show is one of the joys of television satire. If you follow one piece of advice I give you this year, make it this: watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

The Olympic Report: Day -2

British medal watch

The Olympics got underway on Wednesday, two days before the Opening Ceremony (hence why I have chosen to describe it as Day -2). There was a feast of women’s football with six matches in one day, beginning with Great Britain against New Zealand from Group E at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Team GB got off to the best possible start with a 1-0 win. Steph Houghton scored a well struck free-kick from 25 yards, just after the hour mark. It was an assured victory and a deserved one, Great Britain being the better side once they settled after a nervy start. New Zealand had their chances late on as they pushed for an equaliser, but it was to no avail. Team GB take on Cameroon in their next game, on Saturday.

Top news

Also in Group E, Brazil thrashed Cameroon 5-0 with two goals for prolific forward Marta. World Champion Japan was made to work for 2-1 victory over Canada in group F, being pegged back from their two-nil lead shortly after half-time. They managed to hold on in Coventry and take the win. Afterwards, Sweden were the victors over South Africa. Lotta Schelin netted twice as the Scandinavians came out 4-1 winners. The much fancied USA team overcame an early scare to defeat France 4-2. The French took a quick two-nil lead, but with two goals from Seattle’s Alex Morgan as well as one each for Abby Wambach and Carli Lloyd the Americans managed to pull out the victory. The other game in Group G, played at Hampden Park between Colombia and North Korea, saw a 2-0 victory for the Koreans.

Unsung Heroes

Anita Asante, playing for Team GB, caused numerous problems for the New Zealand defence, with three gilt-edged chances in the first half. She was unlucky not to come away with a goal, striking the woodwork on one occasion. She was consistently a handful. Yet it came down to Steph Houghton to break the deadlock with her all-important second-half goal. She made New Zealand’s unconvincing keeper Jenny Bindon make a save from a free kick in the first half, but didn’t give her a chance second time around as the ball flew past the wall and into the goal to the keeper’s right. But the most unsung hero of the day was Team GB keeper Karen Bardsley who made a number of assured stops to keep Team GB on terms early on, and then to maintain the slender lead as the game reached its climax. New Zealand never looked likely to get past.

Other news

Usain Bolt will be at full strength for the Olympic Games despite doubts as to his current fitness, according to the Jamaican team.

Moroccan middle-distance runner Mariem Alaoui Selsouli will miss the Olympic Games after failing a drugs test, while Greek triple-jumper Voula Papachristou will also not compete, after she was banned for a tweet which was deemed racist.

Team GB basketball player Pops Mensah-Bonsu has implored Team GB to inspire the nation in the upcoming Games, to avoid a repeat of last summer’s riots, which began in Mensah-Bonsu’s native Tottenham and spread across much of the country.
The country's security preparations were put to the test today as a passenger plane lost contact with air traffic control whilst flying across the north of the UK. A Typhoon jet was quickly scrambled, as is routine in this scenario, but contact was soon restored. 
Bag checks caused delays for fans trying to get into the Millennium Stadium for today's football.
A strike by immigration staff, which it was feared would compromise security ahead of the Games, has been cancelled after a deal was reached.

And finally…

The Group G game between Colombia and North Korea at Hampden Park was delayed by one hour after a flag mix-up. The North Koreans refused to begin the match, after the flag of South Korea was displayed beside pictures of the players on the big screen. The match eventually went ahead when the mix-up was resolved.

Updated medal table

Great Britain remains tied for first in the medals table, on 0 medals.

Tomorrow’s don't miss events

Men’s football gets underway tomorrow. Team GB take on Senegal at Old Trafford (kick-off 8pm) in the day’s final game, but there is a full set of games through the day, with the first being Honduras against Morocco at Hampden Park, kick-off noon.

London 2012: Years in the Making

On Friday, for a total of seventeen days, the Olympic Games will begin. They will undoubtedly take hold of the country, with wall-to-wall coverage on television networks, newspapers and the internet. The population will be gripped by Olympic fever. But for those involved in the games, Friday’s Opening Ceremony does not mark the start of their Olympics. Whether it be for competitors or organisers, the Olympics have been a process which is many years in the making. For those who win medals, as well as those who are in charge of the fêted Olympic ‘legacy,’ it will not end with the Closing Ceremony two weeks on Sunday.

6 July 2005 marked the day when London was awarded the Olympic Games. I remember well watching the announcement during lunchtime at school. The reaction, which I experienced personally and which was replicated across the country, was one of joy and excitement. A home Olympics is now more than ever a truly once in a lifetime experience. Everybody immediately appreciated how, despite being billed as ‘London 2012’ and with the majority (though not all) of the events situated in London, this would be a British Games. So we have been led to believe, the Opening Ceremony will encapsulate this British spirit. Choreographed by the Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle,it will follow an ‘Isles of Wonder’ theme. Meanwhile, the nation as a whole has been further brought together by the Olympic Torch Relay. Despite its definite shortcomings, the relay has achieved its goal of making the games accessible to all, albeit only a small, yet significant part of them. It is difficult to assess the extent to which those who hold tickets for Olympic events are spread evenly across the country. It would be fair to expect more to be concentrated in London and the south-east (with the exceptions of, for example, football events which are spread across the country). Yet it could be argued that it is for those who do not attend the events, but follow most closely at home, who will get a true Olympic experience.

Although 6 July 2005 is one fondly remembered by those involved in the bidding process, the following day put events into sharp focus. The 7 July London terrorist attacks of 2005 caused 52 fatalities in four co-ordinated attacks, so close after the city was awarded the games, immediately highlighting the important role that security would play in the Games. There has been no suggestion that the attacks were linked to the Olympic bid. Yet the coincidental timing of these two events has, in hindsight, served to remind us that the major sporting events and security concerns are inextricably linked. The organisers have clearly put much effort into allaying fears, but have inevitably encountered problems. The controversy of missiles mounted to the roofs of residential buildings has showed the problems of what people see as excessive security measures. The residents themselves fear that they may be targeted as a result of the missiles. They surely can’t be opposed to the security measures, just against their deployment near their home. Organisers would probably be happy if the only situations they had to deal with were ones where security was seen as excessive. It is better to deal with complaints of this variety than to suffer from the consequences of laxity. The recent G4S debacle, which on Tuesday saw over one thousand troops officially deployed to handle security at the Games, was thankfully discovered before the start of the Games. Security will be a high priority. But clearly it is crucial that problems such as the G4S situation do not occur during the Games. The work that the organisers have put in for approximately a decade will count towards that.

The Olympics clearly take a lot of preparation. Yet it is not just the Games themselves which have been the focus of the organisation. ‘Legacy’ has also been an important part of the London 2012 dream, none more so than with regard to the East London regeneration. This has been one of the most promoted aspects of the Olympic Legacy. Improved transport links are another important part of the Legacy. Together, it is hoped that these redevelopments will help bring East London closer to its more wealthy counterparts to the west. The money which has been pumped into the local community, plus the infrastructure required for the Games to be held in Stratford, would suggest that this might be the single greatest long-term success of London 2012. It is this long-term outlook, as important as the smooth-running of the Games themselves, which has been of great importance to the organisers. Yet it has not been plain-sailing, and perhaps the biggest disappointment would be the inability to find a tenant for the stadium, post-Games. West Ham United F.C. was originally earmarked to move in to the stadium, but a deal fell through and now a bidding process has started again from scratch. It would be a shame if the state of the art facilities which have been built for the Games were wasted after the main event is over.

London 2012 may be a one-off. But it is important to see it as a process. It began even before 2005, with the bid preparation, and will continue well beyond the Closing Ceremony. It will be of direct benefit to some, particularly in East London but also elsewhere. Benefits will in some cases be financial, but for many the Olympics will simply provide inspiration. It is for this reason that the Olympics should be seen as a national event, and will be even more so if Team GB has great medal success. For those in charge of organising the Games, it is the pinnacle of their hard-work. But the true measure of their success will not be the running of the Games themselves, but the people’s response to them, and the long-term impacts on East London and the nation as a whole.  

NB. It may or may not be close to real life, but the BBC spoof comedy show Twenty Twelve is highly recommended, an enjoyable watch. It follows the lives of those responsible for organising the Games and was remarkably often ahead of the game with some of the problems that the real organisers faced. The final episode was aired last night on BBC2 and it is now available on iPlayer. For those who have not seen it, it is certainly worth a watch.

England batsmen in race to make history

On the first day of the first Test Match against South Africa on Thursday, Alastair Cook hit his twentieth Test century. He was eventually dismissed on the second morning for 115. And so continues one of the richest veins of batting form in world cricket. True, he has not hit the heights of the 2010-11 Ashes Series in Australia. In that series he recorded three centuries (from seven innings) and amassed 766 runs at an average of just under 130. That series well and truly silenced his critics; his place had become under question as he struggled for consistency. Cook’s form continued through the 2011 English cricket season where he added another three centuries, including his career best 294. However, since then he had failed to hit another Test match century (despite coming close on more than one occasion). Interestingly, his promotion to the One-Day International captaincy has invigorated his form in that form of the game. Not only has he now led England to ten consecutive ODI wins, but he has added four centuries (having only scored one previous ton in ODIs). He has now become England’s most reliable batsman.

Now that Cook has reached the milestone of twenty, he will surely have in mind the England Test record of 22, held jointly by Geoff Boycott, Wally Hammond and Colin Cowdrey. It would appear inevitable that, without career-ending injury other unforeseeable circumstances, Cook will end his career with this record, and almost certainly extend it far beyond its current 22. Cook is only 27 years old, having played in 81 Tests since his debut six years ago. It would be well within his capabilities to double that appearance figure before he retires. He is also the obvious successor to Andrew Strauss as England captain. It has been common for England captains to see their form deteriorate as a result of the added burden, Michael Vaughan being a prime example in recent years. Yet Cook’s ODI form since receiving the captaincy in that form of the game would suggest that, if anything, captaincy should push him on to improve the rate at which he makes big scores. He certainly has the potential to end his career as England’s statistically greatest batsman.

However there are two other players who sit lurking in the wings to take down the record for most centuries by an Englishman. Andrew Strauss has now reached 21 Test centuries, just one away from tying the current mark, whilst Kevin Pietersen is on 20 with Alastair Cook. All three will, therefore, by vying to be the man to take down the current mark. Strauss is the closest, but it would be fair to say that he no longer scores centuries at the rate he once did. Since his debut in 2004 up to and including 2009, Strauss hit at least three centuries every year, except for 2007 when a decline in form saw him lose his place in the team. Since 2010, he has only hit three centuries, although admittedly he has experienced a renaissance in 2012 with two hundreds. Pietersen will, in the long-term, be the greatest challenger with Cook for the title of ‘Most prolific Test match century-maker for England.’ Strauss is now 35 and reaching the twilight of his international career.  Pietersen is 32 and should have a good few years left in the team, especially considering his recent retirement from ODIs and Twenty20 Internationals.

All three will be looking to equal the mark this series against South Africa. Pietersen, of course, has significant history with his former countrymen and for him more than the others, two centuries would be of added importance. He also has the most explosive ability of the trio, and if he gets the bit between his teeth he is easily capable of hitting back-to-back hundreds. Strauss only needs one more ton to reach 22, but his first innings duck in the First Test shows the task he has ahead of him considering his patchy current form. Cook would appear to be the front-runner. He has a tendency, as in the most recent Ashes, to get into the habit of scoring centuries. He rarely looked troubled when hitting 115 in the first innings on Thursday, and when in the mood he can become almost impossible to dismiss. This should be of concern to South Africa, who can’t be reliant upon the sort of collapse England suffered on Friday in order to win the series. If Cook’s form remains imperious, then all that is needed is for England’s middle-order to show greater resolution than in this Test.

If I was a betting man, I would back Cook to get to the mark first. He has been England’s best batsman for almost two years now, and shows no sign of letting that tag slip. Perhaps most importantly for Cook, he has more time in which to build up his statistics. Even if he does not reach 22, or surpass it, first, he will almost certainly end his career as the leader. From and England stand-point, it is no coincidence that one of the periods of greatest success for England has coincided with the prosperity of these three prolific run-scorers. Looking to the future, any competition between them to be the first to reach the new record can only be positive. Hopefully, some friendly rivalry within the team in this series will propel England to a series win as the three compete to be the first man to break the record.