The Big Read

By David Owen

Remember Eyjafjallajökull?

Anna Hellman does.

The Icelandic volcano caused some of her most stressful days as executive director of SportAccord Convention, which – as Hellman and her colleagues prepare for the 10th anniversary edition from May 20 to 25 in Québec City, Canada – is firmly established as one of the key events in the international calendar for sports decision-makers.

By Tom Degun

For Sam Ramsamy, the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be particularly poignant.

The 74-year-old from Durban is one of the most respected and powerful figures in sport, praised widely for shaping dramatically South African sport and respected in his position as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board member.

Ramsamy was one of the most high-profile anti-apartheid campaigners for the latter part of the last century and served as chairman of the South Africa non-racial Olympic Committee (SANROC) during the apartheid years of 1976 to 1990.

By Mike Rowbottom
With just over four months to go until the third London Olympics and Paralympics get underway, there are already 59 British competitors who are able to set their sights clearly on how they will perform in the biggest event of their lives, having been officially selected.

For many others, the next few weeks will be suffused with nerves, and uncertainty. Listening to the reaction of Jo Jackson the other day to her Olympic selection was instructive. Given her previous performances in the pool at the Olympics and world championships, she looked – on the face of it – an obvious choice to represent her country in the home Games.

But injury and a persistent problem with asthma had hampered her preparations, and her relief upon actually making the team was palpable. As she said, people had been wishing her luck for London 2012 for months, making the assumption that she would be there – an assumption she could not allow herself to share.

By Tom Degun

The Organising Committee for the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics can consider themselves extremely fortunate that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has named a Coordination Commission of huge experience to help the South Korean city with their preparations for the Games.

The 11-person Commission will be chaired by Sweden's Gunilla Lindberg, who was part of the Coordination Commission for the Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 Winter Games.

She is also part of the Commission for Sochi 2014, which is still in working mode.

By Andrew Kollo

My love affair with Olympic pins started during the 1972 Munich Summer Olympics.

My mother's uncle was a boxing judge at the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. I had been regaled with stories of my extended family's involvement with the Olympic Games.

My uncle - through marriage - Ferenc Puskás played football for Hungary in the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympic Games, where they won the gold medal.  My uncle Puskás gave me one of his Hungarian Olympic football uniforms.

I was 10 years old when I attended the 1972 Munich Summer Olympic Games.

The sights and sounds of London 2012 are getting closer and closer. Soon – very soon – the BBC Big Screens already set up in 22 cities around the British Isles will fill with live Olympic and Paralympic action, and the squares and streets and parks around those screens will teem with activity and music.

In the last few weeks, some vivid details have begun to emerge as to how the Games will connect with the wider, non ticket-bearing public.

For BT London Live, ironically, it is Blur who have given one of their iconic projects a hard edge.

By Tom Degun

When John Steele was officially unveiled as chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust on January 23, it is fair to say that more than a few eyebrows were raised.

There was certainly no doubting his credentials for the position, given that Steele boasts a hugely impressive career in sports administration, but it is no secret that he departed his last role as Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive on a rather sour note.

That particular ending appeared a great shame to a man that took the RFU top job in September 2010 following an extremely successful five years as chief executive of UK Sport.

By Mike Rowbottom

No doubt the young hurdlers at Notts Athletics Club give their all on every training night. But as they go through their paces at the indoor venue of the Harvey Haddon sports complex tonight there seems to be a special spring in their step. This is hardly surprising given that they are going through their paces under the gaze of one of the club's most distinguished former members, Andy Turner, and the man who coached him at Notts from the ages of 11-19, Alan Bower.

Since he established himself as one of the most promising young athletes in the country under Bower's guidance, Turner has enjoyed a career which has had as many ups and downs as any hurdler could expect.

He made it to the Athens 2004 Olympics in the nick of time after recovering from injury. Further injuries followed, but by 2006 he had recovered to the point where he won the bronze medals in the European Championships and Commonwealth Games 110 metre hurdles.