London 2012: Security Concerns Heightened after G4S Fails to Provide Sufficient Staff

LONDON, UK (Wed, Jul 18) – With just less than 10 days before the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, security concerns have outshone the preparations for one of the biggest sporting event in the world, leaving the British government majorly humiliated.

London 2012: Security Concerns Heightened after G4S Fails to Provide Sufficient Staff

G4S, a private security firm, was awarded a $442m contract to provide much of the security for the event. Thousands of team officials and athletes from all over the world will arrive this week, and masses of visitors are expected to follow. But should they be worried?

The failure of G4S to deliver enough security staff to cover Olympic venues has raised the debate once again about the role of the private sector in delivering public services. Contrast to the contract G4S said it has only about 4,000 guards trained and ready, although it claims to have 7,000 fully qualified security staff by the time the Games kick off on July 27.

G4S failure to recruit, train and scrutinize enough staff on timely basis forced the British government to declare last week that it was arranging an extra 3,500 troops on a very short notice to cover the difference.

Now the 17,000 British military personnel deployed for the Games - about 7,500 more British soldiers than there are currently in Afghanistan - are to help out with the security checks and stewarding at venues, as well as specialist tasks such as bomb disposal and sniffer dog searches.

According to Al Jazeera; the British home secretary Theresa May came under further pressure as it was unfolded that the Home Office had been informed about this concern as early as 10 months ago.

While the recruitment failure by G4S is highly embarrassing for the company -- and led its share price to drop sharply -- the Games' organizers insist that their contingency planning will keep everyone safe, CNN reported.

The blunder is likely to cost G4S nearly $78m as the company will have to reimburse the government for the extra military deployment.

 

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  London 2012, London, 2012 Olympics, London 2012 Olympic Games, London Olympics, Security at London Olympics, G4S Security firm, Theresa May, British Government,

London 2012 Olympic Games: Medal Count Table

The following table will be updated twice a day and will display the full medal standings once the London 2012 Olympic Games begin, revealing which athletes and countries are leading the way in the pursuit of glory at London Olympics 2012.

London 2012 Olympic Games: Medal Count Table

To know today's the medal count, please click HERE.

In the meantime, please go through the medal count at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. 

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: Medal Count Table

Complete/Full Schedule of London 2012 Olympic Games (Day wise and Category wise)

London 2012 Olympic Games are scheduled to start officially on July 27 (Friday) and will last for 17 days ending on August 12, 2012.

Opening and closing ceremonies will be held on July 27 and August 12 respectively. Athletes from all over the world will compete to establish their excellence in 36 different categories. 

Complete schedule of London 2012 Olympic Games is given below. Here you can find day-wise and category-wise schedule. For the schedule of any day, please click HERE.  

Complete Schedule of London 2012 Olympic Games (Click to enlarge for a better view)

2012 London Olympics: Maria Sharapova likely to carry Russian flag at opening ceremony

According to RIA Novosti; Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova is a leading contender to carry the Russian flag at the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told R-Sport on Tuesday.

2012 London Olympics: French Open champion Maria Sharapova likely to carry Russian flag at opening ceremony

While Russia's tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev said on Tuesday that Sharapova will be the Russian delegation's flag-bearer at next month's Olympic opening ceremony in London, Russia's tennis chief Shamil Tarpishchev said on Tuesday.

'Tennis is a very popular sport and, so as far as I know, Roger Federer has been chosen to carry the Swiss flag and Rafa Nadal will lead the Spanish delegation at the opening ceremony in London," Tarpishchev, a member of the International Olympic Committee, was quoted as saying by local media.

Carrying the flag is considered a great honour in Russia and it is tradionally given to famous athletes, mostly men, such as Greco-Roman wrestler Alexander Karelin and swimmer Alexander Popov, who have won numerous Olympic titles. 

The Russians might break the tradition by choosing Sharapova, who won the French Open title last weekend.

The Olympic tennis tournament will be played on the grass courts at Wimbledon where, as a 17-year-old, Sharapova stunned Serena Williams in the 2004 Wimbledon final to win her maiden grand slam title.

At the end of the day Vitaly Mutko said the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) would make the final decision on the flag-bearer next month. 

Aaron Cook “the only choice” for the British Olympic taekwondo squad in London 2012: Sir Steve Redgrave

LONDON (Tue, May 29) - Sir Steve Redgrave has called for Aaron Cook to be selected for the British Olympic taekwondo squad, describing the world No 1 as “the only choice” for London 2012. 

Aaron Cook “the only choice” for the British Olympic taekwondo squad in London 2012: Sir Steve Redgrave

 

The endorsement of Britain’s most decorated Olympian comes as Cook awaits the outcome of a British Olympic Association hearing on Tuesday that could decide his participation in the Games.

Cook has been controversially omitted from the four-member squad nominated by GB Taekwondo despite an appeal, and has called on the BOA to overturn that decision.

A BOA panel will meet on Tuesday to examine the reasons for Cook’s omission, and has the power to reject the athlete nominated instead, Lutalo Muhammad.

Cook, who competed in the Beijing Olympics aged just 17, is the European champion and will be officially named as world No 1 on Friday.

Muhammad is also a European Champion but not at -80kg and is 93rd in the Olympic rankings. While he has beaten Cook this season and is promising, he has less experience in the -80kg category.

Continue reading below:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/taekwondo/9296139/London-2012-Olympics-Aaron-Cook-is-the-only-choice-for-GB-taekwondo-team-says-Sir-Steve-Redgrave.html

SOURCE:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/taekwondo/9296139/London-2012-Olympics-Aaron-Cook-is-the-only-choice-for-GB-taekwondo-team-says-Sir-Steve-Redgrave.html

 

Watch VIDEO: Niamh Clarke-Willis, 9-year-old schoolgirl, opens Olympics stadium along with Sebastian Coe

London (Sun, May 06) – The Olympic stadium to be used for the 2012 London Olympics Games was formally opened on Saturday by a 9-year-old schoolgirl who lives down the road. The stadium was opened 82 days (2,012 hours) ahead of the scheduled kick off of the event in July 27.

Niamh Clarke-Willis, 9-year-old schoolgirl, opens Olympics stadium along with Sebastian Coe

 Niamh Clarke-Willis from east London stood along Lord Sebastian Coe on stage during a unique event at the venue where she pressed a button, releasing 1,000 white balloons into the sky.

Over 40,000 spectators watched as a flow of white balloons exactly 2,012 hours before the Games begin. Capping off an evening of music, comedy and fun sports events, Paralympic gold medal-winning archer Danielle Brown shot arrows at spinning targets to select the name of a youngster in the audience to open the east London stadium. Niamh Clarke-Willis emerged as the lucky one to join the Lord Coe on the stage.

Coe, himself an Olympic gold medallist, said it felt "barely believable" to be opening the stadium, adding: "I'm just so grateful to everybody who's come here tonight to help us celebrate this moment in history."

"The seven years have just flown by," he said. "Tonight is only the start of the story. We want thousands of young people to be inspired to take up sport. We hope that for a few of them it will be the start of their journey."

Saturday's event, named "2012 Hours to Go: An Evening of Athletics and Entertainment", allowed organisers to test the Olympic Park's airport-style security checks.

It was also a major test of London's transport system ahead of the Games as the Underground train network's Jubilee line, which serves the stadium, was further crammed with football fans leaving the FA Cup final in north London.

The crowds at the stadium watched as Olympic rowing champion Steve Redgrave and "Downton Abbey" actor Hugh Bonneville joined other celebrities and sport stars in a series of fun contests to test out the running track.

Former Spice Girl Melanie C and comedian Jack Whitehall performed, while the Military Wives, a group of British soldiers' wives whose charity single topped the charts last Christmas, led a rendition of the national anthem.

Earlier, students had tested out the stadium as part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport championships.

Watch the glimpses of the event in the video clip below:

Report Tags: London, London Olympics, London Olympics 2012, 2012 London Olympics, London Olympics Stadium, olympics Stadium, Video, Youtube, Niamh Clarke-Willis, Sebastian Coe

Hiroshi Hoketsu to compete in 2012 London Olympics at the age of 71: Japanese Equestrian Federation (JEF)

TOKYO, Japan (sat, Mar. 03) – There are no age boundaries for those who keep themselves actively ‘alive’ and world is full of such stories when elderly people set examples for their youngsters in every walk of life.

Hiroshi Hoketsu to compete in 2012 London Olympics at the age of 71

 The recent example is a Japanese rider Hiroshi Hoketsu, who will turn 71 at the end of March. According to the Japanese Equestrian Federation (JEF); Hoketsu has earned a place in 2012 London Olympics by standing number one in the International Equestrian Federation's individual dressage rankings for Asia-Oceania.

 Hoketsu, was also the oldest contestant at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with 67 years and 4 months of age, Hailed as the "hope of old men," He has already participated in two Olympics, 44 years apart.

The Japanese rider, based in Germany, topped the rankings after winning an event at an international dressage meeting in France on Thursday He was not available for comment straightaway. 

Hoketsu finished 40^th in show-jumping at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and in 2008 at Beijing he placed ninth in team dressage and 35^th in individual dressage. He was also selected as a replacement for the 1984 Los Angeles Games but did not participate, and had to pull out from the 1988 Seoul Olympics when his horse had a quarantine problem.

Read more about this aspiring Japanese rider below:

AFP