Team BBC to outnumber Team GB at Games

It would be enough for 109 handball teams, 95 rowing eights or 382-and-a-half C2-class canoe pairs. The BBC will have 765 staff at the Olympics, over 200 more than the number of athletes that will compete for Team GB.

The BBC's Head of Olympics, Roger Mosey, announced the staffing levels, significantly more than the near-500 the corporation flew to Beijing in 2008. While they haven't as far to travel, many will be temporarily relocating from Salford, from where the BBC Sport department operates.

Mr Mosey has defended the increase, saying there is unprecedented interest in these Games. The BBC is also providing vast amounts more coverage than for any previous sporting event. 24 live HD feeds will be covering every second of every sporting competition.

The 765 staff includes technical support, presenters, and some cameramen. Though the BBC is host nation broadcaster, it is not their job to provide pictures to all the other nations. There is an independent Olympic Broadcasting Service that does that job.

But BBC cameramen will be needed to film TeamGB athletes, on those occasions when they are not in the lead. Mr Mosey claimed US host broadcaster NBC had "2,800 staff at previous Olympics" and Sky Sports used 380 staff at last year's Champions League final at Wembley.