FEBRUARY 4 - USIAN BOLT (pictured), the triple Olympic champion, heads a list of 31 athletes from around the world given special permission to travel in and out of Ireland during the build-up to London 2012.

  Fellow Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell is also listed as are several top Kenyan distance runners, all

The visas have been issued mainly so that the athletes, who also include Ethiopia's world marathon record

Irish-born manager, had been lobbying for the special visa since last year when Bolt won three gold medals

at the Beijing Olympics, the 100 metres, the 200m and the 4x100m relay, all in world record times.

 works with many of the world's top athletes, helping Dame Kelly Holmes to win her two Olympic gold medals

  UK SPORT'S chief executive John Steele (pictured) today defended the Government agency's decision to overlook eight sports and disciplines for funding for London 2012.

arguably oversaw the most successful Olympic performance in Britain's history when the team won 47 medals

He said: "London is now the target for all activity – the prism through which all our actions will need

“We are all living in uncertain economic times and sport is not immune.   

"The £50 million that the Government announced earlier this month meant that we are now investing record

compromise’ strategy - which targets resources primarily at those sports and athletes most likely to win medals

  LEWIS HAMILTON, the Formula One world champion, should win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award rather than Olympic heroes Rebecca Adlington and Chris Hoy (pictured together), according to Ben Ainslie and Paula Radcliffe.

47 medals, including 19 gold, two of which she won in the Water Cube, that the award should go to a

this year there have been plenty of people having pops at him, and it takes character to come through all

"Huge respect to both of them, but he won three gold medals as opposed to two."  

, and Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who won three titles all in world record times, achieved.  

"In sailing you can only win one medal per Games, so I've done all I can do, just as Chris Hoy won everything

  OCTOBER 24 - BEN AINSLIE'S dream of adding the record for crossing the Transatlantic to his three

Olympic gold medals have ended after the 99ft monohull maxi-yacht Virgin Money was hit by a massive wave

Cup, which includes Mike Sanderson as co-skipper as well as Ainslie, are aiming to break the world record

"Luckily all of the crew were harnessed in and no one was swept overboard, which is all that matters

with some horrific weather conditions but none of us could have predicted the huge storm systems - at times

everything we have been through in the last two days Sam, Holly [who has already been called upon several times

the severe conditions] and I will be bitterly disappointed to give up the fight for our first world record

  OCTOBER 23 - BRITAIN'S record-breaking cyclists, who won 14 medals, including eight gold, three by

demonstrate to the world that they can have confidence that British athletes, who won more Olympic medals

" of competitors using drugs - were tested at least three times.  

the International Olympic Committe (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ordered a review of all

Over 400 tests were conducted on the 151 British athletes who took home medals as part of the most comprehensive

tested three times, and 35 per cent were tested twice.  

OCTOBER 9 - ROGER MOSEY, the man who will oversee BBC's coverage of the 2012 Olympics, admitted today that senior executives at the Corporation visiting Beijing were shocked by how big the Games are.

He said: "You know the Olympics are huge, but when you see it on the scale of Beijing we all immediately

thought, 'This is two, or three, or four times bigger than we thought it was'."

had seen at least some Olympics coverage.Britain's outstanding success at the Games, where they won a record

47 medals, including 19 gold, has helped broaden the interest in many of the minor sports in this country

  SEPTEMBER 19 - BRITAIN won a record 47 medals at the Olympics in Beijing, including 19 gold, but the

Sport, the funding body, had, for my money, a bigger hand in Britain’s astonishing Beijing haul of 47 medals

underline the point, he starts to spell out how Britain’s peerless Olympic cycling team -which won 14 medals

After all, he is the man who, as detailed in a timely and revealing new book*, put British track cycling

process that really did sit each and every athlete down in a room for hours on end going over and over all

Sport   David Owen is a specialist sports journalist who worked for 20 years for the Financial Times

  SEPTEMBER 16 - NEW ZEALAND'S former world number one windsurfer Jon-Paul Tobin (pictured) has taken advantage of having dual nationality by joining Britain's programme for the 2012 Olympics.

Britain's sailors won a record six medals in Qingdao during the Olympics last month but missed out in

whose international experience in this instance can only enhance and strengthen our quest for 2012 medals

compete for Britain, having previously represented New Zealand in an ISAF event, but given his track record

“We’re confident that this is a beneficial move for all the RS:X squad sailors at a time when we are

for NZL in the past, I have always looked to the Team GBR programme as the world’s best and several times

 SEPTEMBER 12 - BRITAIN'S Shelly Woods (pictured) won her second medal of the Paralympic Games today in the re-run T54 5,000 metres final in Beijing's Bird's Nest Stadium.

She said: “I’m just so glad it’s all over.  

Woods revealed afterwards that watching the original race a number of times on YouTube had helped her

Overall, they have now won a total of 69 medals, 33 of them gold.  

of 35 and, with four days of competition still remaining, there are hopes that they can beat their record

China continue to lead the overall medals table with 109 medals, 37 of them gold.

SEPTEMBER 10 - BRITAIN'S swimmers continued their success in the pool at the Paralympics with another five medals

including two golds and a world record for Heather Frederiksen (pictured).

"It makes all the pain and hard work worth it.  

"I had to accept I had a disbility and you have to learn to swim again and I do compare me times from

when I was able bodied to my times now.  

"All the anger I had I get rid of in the pool.  

"We are all so happy to get the gold and retain our title.  

  PETER ERIKSSON (pictured), the Swede poached from Canada and appointed last month as UK Athletics new Paralympic head coach, believes Britain's competitors are failing to fulfil their potential and, as he exclusively tells MIKE ROWBOTTOM, he plans to do something about it

"In 2000 the count was 47 medals.  

"This is something that fits my personality because I like working hard and I keep going all the time

Britain's recent Paralympic record is in stark contrast to that of China, which has taken its medal haul

total budget for the Canadian athletes at the last Paralympics, for instance, was £350,000 – almost 20 times

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

    PETER ERIKSSON (pictured), the Swede poached from Canada and appointed last month as UK Athletics new Paralympic head coach, believes Britain's competitors are failing to fulfil their potential and, as he exclusively tells MIKE ROWBOTTOM, he plans to do something about it

  "In 2000 the count was 47 medals.

nbsp; "This is something that fits my personality because I like working hard and I keep going all

  Britain's recent Paralympic record is in stark contrast to that of China, which has taken its

for the Canadian athletes at the last Paralympics, for instance, was £350,000 – almost 20 times

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

    PETER ERIKSSON (pictured), the Swede poached from Canada and appointed last month as UK Athletics new Paralympic head coach, believes Britain's competitors are failing to fulfil their potential and, as he exclusively tells MIKE ROWBOTTOM, he plans to do something about it

  "In 2000 the count was 47 medals.

nbsp; "This is something that fits my personality because I like working hard and I keep going all

  Britain's recent Paralympic record is in stark contrast to that of China, which has taken its

for the Canadian athletes at the last Paralympics, for instance, was £350,000 – almost 20 times

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

PETER ERIKSSON (pictured), the Swede poached from Canada and appointed last month as UK Athletics new Paralympic head coach, believes Britain's competitors are failing to fulfil their potential and, as he exclusively tells MIKE ROWBOTTOM, he plans to do something about it

  "In 2000 the count was 47 medals.

nbsp; "This is something that fits my personality because I like working hard and I keep going all

  Britain's recent Paralympic record is in stark contrast to that of China, which has taken its

for the Canadian athletes at the last Paralympics, for instance, was £350,000 – almost 20 times

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

 BEN TITLEY, one of the country's most experienced coaches, has been chosen to head up British Swimming’s new Intensive Training Centre (ITC) at Loughborough University, it was announced today.

think the ITCs are an excellent concept and will provide opportunities for as many swimmers as possible all

“We want as many swimmers winning international medals as possible while nurturing and developing

number of years and has also served British Swimming in the role of national women's coach in recent times

Beijing Olympic team with the most notable of these being Liam Tancock who, in 2008, broke the world record

Loughborough means that the ITC will be staffed by two world-class coaches who both have a fantastic track record