The Independent - Olympics RSS Feed

Badminton and gym venue dropped from Olympic plans

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:00:01 GMT

Olympic organisers are to abandon plans for a temporary badminton venue at the London 2012 Games but will press ahead with two other controversial developments, following a cost-cutting review by the consultancy firm KPMG.

Olympic work 'offers economic gold'

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:56:28 GMT

More than 800 companies have won £3.5bn of work in preparation for the London 2012 Olympics, new figures reveal today.

Olympic chief Rogge criticised for 'lack of respect'

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 12:39:03 GMT

In a highly unusual show of discord between Olympic leaders, IAAF chief Lamine Diack sharply criticized IOC president Jacques Rogge on Friday for displaying "a lack of respect" for the sport of athletics.

Ed Howker: Swifter, higher, stronger... later?

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:14:00 GMT

I wrote recently about the chaos now engulfing the London Olympics. Last night we were told that the deadline to sort out the Olympic Village contracts - perhaps the key piece of infrastructure on the Stratford site - will now be extended to 2009.

London 2012: A gold medal muddle

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

On Monday, the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell advertised for a speech writer to be paid £50,000 for drafting articles and crafting statements as part of the team "working to ensure the Games are a success, value for money and leave a lasting legacy across the country".

Cadbury to sponsor London 2012 Olympics

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

The confectionery giant Cadbury is to be one of the sponsors of the London 2012 Olympics.

Nicole Cooke: I hated cycling, I was in pain, I wanted to quit

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

Nicole Cooke is sitting comfortably on a sofa, chatting contentedly about her life and recent golden times. The sudden rumble overhead fails to put a spoke in her wheels. "It's just the trains," she says.

A belated boost for our battered spirits

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

If we didn't know it before, we knew it yesterday on a cold autumn day in London when the Olympic heroes and heroines of Beijing, shivering in team tracksuits designed to keep them cool, showed off their gold, their silver and their bronze. No celebratory bow to an applauding capital had been better earned by sportsmen and women but, no, there was no avoiding it. Victory, unlike revenge, is not to be taken cold. It will always be enjoyed most when the blood is hot and the adrenalin in full spate.

What our Beijing superstars will be doing next

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

CYCLING

Concern over missing Beijing drugs test results

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

To have mislaid one drug test result from the Beijing Olympic Games might have been regarded as a misfortune. To have lost "around 300" could be described as carelessness in the extreme – even if, as the International Olympic Committee maintained last night, the mislaying has been strictly temporary. The case of the missing data came to light yesterday when a team of independent observers sent to the Games to oversee drug testing procedures on behalf of the World Anti-Doping Agency issued a 50-page report on their findings. The 10-strong team – chaired by Briton Sarah Lewis, secretary general of the International Ski Federation – also highlighted a "relatively low" number of athletes tested for the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO) and the failure of "nearly half" of the national Olympic committees to provide information about the whereabouts of their athletes for out-of-competition testing.

Olympic heroes say thanks in victory parade

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:56:55 GMT

Britain's Olympic and Paralympic stars gathered for their Beijing victory parade through London today.

Olympians get set for victory bus tour

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

Britain's triumphant Olympians and Paralympians will finally receive their heroes' welcome home today with a parade through the capital.

Newcastle set for foreign ownership

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 11:32:04 GMT

Newcastle's new owner is almost certain to hail from overseas - and there is no indication yet from any interested party that Kevin Keegan's return to the club is central to their plans.

Thousands expected for Olympic victory parade

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 10:58:11 GMT

Thousands of people are expected to cheer Britain's Olympic heroes during tomorrow's victory parade in London.

IOC to retest samples from Beijing for new hormone

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

The International Olympic Committee is to retest doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for traces of a new blood-boosting drug and other banned substances.

IOC to retest all doping samples from Beijing

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:54:45 GMT

The International Olympic Committee will retest all doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for traces of a new blood-boosting drug.

Free TVs with Games tickets, vows Johnson

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

Hand-held electronic devices that would show action replays and give live updates would be given to every spectator at the London 2012 Olympic Games, the London Mayor Boris Johnson suggested yesterday.

Boxing: Olympic champion considers turning professional

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 09:31:48 GMT

Britain's Olympic middleweight boxing champ James DeGale is considering an offer of "nearly two million pounds" to turn professional rather than defend his title at the London 2012 Olympics.

After the Goldrush: British athletes after the Olympics

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

People in my hometown Doncaster have been amazing, coming up and saying congratulations. Even in London I've been recognised. But there hasn't been any official local celebration. The Doncaster mayor, Martin Winter, invited me to the council house and put up a few balloons but I wasn't able to invite a lot of people. The mayor gave a public explanation along the lines: "It's overkill to have a full civic reception for a bronze. She's hardly Rebecca Adlington."

After the Goldrush

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

London 2012 legacy advisers named

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 09:45:01 GMT

Carphone Warehouse founder David Ross and former Olympic javelin champion Tessa Sanderson were today named as legacy advisers to London mayor Boris Johnson for the 2012 Olympics.

China's class of 2000 are still under scrutiny

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 23:00:01 GMT

China's Olympic gold medal gymnasts at the Beijing Games were old enough to compete, but the team that won bronze in Sydney eight years ago still face questions, the international gymnastics federation said yesterday.

Wiggins calls for Hoy knighthood

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:32:52 GMT

Great Britain cyclist Bradley Wiggins has called for his fellow Beijing gold medalist Chris Hoy to be rewarded for his work in the sport with a knighthood.

Beijing 'bad guy' insists he and Tiny Tom are still afloat

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:00:01 GMT

Blake Aldridge does not look or sound like an anti-hero. The very name suggests more matinée idol than bad guy, but it was one that emerged from Beijing cast in the role of the villain who stabbed the juvenile lead in the back. Not so much Big Brother as Wicked Uncle.

Credit crunch 'hitting Olympic Village funding'

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:11:56 GMT

Turmoil in the world's financial markets is making it difficult to secure private sector funding for the Olympic Village and media centre, Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) chairman John Armitt said today.