Sprinter sets sights on Christie's British 100m record as he emerges as potential rival to Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay

A Team GB hurdler who went to Eton has said he wishes he had gone to a state school instead.

As our national heroes make their bids for glory, how has Team GB fared in the fashion stakes over the years? Harriet Walker ranks their kit

We're conditioned to believe that the human race's athletic ability improves on a steady upward curve, but Usain Bolt's 2009 achievement in shattering his own 100m record by an astonishing 11/100ths of a second put a large dent in that theory.

The Olympic gold medalist Linford Christie was convicted of careless driving at Aylesbury Crown Court yesterday.

Former Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie was cleared of dangerous driving today but found guilty of careless driving.

The Olympic gold medal-winning sprinter Linford Christie was driving on the wrong side when he collided head on with a taxi carrying a newlywed couple, a court heard.

It has been one of those moments when, as if we have suddenly been spooked by the chilly uncertainties of today and tomorrow, there has been a general scurrying back to the warmth and safety of yesterday. The newspapers have earnestly discussed weddings, public schools, frocks and class. Broadcasters of the old-codger school have bemoaned how fings ain't wot they used to be. A couple of veteran British pin-ups have been back in the headlines.

Unwanted he may – or may not – be on the field for England by Fabio Capello, but there is no doubt that the oft-maligned David Beckham does his bit for his country off it. He was influential in securing London's bid for the 2012 Olympics, may well win a few votes from equally star-struck Fifa members when the 2018 World Cup destination is decided in December, and this weekend he is cheering on British competitors as the Special Olympics European Games open in Warsaw. What's special about these Games is that they cater for those with learning disabilities, which includes Down's Syndrome and autism, who are not eligible for the Paralympics. Having watched last year's UK event in Leicester I can testify it is the most understated event in the sporting calendar. Watched by Beckham and France's Zinedine Zidane, who like him is a Special Olympics global ambassador, around 1,500 athletes from 57 countries will compete in half a dozen sports, and for some just completing a lap of the track could be the highlight of their lives. "There are 1.2m people in this country with learning disabilities, so it is good they can be recognised through sport in this way," says the Special Olympics GB chair Lawrie McMenemy. Backed by the National Grid, Britain have a team of 48 who were given a send-off at No 10 by David Cameron, whose own son Ivan, a cerebral palsy sufferer, died last year aged six. He told them: "The whole country will be cheering you on." So we should be.

"Linford Christie said to me 10 years ago, 'when I look good, I run faster'," Jochen Zeitz, chairman and CEO of the sportswear giant Puma told a Paris press conference yesterday, announcing the designer Hussein Chalayan's appointment as Puma's first ever creative director. Puma has also bought a majority stake in Chalayan's London-based fashion label for an undisclosed sum, ensuring the future of one of the world's most creatively accomplished designers is assured.