Comments follow the revelations in the Independent on Sunday that leading Paralympians were disappointed at what they called the double standards

Victoria Pendleton stepped down from her velodrome throne last night and prepared to hand over her crown to track cycling's fresh-faced new star Laura Trott.

Nobody can properly predict how the last day of Victoria Pendleton's storied career will unfold tomorrow - she just isn't that kind of athlete - but it is a fair bet that drama, tears and Anna Meares will be involved.

British sprinters Jason Kenny and Victoria Pendleton continued slowly but steadily to close in on their respective medal targets today, with Kenny now into tomorrow’s final rounds and Pendleton progressing to the quarter-finals.

Their superiority was evident in moments, measured by clear water to their pursuers within the first 500 metres. But that margin, in turn, traced back four years to one of barely half an inch.

Sir Steve Redgrave today revealed he had not been approached to light the Olympic flame at London 2012.

British medal hopeful Phillips Idowu was "full of emotion" today as he carried the Olympic Torch in Stratford - just a stone's throw from the Olympic Park in east London.

Speculation about who will light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the London Games is growing as the day approaches.

When Hannah England crossed the line in the 1500m semi-finals in Daegu Stadium on Tuesday she wore an anxious expression. Only the first five were guaranteed a place in the World Championship final and the Oxford woman had finished sixth. She turned to the front row of the stands to enquire about her fate, smiling with relief when the news came back that she had scraped through as one of the fastest losers.

Charlene Thomas did not quite kiss the Union Flag crest but it was clear how much it meant to the Wakefield Harrier not just to wear a Great Britain vest on the second and concluding day of the European Team Championships in Stockholm yesterday, but also to surge to victory in it. "Ooooooh, I'm so excited," she said in the wake of her 1500m win, bouncing up and down on the steps of the 1912 Olympic Stadium like a West Yorkshire version of Tigger.

Olympic double gold medallist Dame Kelly Holmes is joining the board of TUI Education, a division of the FTSE 100 travel giant, TUI Travel, as a non-executive director.