Olympics 2012 -fullstory of the arrests

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Cooke caters for British appetite!

Cooke serves up British gold
Welsh cyclist becomes 200th Brit to top the podium at Olympics
Last Updated 10th August 2008

Cooke: First British gold in Beijing
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Nicole Cooke claimed Great Britain's first gold medal in Beijing with an impressive victory in the women's cycling road race.
The 25-year-old from Glamorgan came home first in a sprint finish involving five competitors following a 126km ride.
Cooke's victory makes up for her disappointing fifth-placed finish in Athens four years ago and means she is the 200th Brit to win Olympic gold.
Sweden's Emma Johansson won the silver and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy finished third to claim the bronze.

Barnsley v Chelsea......Wow!

Barnsley face Chelsea in FA Cup Championship side Barnsley have been rewarded for their stunning FA Cup win away at Liverpool with a quarter-final tie at home against holders Chelsea.
League One side Bristol Rovers, who dumped out Southampton, have been drawn at home once more, against West Brom.

The only all-Premier League tie of the round sees Manchester United entertain Portsmouth at Old Trafford.

In the other last-eight contest, Cardiff City will travel to either Sheffield United or Middlesbrough.

Full draw for FA Cup quarter-finals:

Sheffield United or Middlesbrough v Cardiff City
Manchester United v Portsmouth
Bristol Rovers v West Brom
Barnsley v Chelsea


Matches to be played on the weekend of 8 and 9 March.

Story from BBC SPORT:http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/7249824.stmPublished: 2008/02/18 07:43:21 GMT© BBC MMVIII

Andy moves back into the top ten again.......

Andy moves back into the top ten again.......

Andy Murray Wins second Title.......

Andy Murray claimed the Marseille Open title with a hard-fought 6-3 6-4 victory over Mario Ancic.


World number 11 Murray was made to fight every inch of the way before finally subduing his Croatian opponent in one hour and 40 minutes.


The first set went on serve until the eighth game when Murray, who had just saved three break points to hold, secured the opening break to go 5-3 ahead.
And the Scot eventually served out a 58-minute opener 6-3 on his fifth set point, clinching it with an ace to break a run of eight deuces.
However, unseeded Ancic - who is outside the world's top 100 after missing six months last year due to mononucleosis - continued to make life difficult by pounding away with his trademark huge serves.
Murray was broken for the first time in the fourth game of the second set, double faulting to fall 0-40 down before relinquishing his 100 percent service record two points later due to a backhand error.
Sparkling
But he broke back immediately courtesy of some sparkling strokeplay from the back of the court and then came through another arduous service game to hold and level matters at 3-3.
A further break in the seventh game put Murray 4-3 ahead and on the brink of his second title in three tournaments this season, having also won the Qatar Open.
And two service holds proved enough for the fourth seed to seal a 6-3 6-4 success.
"It was really tough with a lot of close games," said Murray.
"I served well throughout and returned really well in the second set.
"He started getting a bit tired in that second set and that was probably the key to the match."
The result also vindicates Murray's decision to sit out Great Britain's ill-fated Davis Cup tie in Argentina last weekend due to a minor knee injury, a withdrawal that was criticised by his team-mate - and elder brother - Jamie.

Yes or No to Dwain Chambers.......

Should we support Dwain Chambers in a Great Britain vest?

Wednesday February 13, 2008

The Guardian

Yes: Simeon Williamson, British sprinter and rival for a place in the national squad
The current rules say that if you've served your time, which Dwain has, that you should be allowed to come back. And that's what he has done so I don't have a problem with that.
But I do think that the rules should be changed so if you get caught in future you should be banned for the rest of your life because you are a drugs cheat. That does not apply to Dwain, though, because he has served his ban under the current rules so we should get off his back. But the rules should be tightened in the future - going forward I don't think people should be given a second chance.


It is not like Dwain is getting off lightly with things, though, because as things stand he will also miss the Olympics for the rest of his career and that is the biggest thing in an athlete's life. The world s are the next biggest competition after the Olympics but they are not as special. I think it is right that he should not be allowed to run at the Olympics again.
Dwain did not set a good example to other athletes but at least he admitted what he did, which half the other athletes who are banned for drugs off ences never do. I don't think it is true that Dwain has damaged the reputation of British athletics because there are other drugs cheats out there, like the shot-putter Carl Myerscough and there wasn't such a big thing about him.
He served a two-year ban a few years ago but he was at Sheffield for the trials for the world indoors team and he has been selected for the championships. There has been no suggestion that his presence has damaged our reputation. I think people are looking a little at the man rather than the issue here because Dwain has a bit of a reputation.
Dwain is one of our best medal chances. He is joint fifth in the world in the 60 metres at the moment so he has a real chance of success. We should be grateful we have got someone like him. He is a talented sprinter who made a wrong decision at that moment in his life.
The other athletes I've spoken to are behind Dwain 100%. Obviously there are a few people out there who are against him but the ones I've spoken to are behind him.
I'll be cheering him at the worlds as part of the team like I will be for any other athlete, but if I'm there hopefully I'll be running past him when I do. I'll be one of the first people to congratulate him, if I get the gold and he gets the silver.


No: Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson, five-time Paralympian with 16 medals including 11 golds
There should be one rule: if you test positive for drugs, that is it, you are out for life. If that was brought in across track and field, then people would know where they stand. It is why, if I was in the British team, I would not be comfortable with Dwain Chambers back. In a way, I feel sorry for Dwain with the position he is in now because people either love him or hate him.
I support UK Athletics and its chief executive, Niels de Vos, in taking the stronger stance in what he is trying to do for the sport. Dwain won by being allowed to run at the trials and you have to live with that. What is crucial now is how the sport moves forward and how it seeks to change the rules to make the ban more stringent for athletes seeking a return after a suspension for failing a drugs tests.
At the moment, Dwain is complying with what the rules say. For example, you look at someone who has come out of jail. They have served their time for their crime, but does it always mean that their sentence was the right length?
There are many reasons why athletes take drugs and there should be a stringent penalty because if not, what is the point of having all these rules?
I do not know huge specifics of Dwain's case but unlike the past with the more organised doping problems in, say, the old eastern European countries when you did something or else, the responsibility has now been put back very firmly on the athlete to be aware of what they are taking.
Equally, I do not think he should be allowed to run at the Olympic Games as the argument goes on about whether he would overturn the rule preventing him from competing. But it is not just about Dwain. No athlete who has been suspended for taking banned substances should have the opportunity to compete at the either the Olympics or the Paralympics. It is the biggest occasion in the life of a sports person, the culmination of everything, and it is how you are recognised and measured, whether you are a good or an average athlete. I would fundamentally disagree with the rules changing to allow someone who has served a drugs ban to go to the Olympics or Paralympics.
Yet, when it is about money, glamour and status, people will cheat and I can see why . Winning is addictive. If you are competing in front of 110,000 people and you are the one who everyone is cheering, it is unbelievable. I have been in that situation. It is incredibly powerful. Modern culture is about being the best but is also about celebrity and having your face in the paper.
Sport is the same. It is not just about winning your race, it is about all the other opportunities it brings you, and some of the benefits is can bring. The money is huge from sporting success but it is not what is really about. It is about achieving it the correct way and not crossing that divide.

Linford Christie's view on Dwain.........

Christie lambasts negative focus on ChambersSachin Nakrani

Saturday February 16, 2008

The Guardian


Linford Christie has expressed his anger at the focus Dwain Chambers' return to athletics has drawn, claiming it has cast a shadow over the sport and unfairly deflected attention from other British competitors currently preparing for the Beijing Olympics.
Christie, whose own career was tarnished by a two-year drugs ban, refused to criticise Chambers directly but made no secret of his annoyance with the sprinter for making recent headlines.
"We are spending the majority of our time talking about a minority of people when we should be focusing our attentions on the majority of athletes, who are out there trying their best," Christie said. "We've got Beijing coming up and the indoor championships in Valencia before that. This is a time to be positive about athletics in this county. Let's support the people who are out there training hard."


But the former Olympic champion, who won gold in the 100 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Games, also attacked Britain's current crop of sprinters for allowing Chambers to become an issue in the first place, insisting the field should be strong enough to prevent a man who was banned from the sport for two years after testing positive for the steroid THG in 2003 from winning his way into contention.

Chambers qualified for next month's World Indoor Championships after winning the 60m at the trials last Sunday and will be allowed to attend the event after an appeal by UK Athletics to stop him failed. UKA is still hoping its attempts to block the 29-year-old from competing in the UK Championships in July will be successful and is supported by the British Olympic Association which is standing firm in its refusal to allow Chambers to compete in Beijing.

In his role as technical coach for UK Athletics Christie is currently preparing the sprinter Christian Malcolm for Beijing. It is a controversial appointment given that Christie has twice tested positive for a banned substance.


At the 1988 Seoul Olympics the International Olympic Committee cleared Christie over the use of pseudoephedrine, agreeing it could have come from ginseng. Eleven years later he was found guilty of using nandrolone at an indoor meeting in Germany. Christie, who had come out of retirement for the race, claimed he accidentally took the substance as part of a nutritional supplement but the IAAF rejected the explanation and banned him for two years. He has always protested his innocence of drugs use.

The 47-year-old claimed the ongoing issue of drugs in athletics had not detracted from the sport's popularity. "People still love athletics. Look at Sheffield [where Sunday's trials were held]. It was packed. People just want to see good performances. They are not focusing on the negative. In athletics there is a belief that if you have an injury it will never heal if you think negative, but if you're positive you can heal yourself. That's what we need to do now."
Christie says Malcolm's preparations for Beijing are progressing well - he ran 6.69secs over 60m at a recent meeting in South Africa - but believes the 28-year-old 200m specialist should be under no pressure to add an Olympic medal to his two World Championship relay bronzes, a sentiment that he feels should be extended to all British athletes.

"Beijing is about youngsters getting the chance to experience the pressure of a major championship which will prepare them for London in four years' time," Christie said. "Some might make semi-finals and finals, while some others might run personal bests. That's what we should judge them on, nothing else."