Olympic Shorts: Cameroon athletes choose the land of Cameron

Athletes from all corners of the world have been delighted by the bright lights of London, but it seems Cameroon's delegation may have been enjoying it a bit too much. Its entire boxing squad – comprising five fighters – has "disappeared", along with a Cameroonian swimmer and a footballer. The country's Ministry of Sports and Physical Education confirmed that the competitors were no longer at the Athletes' Village. A reserve goalkeeper for the women's football team, Drusille Ngako, was the first to disappear. She was not one of the 18 retained after pre-Olympic training in Scotland and when her team left for Coventry for a game against New Zealand last week, she vanished. A few days later, swimmer Paul Ekane Edingue departed. The five boxers are suspected of leaving in order to stay in Europe for economic reasons.

Lloyd Webber changes his tune

The Olympics have been a roaring success, silencing naysayers who believed the Opening Ceremony would herald the coming of the Four Horsemen, who would burst forth from the chasms of time and lay waste to the Earth. Among the converted is Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, who predicted "a bloodbath of a summer" for West End theatres. His own productions, including The Wizard of Oz, have seen takings rise by a quarter over the past week. "I'm the one who said it would be all doom and gloom, but I have been proved wrong and I couldn't be more delighted about that," he told The Telegraph, adding: "I thought it was going to be terrible because there would be no foreign visitors whatsoever, and it is true that we're not seeing the foreigners we normally get at this time of year."

Rio bids for Bolt

One of the few athletes to earn a salary of Premier League proportions, it's perhaps not too hard to imagine Usain Bolt as a footballer. "Rio Ferdinand has tweeted me and says he will hook me up for a trial so I am looking forward to that," he told Radio 5 Live.

Country of the day: Cape Verde

Off the coast of West Africa, it boasts just 523,000 people and has fielded three athletes. One, Ruben Sanca, goes in the men's 5,000m tomorrow. He went to college in Boston, where passers-by would holler "Run Forrest, run!" as he trained. He has little chance, but give him a big cheer – at least a victory for Sanca is a victory against bullying.

Stat of the day: 29mins 7secs

Time Alistair Brownlee recorded in the 10k run to finish his triathlon, just one minute and 37 seconds behind Mo Farah's time in the 10,000m.