outrageously huge that it could rather easily be converted into a large airport.After getting lost about three times

Phelps (pictured above) – the greatest Olympian ever with an astonishing collection featuring 14 gold medals

metre champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown in a meet record

on him.Luckily, Phelps has "found his passion again" just in time for London 2012 after there were times

Whether Oscar has all the fanfare and all the media, that doesn't really bother me all that much," Singleton

By Tom Degun at the Hilton Anatole in DallasMay 16 - The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and Allstate Insurance Company have revealed, here at the Team USA Media Summit, the identities of those members of the Class of 2012 who will be inducted into the prestigious United States Olympic Hall of Fame.

racing champion Jean Driscoll (pictured top), who also won the Boston Marathon on a record eight occasions.The

women's softball team are also honoured after they secured Olympic gold at Athens 2004 with a perfect 9-0 record

Olympic teams, at Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, during which time his athletes brought home 23 Olympic medals

title, and fellow sprinter Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three track and field gold medals

charge to pass the Olympic and Amateur Sports Act that appointed the USOC as the coordinating body for all

Hilton Anatole in DallasMay 14 - Michael Phelps, the man widely considered the greatest swimmer of all

haul to 16 medals, 14 of which were gold.But Phelps initially confessed that he did not want to compete

There were times when I just wouldn't come to practice."

It really was all about me being able to find the passion again," he explained."

I put myself in the spot to not swim the times I wanted and he [Lochte] was just kind of rolling over

the competition any more ammunition than they already have," he said.Meanwhile Phelps has one more record

surgery on a cruciate knee ligament in February, is "ahead of schedule" as she seeks to challenge for medals

Speaking after his team had won three gold medals at the European Championships in Manchester – through

And that's testimony to all the staff as well as Sarah. "We have got a world-class coaching team."

team for London 2012 with an announcement to be made on May 25.He does so against the backdrop of a record

breaking performance by Britain at the European Championships that yielded seven medals, including two

nbsp;Stevenson and Armitt head New Year Honours ListDecember 2011: Sarah Stevenson claims Sunday Times

go quickly in qualifying but never expected to catch and pass Michael Teuber of Germany, the world record

pursuit-based, I was happy with a four-second personal best time and coming away with gold and silver medals

adapt my training to cope with the demands of performing in a short space of time to win those gold medals

similar way to myself and maybe even help others to find a passion in life so they would not give up when times

After all, "winners never quit and quitters never win!"

By Mike RowbottomApril 30 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) ruling against the British Olympic Association's (BOA) policy of lifetime bans for serious doping offenders has polarised opinion within British sporting circles.

We need all our big guns running if we gonna win a medal in London."

Let's all change the record and wish the athletes well."

Devonish, that raced to silver at the 2003 World Championships in Paris.But the British quartet had its medals

out of medals etc can have that too, sadly no, who supports them?

Steve Backley, four-times European champion and former world javelin record holder, reacted by tweeting

By David GoldApril 23 - Former Brazil star Ronaldo will be the biggest name at the London 2012 football draw tomorrow  – although Argentina, winner of the last two men's tournaments, will be conspicuous by its absence.

team which finished third at the 1996 Olympic Games, is due to be joined by Kelly Smith, England's record

inspired by the Olympics when formulating his plan for football's blue riband quadrennial event.Five-times

this year; by contrast the most successful nation at the Games is Hungary, which claimed three gold medals

tournament was first contested in the US in 1996, and the Americans have won three of the four gold medals

victory is Norway which will not be in London this summer.Sweden, New Zealand, North Korea and Canada all

By David Gold at The Mayfair Hotel in LondonApril 18 - Procter & Gamble (P&G) is unveiling a series of short documentaries telling the lives of some of Britain's top Olympic and Paralympic athletes through the eyes of their mothers as part of the Worldwide Olympic Sponsor's "Thank you, mum" campaign.

better, and presumably more masculine, model – before it shows the legendary cyclist winning his gold medals

think I woke up the next morning and said to my husband, David, 'I dreamt that Chris has won three gold medals

feature mums (pictured top) Pat Radcliffe, the mother of world marathon record holder Paula; Pat Payne

world's best athletes who, between them, have collected 375 international medals.Among them are 16-times

We can all do with a few more thank-yous – in fact, I could do with some myself!"

By Tom DegunApril 16 - Ireland have continued to step up their preparations for teh Paralympics, sending 46 athletes from ten sports to the Renault Ireland Team 2012 Training Camp.

Council has already stated in their Beijing 2008 Review that the country is looking to secure five medals

at London 2012, including three gold medals to match the haul they took in the Chinese capital.They

All five are at the Limerick camp and are likely to be selected for the Irish London 2012 team, which

pictured).The visually impaired 24-year-old from Derry won both the T13 100 and 200 metres in world record

times in China.Smyth is expected to achieve similar feats in at the 2012 Paralympics and is also hoping

By Tom DegunApril 15 - David Weir, Britain's double Beijing 2008 Paralympic champion, has claimed that the Paralympic World Cup in Manchester next month gives him the perfect opportunity to finalise his preparations for London 2012.

rival Kurt Fearnley of Australia in Switzerland just a week before the race in Manchester.But the five-times

Weir has not yet confirmed his events for London 2012, it is likely that he will bid for four gold medals

I had a great training camp out in Australia and while it was by no means easy all the time, and there

were plenty of hard times, I feel it's helped me no end and I'll soon start to see the benefits."

Down there I broke the 400m world record and went sub-60 seconds, which was what I was aiming for, so

strenuously.At this point last year I was in the same position and, after a badly-timed bout of flu – all

whatever the merits or demerits of my preparation, I was able – along with more than 36,000 other souls, a record

eighth member of England's 1966 World Cup winning side to put his medal up for auction, along with other medals

(I will win or I will die).In the event, having arrived first in the stadium before collapsing five times

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The

By Tom DegunApril 10 - Teenage star Ellie Simmonds has unsurprisingly been selected to spearhead the British swimming team's medal hopes at London 2012 but 11-time Paralympic swimming champion Dave Roberts (pictured) has suffered a monumental blow after he missed out on ParalympicsGB selection.

crowd were left at the mercy of the selectors after he missed both the 50 and 100 metres freestyle times

to become the most successful British Paralympian in recent times."

We will be giving Dave all the support we can at this time."

Jonathan Fox and European butterfly record holder Susie Rodgers, have also made the 16.A further 26

in London and I am looking forward to seeing them all compete for ParalympicsGB."

By Mike RowbottomBritons, famously, are obsessed with a nice cup of tea. Miss Jane Marple. She liked nothing better than a nice cup of tea. Apart from solving gruesome murders, that is. And Boy George. He liked tea better than sex, or at least he once said he did before it turned out that he preferred heroin more than anything.When Ben Rushgrove, Britain's Paralympic and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) world 100 metre silver medallist, starts talking about a nice cup of tea, or more accurately a good cup of tea, it soon becomes clear that he is talking about more...

It's all about doing the best you can, and being the best you can be."

The three of us have been fighting over the same medals since the World Championships in 2006," he says

"We've all beaten one another and in London any one of us could be standing on top of the podium."

But at the same time there is a great camaraderie between us and we all keep in touch with each other

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The

By Mike RowbottomWith 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...

For Olympians and prospective Olympians all over the world, the next few weeks and months are a kind

the challenge once again to claim his third consecutive Olympic title.But in a career which included medals

and attitude required, although he too must make his journey of realisation that others can and at times

Goldie said it had all made sense, and that she could relate to all of it," Backley said.Four years on

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The

Athletes Committee chaired by Jonathan Edwards – the former Olympic triple jump champion whose world record

after it was set – and assistant chaired by Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, who has 11 Paralympic gold medals

– and obliged to write a letter of apology to all 41 members of the swimming squad.

But for all the snoring and door slamming, the world's athletes should have an experience to remember

Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The