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Rogge re-elected
as IOC president
Jacques Rogge has been re-elected
unopposed as president of the
International Olympic Committee.
Rogge will serve his final four years,
which takes him through the London
2012 Olympics, before stepping down
in 2013.
Sir Craig Reedie also became the first
Briton to be elected on to the IOC’s
executive board since 1961.
A one-time Olympic yachtsman who
also represented Belgium in rugby,
he has also championed the creation
of the Youth Olympic Games, which
will debut in Singapore this year
featuring athletes aged 14 to 18.
‘Greatest security
challenge’ for
London 2012
Lord West, Home Office minister has
said that the London 2012 Olympics
and Paralympics are likely to present
the UK’s ‘greatest security challenge’
since World War II.
Lord West is reviewing the best way
to protect built-up areas, transport
systems and national infrastructures
from terrorist attacks and has stated
that the level of terrorist threat at the
London 2012 Olympics is expected to
be severe. However he also added
that it was important to ensure
measures were not so heavy-handed
that they frightened people away
from the Games.
‘We do not underestimate the scale of
the Olympics challenge. The Olympics
and Paralympics are about sport and
not security.
‘We want the world to be inspired
by sport in London, and our security
plans have to strike a balance between
visible security and the welcome that
we want.
‘There is no doubt that the 2012
Olympic and Paralympic Games
promises to be the greatest Games
in history - and possibly the greatest
security challenge the UK has faced
since the Second World War.’
In January 2009, General Sir David
Richards - who is now head of the
Army - told MPs that ‘the sooner we
get clarity, the better’ on the Olympic
security process.
A Home Office spokesman said that
the armed forces were expected to
provide additional specialist support
and back-up to police and other
security teams at the Games.
Golfer hit on
head by ball dies
Tributes have been paid to a 66-year-
old mother of two who died the day
after she was struck on the head by
a golf ball.
Charity volunteer Janet Llewellyn
from West Dunbartonshire, Scotland,
was injured in a practice match at the
Strathendrick Golf Club, Stirlingshire,
on 1 October.
Her close friend Cathy McGroarty, 79,
described the incident at the club in
Drymen as a “total freak accident”.
New group cycling
guidelines issued to
reduce death and injury
New guidelines formulated with the
help of Bicycle NSW, the state’s main
body for recreational and commuter
cycling, have been issued by the New
South Wales Government.
The main messages are to wear
bright clothing, never ride more than
two abreast, leave MP3 players and
mobile phones at home and never
travel in packs of more than 20.
The guidelines are aimed at reducing
the increasing number of road
injuries and deaths. In 2008 there
were almost 700 cycling accidents,
three involving fatalities, in the
Sydney region alone. The number of
deaths is expected to have doubled
in 2009.
Increase to 1000cc
engines for MotoGP
MotoGP engines will increase in size
from 800cc to 1000cc in 2012 after an
agreement between the motorcycling
series’ governing body and rights
holders.
The international motorcycling
federation (FIM) met with rights
holders Dorna in Switzerland to agree
the switch and discuss rule changes.
‘2012 will be the year of a new era
of MotoGP,’ stated FIM president Vito
Ippolito. ‘Manufacturers want 1000cc
engines, so that’s the way now.’
The top engine category in MotoGP
increased from 500cc to 990cc in 2002
but was reduced to 800cc in 2007 in
a bid to reduce costs and cornering
speeds.
Shorts
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