SONIA O'SULLIVAN (pictured), the 2000 Olympic 5,000 metres silver medallist, has been nominated

  She has been proposed for a position on the Olympic Council of Ireland's (OCI) ruling Executive

top-class athletics, although she has spoken in the past about trying to make a comeback to run in the marathon

out, and most clearly vulnerable is Mike Kindall of baseball, whose sport has been removed from the Olympic

 AUGUST 3 - BRITAIN is set to achieve its target of winning 35 Olympic medals in Beijing but is heading

But of these only one would come in the main Olympic Stadium, they predicted, tipping Phillips Idowu

Christine Ohuruogu, the world 400 metres champion, and Paula Radcliffe, the world record holder in the marathon

Sports Illustrated include that Michael Phelps, the 23-year-old American swimmer, is on the verge of Olympic

 AUGUST 4 - A DELEGATION from Loughborough University is to visit the Beijing Olympics where they hope to persuade a leading nation to base themselves in Leicestershire in the run-up to London 2012

Loughborough, where London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe and world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe

also making much of its good international transport links and an estimated 80 minute journey into the Olympic

  BARACK OBAMA'S election as the United States first black President has given Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Olympics a massive boost but, as DAVID OWEN - a former resident of the American city - writes, there are other reasons why it would make a great city to host the Games.

If Chicago wins the Games, the document indicates, 11 Olympic and 8 Paralympic sports could be based

By my reading, the distance chart on page 75 puts the Olympic stadium 7.6 kilometres away from the main

That would transform baseball into one of the out-and-out Olympic highlights – exactly what it should

the real Chicago   The first reason it was Chicago’s week was of course Barack Obama, who ended his marathon

campaign in triumph right about where Marathon runners in the 2016 Olympics would, as I understand it

 JULY 6 - BRITAIN'S Olly Freeman (pictured) took the bronze medal at the BG Triathlon World Cup in Hamburg today.

 The 22-year-old from Sussex, the official reserve for Britain's Olympic team for Beijing, claimed

look on her face only allowing herself her trade mark smile towards the end of the four lap 26.2 mile marathon

THE Peter Snell Institute of Sport in Auckland which has helped youngsters in New Zealand, including Olympic

  The institute was established in 2000 by a group of friends and enthusiasts, Snell, the three-time Olympic

and the Mayor of Auckland from 1980 to 1983, and Allison Roe, a former winner of the New York City Marathon

Its goal was to help identify and develop those who might become world class athletes in Olympic and

The decision to shut it down comes only six months after Vili became New Zealand's first Olympic track

was third-ranked in the 880 yards and mile at Mount Albert Grammar School but four years later, I won Olympic

  AUGUST 17 - REBECCA ROMERO won Olympic cycling gold in the 3,000 metres pursuit at the Laoshan Velodrome

Surrey was over three seconds quicker than 33-year-old Houvenaghel, who was seeking to become the first Olympic

She had given up a career as a dentist in the Royal Air Force to pursue her dream of winning an Olympic

country runner, she discovered a talent for time-trialling in 2002 not long after she had run the London Marathon

  LAMINE DIACK (pictured), the President of the International Assocation of Athletics Federations (IAAF), today backed a bid to have cross-country included in the Olympics.

  Diack, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has backed a campaign started by distance

The trio, who between them have won five Olympic gold medals, 16 World Cross-Country titles and own every

world record between 5,000 metres and the marathon, wrote a joint letter to the Diack and the IOC President

The IOC replied that it was not possible because the Winter Olympic programme must be practised on “snow

  AUGUST 18 - CHRIS HOY'S (pictured) bid to become a member of the International Olympic Committee

record holder WIlson Kipketer, Spanish tennis player Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario and Kenya's former world marathon

Every athlete participating in the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are currently eligible to vote and Hoy

"It is vital that all the athletes competing in the Beijing Olympic Games go to the ballot boxes and

"I would relish the opportunity to represent all Olympic athletes during this period of history when

"There are many issues facing Olympic athletes, in particular the difficulties surrounding the fight

 AUGUST 5 - LONDON'S eight-minute segment during the closing ceremony at the Beijing Olympics in the Bird's Nest Stadium will be "simple and resilient", the 2012 head of events has promised.

are working really hard to support us, but the same Stadium houses the conclusion of the men’s marathon

Morris said: "Our ambition, however, for these two modest eight minute shows - one for the Olympic Games

 HAILE GEBRSELASSIE (pictured), arguably the greatest distance runner in history, may not run in the Olympics again until London 2012, as first predicted in insidethegames nearly three months ago.

, an ambassador for London 2012 during its successful bid, has said that he will not compete in the marathon

because of the pollution and plans instead to run the 10,000 metres, the distance at which he won the Olympic

"That's why he has shifted to the marathon.  

Gebrselassie, the former world record holder for the 10,000m and the current world record holder for the marathon

, Gebrselassie's long-time manager, told insidethegames: "Haile is really serious about running the marathon

  AUGUST 18 - BOOKMAKERS now make Britain's Olympic team competing in Beijing odds on to win 17 or

Other Olympic athletes the Hills are offering odds on winning the BBC award are cyclists Bradley Wiggins

William Hill are also offering a series of other Olympic-themed bets, including 11/10 for Jamaica's 100m

They are also backing Paula Radcliffe to come back from her disappointment of finishing 23rd in the marathon

  CHICAGO and Rio de Janeiro have both used staging major road races today as an opportunity to promote their bids to host the 2016 Olympics.

  Rio hosted the IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships under glorious sunshine while Chicago held

its annual marathon in unseasonably warm conditions that affected performances.  

The race, in which Romania's Olympic champion Constantina Tomescu-Dita finished fourth, was dedicated

Tomescu-Dita also expressed support for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid.  

She said: "I would be very happy to be here for the Olympic Games in 2016."  

today awarded another major international event in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics, the World Half-Marathon

11 2009, will be the most significant athletics event to be staged in Britain before the London 2012 Olympic

This year's edition of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, which has also been previously known

Previous winners of the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships have included Paula Radcliffe, who has

In October 2008 Birmingham will stage its first ever Half Marathon and this event is expected to be officially

  ALAN STOREY (pictured), one of Britain's top distance coaches for more than 30 years, is to leave his post as the senior performance manager for endurance, UK Athletics confirmed today.

during the Olympics in Beijing when UK Athletics admitted that they and officials from the British Olympic

Storey started his coaching career in the North East where he guided Mike McLeod to the Olympic 10,000m

He worked for several years at the London Marathon, including a spell as the chief executive, while continuning

for the final of the 5,000m in Beijing was heavily criticised by several experts, most notably 1976 Olympic