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Alan Hubbard: When we witness Britain's success at London 2012 we must remember the team behind the team

When the gongs are dished out after 2012 – and there will be bucket loads if, as we anticipate, London's Olympics are a rip-roaring success – it will be something of a dilemma for the person responsible for deciding who gets what.

For as well as heading up the Games' organisation, Lord Coe also chairs the Sports Honours Committee, which sifts nominations and recommends recipients to Downing Street. Not that he'll be awarding anything to himself, of course – anyway, what can you give a man who has everything, from a peerage downwards?

But there'll certainly be no argument if a knighthood wings it way to his anchor man, Paul Deighton, as one already has to John Armitt, chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Hiring the high-flying city financier as LOCOG's chief executive was, says Coe, "the best move I have ever made". He adds: "We would not be where we are today without him."

And where are we? Certainly well ahead of any previous Olympics at this stage of the Games.

And that is not just in terms of infrastructure and funding. The readiness of Britain's athletes is apparent from recent results which are due in no small measure to a body whose involvement with Team GB's Games plan tends to be undervalued.

Oh yes, we laud the Lottery and the massive difference it has made in enabling so many of Britain's elite performers to train without worrying unduly what their dedication is costing them; we acknowledge the input of resources and expertise by UK Sport and applaud the way the British Olympic Association (BOA) has got its act together so professionally for the benefit of Team GB.

But there is another organisation, relatively, unsung, without which Britain's medal hopes would be nowhere near as optimistic with the Games just half a year away.

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The English Institute of Sport (EIS), centred in a state-of-the art complex in Sheffield but reaching out into several other parts of the nation, is the engine room of Britain's Olympic machine, helping to ensure that , elite performers can get to their marks in peak condition by providing the best possible back-up facilities including medical, psychological and coaching expertise.

In other words to reach and maintain peak fitness by next July and recover speedily from any injuries that may impede them along the way.

When you talk about the nuts-and-bolts backroom workings of any operation it can be mind-numbingly boring, and sport's coach-speak is no exception.

Eyes – particularly those of sports editors – tend to glaze over when terms like physiology, sports science, nutrition and bio-mechanics come into play.

Indeed, anything which includes the letters 'io' or has an 'ology' at the end. Especially sports psychology.

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gb bob_team_mark_tout_albertville_1992_04-01-12

Here I admit I am also something of a sceptic, and have been since covering the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville when Britain's four-man bob, led by Mark Tout (pictured front), were in pole position overnight.

Here was something worth writing about but the team psychologist banned all interviews, insisting on locking the squad and himself away for the night to keep them 'in the zone'. They finished seventh.

However, I accept that it may work for some. And what is happening at the EIS certainly seems to be working for a substantial number of our prospective Olympians.

So what exactly is the EIS and what does it do?   A brief run-down of its activities tells us that:

•         More than 250 practitioners work with 49 Olympic and Paralympic sports, delivering 4,000 hours of support to over 1,500 athletes every week.

•         It worked with 65 of the 70 athletes (94 per cent) that won a medal at Beijing. This included all of those who won gold and silver medals and 80 per cent of those that secured bronze.

•         Worked with 16 of the 17 Paralympic sports represented by Paralympics GB.

•         Practitioners cover a range of disciplines including: sports medicine, physiology, physiotherapy, psychology, strength and conditioning, performance nutrition, performance psychology, performance analysis, biomechanics, talent identification and performance lifestyle.   EIS also has a range of practitioners that work specifically with Paralympic sports.

•         The sports that invest the most in EIS' services are athletics, canoeing, hockey, swimming, rowing, badminton, boxing, gymnastics and cycling.

The EIS chair is former Olympian Steve Cram and the chief executive the former Welsh rugby star and international hurdler Nigel Walker, one of that rare breed of black sports administrators.

He tells us: "There are a lot of good people in this organisation doing a lot of good work. Our contribution in the build up to 2012 in terms of support for the athletes is vital. Our main function is to provide sports medicine and sports science support to both the Olympic and Paralympic bodies. This can be psychology, physiotherapy, nutrition, strength and conditioning – the sort of thing that a governing body may feel gives the athlete that extra edge.

"We supply a range of practitioners to cover those needs across a range of disciplines. This is a crucial back-up role. UK Sport are the main body providing the funding and checking that it is used appropriately and from that money the governing bodies can buy our services."

He gives heptathlon star Jessica Ennis as an example of how the EIS provides crucial assistance. "Just before Beijing, Jessica broke her take off foot in long jump. The medical prognosis was that she couldn't continue to take off with that foot so our physios and strength and conditioning coaches helped her and with a bio-mechanist worked on changing her take off foot.

"Jessica is a fantastically talented athlete and it was great that the EIS could help her further her career. We like to think that what the EIS can do is help make the difference between silver and gold or between fifth and sixth.

"Improving performance is at the centre of everything EIS does and our practitioners work daily with coaches and athletes as part of their elite performance programmes. We work in multi-disciplinary teams to provide a holistic service that supports coaches and performance directors in helping to improve the training and performance of their athletes, and a lifestyle programme which prepares athletes for life after sport by helping them to become coaches or get other employment.

"If we are not indispensable at the moment, we hope to make sure we are at the time of the Olympics and Paralympics."

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According to triathlon world champion Alistair Brownlee (pictured) it is "fantastic to have such a back-up system, even if you don't need to use it". Actually he did need to use it when he suffered a stress fracture in his femur two years ago. The EIS worked with him to develop a bespoke rehab programme which enabled him to regain his world title last year. As he spoke he was receiving treatment there from Emma Deakin, British Triathlon's head physio, who says: "The EIS pieces together all the parts of the jigsaw," describing it as "an on tap service, with immediate access to medical care. The quicker the diagnosis, the more efficient the treatment and the quicker you can get back into sport.

"It gives athletes that peace of mind that they have somewhere to go pretty well 24 hours a day when something goes wrong."

One sport which owes much to the EIS is amateur boxing. It is housed within the institute itself and the 'togetherness' of the squad there was a contributory factor to the unprecedented Olympic triple medal success in Beijing. Now with a fistful of boxers already qualified for London and five (including female flyweight powerhouse Nicola Adams) rated in the top three of the weight classes globally, 2012 is potentially a ring-of-roses.

Head coach Robert McCracken says the EIS has been "a massive factor" in recent successes which have included a best-ever world championships (three silvers and a bronze) and five gold medal winning performances in the Olympic test event.

Flyweight Andrew Selby, European champion and world silver medallist, is one who has personally benefited from EIS expertise. He says: "I was struggling with the weight at the end of 2010 when I performed poorly in a couple of tournaments when I felt drained of strength because I had difficulty in making the 52kg limit. I began to work closely with the nutritionist from the EIS (Mark Ellison) who works with GB Boxing and together we developed a diet and a way of managing my weight in training and competitions. It has had a fantastic impact on my performances and been an important contributor to my success in 2011."

Super heavyweight Anthony Joshua, who won a world championships silver in Baku and could be the pugilistic poster-boy of the Games, explains how the boxers are reaping the benefit as a squad. "We don't just have good boxing coaches but nutritionists, physios and psychologists as well, while before every fight we get videos of our opponents. We really leave no stone unturned.

"There's a lot of science behind the fists."

The appliance of that science makes the EIS the sort of set-up which the Russians and East Germans would have been proud of in the days of the old Soviet bloc supremacy. Without the drugs, of course!

So when we go gong-ho this time next year let's hope Lord Coe will remember the contribution that has been made in his erstwhile home town by the EIS and its back-room boffins; the team behind Team GB.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title from Atlanta to Zaire.

Mike Rowbottom: The sailors still making waves about being forced to miss Moscow 1980

It's a wonder that the certificate sent to Colin Simonds after his Olympic sailing ambitions had been thwarted by a boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games is still in one piece.

Given the frustration that he and his fellow would-be Olympians felt then, and still feel now, about the Royal Yachting Association's decision to accede to the request of Mrs Thatcher's Government without any consultation with its athletes, you might have expected it to have been screwed up into a little ball and thrown away, or perhaps ceremonially ignited on the steps of the RYA headquarters.

Pictures of this bathetic item were circulated recently as an accompanying illustration to the heartfelt pleas by Simonds and the other sailors whose prospects of taking part in the Moscow Games were destroyed that the RYA do more to compensate them and, crucially, agree never to impose such a unilateral boycott again.

As Simonds acidly points out, when US athletes were obliged to boycott the Moscow Games in response the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, they were all in the same boat, as it were.

"The USA were all given congressional medals of honour at the White House," Simonds said. "We got a printed scroll – by post."

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Colin Simmonds_Moscow_1980_certificate_cropped

The wording of the scroll, signed by Prince Philip, then the RYA President, is timelessly pointless: "This is to certify that Colin Simonds , the winner of the Soling Class, would have been selected for the Royal Yachting Association Olympic Yachting Team 1980."Cold comfort indeed – especially for those members of the team who defeated returning Olympic champions soon afterwards to earn gold in the European Championships.

For all the efforts of Simonds and Co, the RYA felt unable to offer them the guarantee they sought. They also felt that an invitation to take part in the Torch Ceremony fell rather short of the promise they say was made to them by the RYA in 2008 that they would be involved in the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

As far as Simonds and his fellow phantoms of the Moscow Games are concerned, the conversation with their governing body has not yet been concluded, with their cause being maintained via the following address:[email protected]

SolingKeil -_Copy_2

The RYA were joined in their position by three other sports before the Games – shooting, equestrianism and hockey – as 14 other sports agreed to go to Moscow. The boycott hit particularly hard on the hockey players, many of whom had been deeply disappointed four years earlier when, despite being the official reserve nation for the event, they were not called up when Kenya withdrew from the Montreal Games. Moscow would also have been the first Games for the GB women in the inaugural female tournament.

Speaking recently to the rower Chris Davidge, who competed at the 1952, 1956 and 1960 Olympics before going on to be the Team GB Chef de Mission in Montreal, I got an insight into the political pressures which distorted attitudes to Olympic participation in 1976, and four years later.

Davidge might well have played a small but significant part in precipitating the late withdrawal of Kenya from the Montreal Olympics, who boycotted the Games along with 16 other African nations in protest at the participation of New Zealand, whose rugby players had competed against the then apartheid South Africa.

Speaking in the library of his elegant Georgian house at Little Houghton, Davidge - a lawyer, and former High Sheriff of Northamptonshire - recalled how the New Zealand Chef de Mission had come to him for advice in the days preceding the Opening Ceremony in Montreal.

"I said: 'You do not under any circumstances agree to withdraw. Rugby football is not part of the Olympic Games. Therefore there is no reason whatsoever why the Olympic team should be crucified, as it were. You stand firm.'"

New Zealand did stand firm – something for which John Walker, who won the 1500 metres gold, was particularly grateful.

By the time Mrs Thatcher's Government was seeking to bolster Britain's "special relationship" with the United States by using British Olympians as a political weapon against the Soviets, Davidge, as president of the Amateur Rowing Association, was given a mandate by his Council to stand up for rowers wishing to attend the Games.

He was summoned to the Foreign Office to account for himself and his sport to the then Foreign Secretary, Lord Carrington. Shortly before he did so Carrington's Parliamentary Private Secretary, Douglas Hurd – with whom Davidge had been at Eton – came into the waiting room for an informal chat.

"I said 'I hope I'm not going to get into too much hot water, but I'm not complying,'" Davidge recalled. "I put my case to him and he said 'Good luck, have a go.'

"Anyway, I was duly ushered in to see the Foreign Secretary. My case was quite simply this: 'If you, the British Government, will stop trading with Russia, we will support you. But we, as sportsmen, are not prepared to be used as the whip for protest.'

"He was very gentlemanly about it. He said 'I quite understand your position. But we must agree to disagree.'

"It was a meeting I shall never forget. Because they were trying to pick us off sport-by-sport, and we were an obvious first target."

How sad for Simonds and Co that they had no one such as Davidge to plead their cause in those uncertain days of political manoeuvring. At least now they seem to be making significant waves as they act in concerted fashion. So watch this space.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, and has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames. Rowbottom's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Mihir Bose: Blatter's turn towards Europe shows him at his best as he attempts FIFA clean up

Could 2012 be the year when football finally begins to accept that it can longer disregard the wider world?

2011 has been the year of the great "no". The game tried hard to carry on with the fiction that all of football's problems can be solved behind the front door of the family mansion irrespective of what the outside world may expect.

It has always been curious that the world's most popular game is so conservative and resistant to change. Witness its enduring hostility to using technology for controversial decisions. This is despite the fact that it brings the game into disrepute. The result is that millions, who watch the game at home or in pubs, often know a referee has made a mistake, even a game changing mistake, while the referee is blissfully unaware.

I have no great hope that this historic tendency will change, or at least not in the foreseeable future. Too many of the game's icons, led by Franz Beckenbauer and Michel Platini, are opposed to using technology and it will require a whole new generation of players to take over as administrators before this Luddite view changes.

However, 2011 ends with just the first glimpses that FIFA is prepared to accept that this talk of family values does not wash any longer. More so when so much of the family's dirty linen is being washed in public. The signs are small but worth noting nevertheless.

The first such signals have emerged from the FIFA Executive itself, not least Sepp Blatter. When, in the summer, FIFA was nearly overcome by the worst corruption crisis in its history, many found it hard to believe that Blatter could be the man to clean up the organisation. There was doubt whether the Swiss wanted to do anything, let alone whether he could. However much that has emerged since, and in particular at the FIFA Executive Committee meeting in Tokyo in early December, suggests that this was not empty talk on the part of the FIFA President.

Blatter always faced a very interesting problem. Back in 1998 when he defeated Lennart Johansson to become president, he knew that there was a solid phalanx of Europeans, led by UEFA, hostile to him. Then he used his allies from the wider world, men like Mohammed Bin Hammam and Jack Warner, to neutralise the European threat. They helped him to go on to defeat Europe's proxy, Issa Hayatou, head of African football, and win a thumping re-election in 2002.

But now that all these men are out of FIFA and Hayatou has, in Jacques Rogge's phrase, been shown a "yellow card" following an investigation by the International Olympic Committee, Blatter has had to cope with a different European problem. This is a Europe extremely unhappy with all the talk of FIFA corruption. The unhappiness is particularly pronounced among those who run UEFA. Here they are running one of the best confederations in football, spearheaded by the Champions League, and they get smeared by the corruption surrounding FIFA. Many in Europe feel so alienated from FIFA that they can hardly recognise it as part of their family.

Sepp Blatter_Tokyo_December_2011

But that mood is changing and I am told that the FIFA Executive meeting in Tokyo played a big part in that change. There Blatter went a long way to convincing the Europeans that, while he may once have used Warner and Bin Hamman against UEFA, now he is one really of them who is just as keen as they are for a clean FIFA. The Europeans were much impressed when he told them he was ready to publish the damming ISL report which may identify whom at FIFA took bribes from that failed marketing organisation. What was holding him back, he said, was the fact that one of those named in the report had gone to the Swiss courts to stop its publication. So convincing was Blatter's performance that it ended with the European members leaving Tokyo singing his praises.

This change of tune was also helped by the fact that Blatter had asked the UEFA member who been very vocal on this issue, Theo Zwanziger, President of the German Football Association, to look into FIFA statues. The German, who has also been critical of Qatar winning the right to host the 2022 World Cup, has the task to recommend whatever changes are necessary to make FIFA fit for purpose. Nothing will please the 66 year old lawyer more and this shows that Blatter has not lost his old touch. Not for nothing has he been known as the shrewdest sports politician of his time. Recent events may have damaged his reputation but the way he has brought Zwanziger into his tent shows his ability to manipulate sports politics is still alive and well.

It is interesting that a notable absentee at the Tokyo meeting was Ricardo Teixeira, the long time head of Brazilian football. He is said to be one of those named in the ISL report.

However, while Blatter may have won over the European members of his executive, for him to convince the world that FIFA is truly transparent, the ISL report has to be published. Following the Tokyo meeting, the Swiss courts have said they are prepared to release the report. But an unnamed individual who does not want it disclosed could appeal and this could hold up the process or even scupper it.

It is only when this long awaited report is published that we will know for sure that Blatter and FIFA's promise of transparency is not just empty talk.

Mihir Bose is one of the world's most astute observers on politics in sport and, particularly, football. He formerly wrote for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph, and was the BBC's head sports editor. Follow Mihir on twitter.

www.mihirbose.com

Andy Hunt: It's 2012, it's time for British athletes to deliver

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For the athletes aiming to represent Team GB next summer, the past year has been one of intense training, preparation and anticipation as they look ahead to the greatest moment of their sporting careers at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

These are sentiments shared by those of us at the British Olympic Association (BOA) who, working in partnership with the National Governing Bodies, are responsible for making certain every detail has been considered, every stone unturned, every system tested, to give Team GB athletes the maximum opportunity to succeed when it matters most and the next seven months will be absolutely crucial.

Although predicting sporting outcomes is far from an exact science, I firmly believe in the benefit of analysing performance data to provide insight into our progress towards one of our primary objectives for London 2012, which is to see Team GB athletes win more medals across more sports for over a century. We have recently reviewed the data for 2011 across all World Championships and other relevant Wworld events and rankings in every Olympic discipline for 2011 – this shows Team GB finishing in sixth position with 59 medals across 13 different sports in what would be a relative Olympic medals table. This includes an outstanding 50 medals won in Olympic disciplines at World Championships this year and shows that we are indeed on course.

While these results underscore what an outstanding year 2011 has been for British athletes and give reason for optimism for 2012, there is still considerable work to be done.

First, we must "protect" as many of those 50-plus podium finishes as possible, which is an extraordinary challenge given the fact that some nations (principally China) typically don't send their top competitors to major international events in the years preceding an Olympic Games, while other nations place a much greater emphasis on success in the Olympic Games than in events such as World Championships or World Cups.

Mo Farah_with_GB_flag_Daegu_September_4_2011

Mo Farah_with_GB_flag_Daegu_September_4_2011

We also know that London 2012 will be the most competitive Olympic Games in history, with more nations capable of placing athletes on the podium than ever before, presenting another challenge to the likes of Mo Farah (pictured), who won the 5,000 metres at the World Championships in Daegu this year.

Second, we must convert a greater percentage of British medals into gold, which is the measure by which placement in the Olympic medals table is determined. Our data shows British athletes won 14 gold medals this year (good for sixth place in the 2011 medals table), compared to 19 at the Beijing Games (good for fourth place). As a point of comparison, our top rival, Australia, is in fourth place in the 2011 medals table with 16 gold medals and 36 in total. With more than 50 podium finishes for British athletes in 2011, the talent, depth and potential is clearly there. For 2012, a priority will be to push some of those second and third place finishes to the top of the podium.

Third, it will be important to translate some of the fourth, fifth and sixth place finishes from 2011 into podium finishes for 2012. These athletes are within clear reach of the podium, and 2012 should be their moment to shine.

And finally, many of the sports that were awarded Host Nation Qualification Places for London 2012 made great strides in 2011 towards their ambition of competing with the top nations in the Olympic Games. I was particularly impressed by the women's handball and beach volleyball teams which recorded fantastic wins against higher ranked opposition at their Olympic test events. We must make certain these sports continue to progress in 2012 and, ultimately, deliver the type of performances that will inspire the next generation of athletes to take up these sports and, in time, qualify by right for future Olympic Games.

For each of these priorities, we have worked closely with the National Governing Body team leaders and performance directors to make certain Team GB athletes have the high performance services and logistical support necessary to succeed on the Olympic stage. And in each of these areas, one of the key factors that will contribute to success is the support of the British public. Talk to legendary athletes such as Sir Steve Redgrave and Dame Kelly Holmes (pictured together below), or leading performance directors such as Dave Brailsford, David Tanner and Charles van Commenee, and they all point to the uplift and momentum an athlete can gain from the support of a passionate home crowd.

Dame Kelly_Holmes_having_breakfast_with_Sir_Steve_Redgrave_February_2011

Dame Kelly_Holmes_having_breakfast_with_Sir_Steve_Redgrave_February_2011

Simply said, one of the key elements to the success of Team GB at London 2012 will be the unwavering support of the most knowledgeable, passionate sports fans in the world – and we will do everything possible to make the most of this not-so-secret weapon. Competing at home should be a definite advantage, and during the next few months the BOA will introduce a number of exciting opportunities for fans throughout the United Kingdom to show their support for Team GB and build a wave of momentum that will lift our athletes to even greater heights of success in 2012.

It is worth remembering that in Beijing, four of Team GB's fantastic Olympic gold medals were won by a cumulative difference of just 0.87 seconds. This is an illustration of the narrow margin that often defines Olympic success – and it is the combination of talent, preparation, coaching, logistical coordination and the support of a home crowd that makes all the difference.

In these closing days of 2011, and as we look ahead to the Olympic Year, I hope that 2012 is a golden one that we will all be able to remember and celebrate for decades to come.

Andy Hunt is Team GB Chef de Mission and chief executive of the British Olympic Association (BOA). Follow him on Twitter here.

Alan Hubbard: A successful London 2012 could see Joshua become worth his weight in gold

So 2012 beckons, and with the dense fog of economic gloom showing no signs of lifting, the prospects of a happy and prosperous New Year for most citizens of Great Britain are bleak. Though not for all. Those who stand on the rostrum with winners' medals draped around their necks during the London Olympics will not only be enveloped by great happiness, but assured of considerable prosperity too.

For, more than ever before, these Games will enrich victorious Brits beyond the wildest imagination of Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

Not from actual prize money of course, That's still a no-no. But when they step up to that rostrum they will be standing on a gold mine, their medals soon to be converted into cash by way of sponsorship deals endorsements, TV commercials and panel shows, speaking engagements, and newspaper columns.

Home stars Sir Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton, Jessica Ennis, Rebecca Adlington, Ben Ainslie, Mark Cavendish, Mo Farah, Tom Daley, Phillips Idowu, Keri-Anne Payne and Dai Greene are leading contenders for the gold standard. And to borrow a phrase from Del Boy, this time next year they could all be millionaires - if they aren't already.

London 2012 will provide the richest pickings in Olympic history for not only for those who win – one British sponsorship agency estimates they could pick up at least £2 million ($3 million/€2.4 million) a piece over the next four years but also for many who simply take part and do reasonably well.

Even some practitioners in more humble sports like hockey, taekwondo and handball have managers, PR minders and agents seeking ways to bolster lottery funding or existing sponsorship deals. While there is a huge range of incomes for Olympic gold medalists, even those in these lower profile events can earn sizeable sums with the right application and personality – most notably in the field of motivational speaking.

It is estimated that some of those at the top average commercial deals paying £100,000 ($154,000/€119,000) plus with speaking engagements up to £10,000 ($15,500/€12,000) a time. With gold medal successes next year, all could expect to land at least four more major endorsements worth up to £150,000 ($232,000/€179,000) annually or more than £2 million ($3 million/€2.4 million) in the four year cycle to the Rio Games in 2016.

Hoy (pictured), for instance is believed already to have earned at least that sum after his three golds in Beijing which made him the biggest name in cycling. Before 2008 he is understood to have been earning in the region of just £24,000 ($37,000/€29,000)a year from lottery grants and small sponsorships. Beijing brought him lucrative deals from Kellogs, Harrods, Highland Spring, Adidas and ScottishPower Renewables.

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A repeat, or anything approaching it in London would, again in the immortal words of Del Boy mean that "the world is his lobster".

But here's a prediction, there is one young man, as yet relatively unknown who, with a little luck – or maybe just a lucky punch - can be the biggest hit of 2012 and subsequently the highest earner. The aforementioned sums will be chicken feed to what 22 year-old Anthony Joshua will be worth should he become the Olympic super-heavyweight boxing champion.

For that truly remains the richest prize in Olympic sport. Ask Audley Harrison. He made a million back in 2000 when he turned pro, and that was without landing a blow. The seven figure windfall, from licence payers' money by courtesy of the BBC was paid up front, together with another million from a sponsor. It turned out to be money for old rope-a-dope, and as we know, it has all ended in jeers.

Amir Khan also collected a cool couple of million in a three year deal with Frank Warren – and that was only after winning silver at lightweight in Athens 2004. Four years on, James DeGale got an instant investment of around £1.5 million ($2.3 million/€1.8 million) from the same promoter following his acquisition of the Olympic middleweight title in Beijing.

Anthony Joshua_leaning_over_ropes

In boxing, it is always the big boys who make the big money and at the moment, in the Olympic ring, they don't come any bigger than 6ft 6in Joshua (pictured), the London-born son of Nigerian parents who has the looks, the likeability and the punch, together with the newly acquired world amateur silver medal from Baku where he lost on a hotly disputed decision to the local Azerbaijani.

Had that bout been in London – and the repeat may well be the Olympic final at ExCel - there is not much doubt that Joshua would have got the decision.

He had defeated reigning Olympic champion Roberto Cammarelle on the way to the final in the Azerbaijani capital and says: "I'm made for the Olympic final. I'm not overwhelmed by the prospect, This is what I am supposed to do. I will deal with it all right. I've not won one it yet but I am eading in the right direction."

Joshua's confidence is shared by Rob McCracken, Team GB Boxing Team chief who says: "We always knew we had something special on our hands with Anthony, but his rate of progress this year, for someone who is still relatively inexperienced, has been absolutely fantastic. He has every chance of being a star in his home town Olympics."

When he won the ABA title in only his 18th bout two years ago he spurned an offer of £50,000 ($77,000/€60,000) to turn pro there and then. I understand there was another incentive of some ten times that after his world silver but he knows that winning gold in 2012 will make him worth a king's ransom. Or should we say a Don King's ransom?

Promoters here and in the United States are fighting among themselves to get him to sign a pre-Games contract but Josh is determoned to resist the dosh.

He argues thus: "When you lose as a professional you are a former heavyweight champion, but once an Olympian you are always an Olympian. You can't take that away. When you get gold there is nowhere else to go.

"I can't buy the experience I'm getting now. As soon as I turn pro I have no other options. I'm getting the most out of my amateur career. I'm going to an Olympics and then if I was going to turn pro I've done everything I could as an amateur. I don't want to rush anything."

Now that David Haye apparently has become the retiring sort - though should the Klitschkos eventually make him an offer he'd be wiser to refuse you can bet he will swiftly unretire - there is a charisma chasm at the top of boxing's heavyweight division. Joshua can fill that far more handsomely than 'Fraudley' ever did.

In his 29 bouts Britain's amateur boxer of the year has shown commodities that make a potentially great heavyweight: he has more heart and a better chin than Harrison or Haye, has an appealing, Ali-like smile, punches a bit like Bruno - but is less robotic and more nimble on his feet, as testified by his 11sec for the 100 metres as a 15-year-old schoolboy

Like so many in his sport big Josh has been a little bit of a bad lad in the past, with a spell of community service for a drugs-related offence, but has sorted himself out. "I was running with the wrong people," he admits. "I won't mess up no more."

Of course the boxing ring is strewn with shattered aspirations of wannabes, and that Olympic title is by no means a foregone conclusion, even less the heavyweight championship of the world which understandably is his dream.

But of all the potential 2012 achievers hoping to milk London's Olympic cash cow Anthony Joshua seems the one most likely to become worth his weight in gold.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title from Atlanta to Zaire.

David Owen: Youth Olympic Games can provide a city with the Olympic aura but without the cost

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I don't know what Jacques Rogge got for Christmas.

But whatever Santa deposited in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President's stocking, I doubt it will have given him more satisfaction than the startlingly strong field that appears to be assembling for the race to stage the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

The week before Christmas, the British Olympic Association (BOA) took time out from preparing for London 2012 to declare its interest in bidding for the 2018 Youth Games.

If a British bidder does emerge, it is widely expected to be the 2014 Commonwealth Games host Glasgow.

But with around a month still to go before the January 30, 2012, deadline for interested cities' submissions, it is looking very much as though the Scottish city would face exceptionally tough competition if it does enter the race.

So far, four cities from a variety of regions have said they are likely to bid.

These are:

● Buenos Aires in Argentina, which may see the Youth Games in part as a way of keeping itself in the international sporting spotlight at a time when neighbour Brazil is gearing up to host both the FIFA World Cup (2014) and the Summer Olympics (2016).

● Monterrey in Mexico, which wanted to bid for the 2014 Youth Games, but lost out to national rival Guadalajara.

● Abuja in Nigeria, Glasgow's rival for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

● Kaspiysk in the Russian republic of Dagestan, which shares a border with turbulent Chechnya, but which is seen, rather like Sochi, as a zone of great tourism potential.

Even this impressive list may not be exhaustive, with other possible bid cities thought to include Medellín in Colombia and The Hague in the Netherlands.

Given that I thought I detected one or two signs of nerves in IOC Towers before the current acceptably strong list of six bidders for the Summer Olympics proper in 2020 was confirmed, it is worth posing the question – what is going on here?

The first point to make is that with this, the race for its third edition, the Summer Youth Games – which pits elite-level 14-18 year-old athletes against each other in competition – appears to have come of age (I am less convinced about the Winter Youth Games, but next month's inaugural event in Innsbruck, Austria may change this).

The second point is that the IOC owes the Asian port-city of Singapore a big debt of gratitude for the Summer Youth Games' gathering momentum: had Singapore not made such a success of the first Youth Games in 2010, the burst of interest we are currently witnessing might not have materialised.

REU1110099510369

I wonder too, though, whether the intensification of interest in staging the Youth Olympics isn't also, at one level, a veiled warning about just how few Governments can contemplate the colossal commitment of time and resources that staging a Summer Olympics now entails.

With swaths of the industrialised world still affected by economic stagnation and financial turbulence, and with international terrorists seemingly ever more ruthless and sophisticated, the costs of hosting the planet's biggest sporting extravaganza are subjected inevitably (and, it has to be said, properly) to the closest scrutiny.

And while these costs are all too apparent, the benefits of staging the Olympics are at times maddeningly elusive, or at least hard to quantify.

By opting instead for the Youth Games, cities can still bask – as I think they may be starting to appreciate – in the unique aura of the Olympic brand at much lower cost and probably with less risk that anything bad will happen.

Moreover, while Youth Olympic hosts will never get the same level of international media coverage as London 2012 and Rio 2016, they also have a shot at associating their own brands with a quality that I think the Olympics proper, in our sceptical age, have lost – probably for good.

This, in a word, is their innocence.

I don't know about you, but I find it hard to accept that many serious medal prospects at London 2012 would agree with Baron Pierre de Coubertin that the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part.

I certainly don't think many of their Governments would.

When it comes to participants in the Youth Olympics, however, it is possible to imagine that the good baron's idealism retains more purchase.

Long may this remain the case.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

David Gold: The swimmer with a chlorine allergy aiming for London 2012

Xander Alari-Williams may be a name unfamiliar to all but the most avid swimming fans, but he harbours hopes of making it the London 2012 Olympic Games and could well be the next big British sensation in the pool. Oh, and he has a chlorine allergy.

It may sound as unlikely as a squirrel with a nut allergy, but he has gone to great lengths in order to overcome this obstacle.

"I've been seeing a breathing specialist to help me train more to my potential," Alari-Williams told insidethegames. "[Chlorine] triggers my asthma so if I train in a heavily chlorinated pool my breathing starts to go and my throat closes.

"Seeing a breathing specialist has really helped as I have some techniques to do before and after the pool, and we measure how much oxygen and carbon dioxide I exhale. From those records we can see if my ventalin is actually helping, previously I took [it] with no impact but with their support I've moved up my dosage to allow me to train longer and harder."

In March, the 18-year-old will be competing for the right to represent his country at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the swimming test event at the Aquatics Centre, hoping for the chance to race alongside the likes of Michael Phelps next year.

"I'm hopeful for the Olympic trials but if I don't get in there is always the next one and the one after - my main aim is to enjoy the atmosphere." Alari-Williams is grounded, and knows that he is more likely to make it to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.

"2016 and 2020 will realistically be my stronger Olympics but a home [Games], the opportunity to compete in front of a home crowd will be amazing if I qualify.

"I've just finished school last year and whilst there I couldn't train as much, the quality was less than this year because I was tired from spending seven to eight hours for five days a week in school. This year I'm on a gap year before university and the ability to relax between sessions means I can train so much harder.

"Prior to that I trained but not at 100 per cent so with a couple more years of good quality training I'll be in better form and that's why 2016 will be my best [chance]."

Alari-Williams is ranked number two for 100 metres breaststroke in his age group, and won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2009 UK School Games. His talent is such that he has been selected for the British Swimming World Class Development Programme, though he has to knock almost three seconds per 100m off his personal best times to qualify either in the 100m or 200m for the Olympics next year.

Xander Alari-Williams_in_pool

Alari-Williams (pictured) adds that the achievements of the likes of double Olympic gold medal winning freestyle swimmer Rebecca Adlington and 10k open water world champion Keri-Anne Payne have given young British swimmers role models and the impetus to believe they can make it in the sport.

Their exploits in recent years have raised the profile of British swimming and now youngsters like Alari-Williams are using them as proof of what is possible in the pool. Out of it, the youngster is clearly just as sharp, as between his bid to reach London 2012 and Rio 2016 he could be picking up a mathematics degree from Oxford University, which he is set to begin next autumn.

The teenager may be quite an outsider for next year, but if he doesn't make it to London 2012, he may not have to wait too much longer to make an impact on the world stage.

David Gold is a reporter for insidethegames. You can follow him on twitter here.

David Owen: If science can't beat drugs cheats, what can?

The drug-buster's uniform has traditionally been the neatly-pressed white lab-coat.

But with the Summer Olympics year nearly upon us, a grimy Columbo-style detective's mac is starting to look like an ever more appropriate alternative.

The transition has been happening for some time, but I was alerted to the extent to which the tables – or, in this case, wardrobes - have now been turned by two recent events.

The first was a supremely thought-provoking speech delivered in New York by David Howman, Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); the second a briefing at UK Anti-Doping's London HQ at which the four-year ban meted out to athlete Carl Fletcher was discussed.

This case is a landmark for the national anti-doping body of next year's Olympic Games host-country, since it is the UK's first trafficking violation.

In the close co-operation it required between UKAD and relevant law enforcement agencies, it also highlights the sort of direction an increasing number of anti-doping investigations are likely to take in coming years.

For an explanation of why this evolution is taking place, one need look no further than Howman's excellent speech this month to the Partnership for Clean Competition Conference.

David Howman

Howman (pictured) said (and I make no apology for quoting at length): "The fight against doping in sport has reached the stage where science alone will not eradicate cheating or often even detect it.

"Sample collection and analysis is getting more expensive.

"The rules appear to some to be getting more complicated.

"Laboratory directors and scientists in general continue to be conservative.

"Indeed it may be suggested that some err in favour of not returning adverse results for fear of the legal process and the time required to give evidence under attack.

"The clever cheating athlete on the other hand is becoming better at cheating, more sophisticated and funded extensively.

"That athlete might now be confidently of the view that he or she will avoid detection under the historical approach.

"What has become more apparent now is that the mode of collection of evidence need not be simply nor solely through the means of testing.

"Already we have moved far from being reliant only on such processes...."

This increasing onus on investigations, with the involvement of police officers and other specialist law enforcement bodies, makes a lot of sense.

It enables sport – and by extension society – to target networks rather than end-users.

If it works, it is likely to be far more disruptive to supplies, and therefore use, of performance-enhancing drugs in the same way that breaking up a cocaine cartel is likely to have a more profound impact on the market for recreational drugs than any number of police raids on high rollers' parties.

But it also raises a host of questions.

Many of these relate to matters of ethics and personal liberty that I don't want to delve into here.

But there is one which I think needs to be focused on with some urgency, particularly in Summer Olympics year.

The question is this: if science cannot eradicate, or even detect, clever cheats, shouldn't the anti-doping movement be shifting resources to methods and procedures that stand a better chance of success?

All the more so given the pressure on costs that Howman also alludes to.

Sure, the sort of in-competition testing that will no doubt be conducted with great solemnity at London 2012 is likely to unmask the occasional cheat.

As Howman observes, "There continues to be the "dumb" doper who is regularly caught through standard testing protocols".

This doper, he adds, "effectively catches him or herself".

But I would argue that it may also give everyone a false sense of security – as dope-testing has done in the past – by implying that the frequency of doping is much lower than it actually is.

Given that funding is all too finite, how much better would it be, if athletes were left to savour their crowning moment without peeing into a cup and the millions saved diverted into a) investigations such as the one recently outlined by UKAD and b) genuine unannounced, out-of-competition (and out-of-season) testing, which would have a much greater likelihood of making even the clever cheats sweat?

If anyone from an anti-doping lab is on your Christmas-present list this year, perhaps it is time to consider that Peter Falk mac.

David Owen worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 World Cup. Owen's Twitter feed can be accessed here

Alan Hubbard: "Plastic Brits" wrestling policy contrary to Olympic spirit

I once spent some time on the road with a group of professional wrestlers, back in the days when the grip and grapple game was big on the box.

It was great fun watching characters like Giant Haystacks. Big Daddy, Cry Baby Syd Cooper, Les Kellett and the daddy baddy of them all, Mick McManus – he of the Cherry Blossom coiffeur – throw each others' weight around.

All fixed of course. A case of "you-win in-Plymouth and I'll win in- Doncaster". But wonderful theatre, superbly choreographed. And quite often they did get hurt.

Now it seems the other form of wrestling, as run by Britain's amateur governing body, so scornful of the antics of the thespian grunt-and-groaners, is following suit by becoming equally contrived.

Not by fixing the matches of course – but fixing it so that there's a better chance of Olympic medals coming our way with an infusion of foreign muscles draped in the Union Jack. And the only ones getting hurt are those young British wrestlers whose own Olympic aspirations have been put in a strangle-hold..

Actually, there's no Olympic sport more boring to the spectator than wrestling, where the exponents of freestyle and Greco-Roman are some distance away from the grunt-and-groaners of WWE like The Rock and The Undertaker.

So British Wrestling has decided to spice things up on the mat by importing a fistful of more accomplished grapplers from eastern Europe and attempting to fast-track them for 2012.

Indeed, four of the seven-strong squad on the world class performance programme are from Ukraine, and one from Bulgaria, and it would appear some of the émigrés have become more love-locked than arm-locked, with a surprising number of marriages to British citizens.

All above board, insist wrestling bosses, denying this is a cynical exercise to win medals in an under-achieving sport. But the international governing body aren't happy. "It is totally stupid, not good for the country," says FILA president Raphael Martinetti (pictured right). "It leaves no legacy for the Games." Raphal Martinetti_fila_14-12-11

One hopes the British Olympic Association (BOA), whose life-ban stance on cheating by way of doping is to be admired, are similarly concerned. along with UK Sport, who will have given the wrestling body £3.5 million ($5.5 million/€4.2 million) in an eight-year period between 2005 and 2013, to spend on its "world class" athletes.

There are a number of unhappy British wrestlers and coaches who believe more of that cash should have been gone on developing home-grown talent.

The Sport and Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson, clearly is uneasy. He tells me: "Broadly speaking, I think that all naturalised athletes should follow the normal citizenship requirements and I do not support 'fast tracking' people simply to win a medal. Therefore, in practical terms, I am entirely supportive of [Kevin] Pietersen, who came here through a family connection to become English and served all the necessary qualifying periods, but the wrestlers do not seem to be in the same category."

However so far he has not been asked to intervene either by the BOA or UK Sport, though it seems likely the Home Secretary, Theresa May, will now take a long, hard look at any applications for citizenship.

Olga Butkevycvh

Among these will be one from Olga Butkevych (pictured left), who won silver in the 55kg category at the recent Olympic test event. She is one of two in the GB squad with a realistic hope of reaching the 2012 podium. The other is another Ukrainian woman, Yana Stadnik, who, like her compatriot, came here is in 2007 ostensibly aa a "sparring parther" for British wresters and is now, married to Briton, Leon Rattigan, a member of the five-strong men's elite squad. This also features another Brit, a Bulgarian and two Ukrainians, one of whom, Myroslav Dykan, has been here since 2003 and is married to an Englishwoman

It will be a tricky decision for Mrs May to make. While wrestling's authorities argue that medal success in London provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ignite interest in a minority sport, critics complain that the policy of buying in foreign talent has actually had a damaging, demoralising effect on Britain's home-grown athletes.

Currently all are based in the north-west of England, which has always been a hotbed of wrestling. It s there you go from The Rock to a hard place, the British Wrestling Academy in Salford, as spartan a sporting institution as you will find anywhere in the land which is under the command of head coach Nikolei Kornieiev. From, guess where? Ukraine.

Inside, a homily on the wall reads 'Train Hard – Win Easy. It is not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog.' Media types are treated with some suspicion because, as one official said, "you reporters usually only come to take the piss."

Wrestling, as a pursuit for the purists, never gets much of a press, and British Wrestling, apart from understandably resenting any association with the showbiz boys of WWE, are peeved that when their sport does get into the papers, it is with accusations that these eastern European wrestlers are being imported to become 'Plastic Brits' and boost GB medal prospects for 2012.

Yet when I visited the Academy last year I was assured by wrestling's performance director Shaun Morley, a police inspector, that they were here simply as sparring partners. "There is no programme to naturalise them, and never will be," he said.

Obviously there has been a tactical submission. Here is what Shaun Morley's father Malcolm, the chairman of British Wrestling, now has to say: "People won't like this but I deal with reality. I am a great believer in competing at the Olympics but you have to be good enough. If you are not you don't deserve to be there.

"We don't want to be like Eddie the Eagle. He was a bloody embarrassment to everybody. I don't believe such people should be allowed on the Olympic stage."

Hold on, Mr Morley. Eddie Edwards got more publicity, goodwill and affection for Britain with one gutsy, intrepid leap by someone from a nation with no history of ski-jumping than British wrestlers have in the history of the Olympics.

There are plenty who would rather have a fistful of Eddies doing their best for Britain than a whole clutch of of hired emigres competing under a flag of convenience in the name of GB.

Andrew Strauss_Kevin_Pieterson

True, wrestling is not unique in being heavily flavoured by overseas talent. England had five players born outside the UK, including "South Africans" Pietersen and captain Andrew Strauss (pictured), in their last Test cricket squad.

England's rugby union side beaten by France in the World Cup included four foreign-born players and the British athletics squad at the last World Championships included two who had switched nationalities, with more lined up for 2012.

And other sports, from equestrian to handball, have a fair sprinkling of participants who were not necessarily made in Britain.

Fair enough. That's the name of the Games these days, but do we really want to experience the same 'own the podium' opprobrium as Canada in the Vancouver Winter Olympics?

My fear is that pushing too hard with this for "Plastic Brits" policy has arisen from, a win-at-all-costs mentality which is contrary to the Olympic spirit and will not assist Britain's dwindling popularity in world sport.

Time to get a grip. And we could start with wrestlemania.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title from Atlanta to Zaire.

Mike Rowbottom: Cavendish odds on for SPOTY but Clarke could yet beat him on the final straight

Five years ago, Mark Cavendish described his main strength as a cyclist. "I'm an old school sprinter," he said. "I can't climb a mountain, but if I am in front with 200 metres to go then there's nobody who can beat me."

If this year's BBC Sports Personality of the Year were a cycling race, the 26-year-old Manx Missile – whose odds as favourite have been cut recently from 4/9 to 4/11 - would be a dead cert to win.

With two days left to go he is so far in front it looks like there is nobody who can beat him from among the other nine shortlisted sportsmen – that's right, no women - who will hear the public vote on Thursday night (December 22).

Following their breakthrough Major wins this year, golfers Darren Clarke (5-1) and Rory McIlroy (10-1) are the closest rivals to the man who took his total of Tour de France stage wins to 20 this year and finished with the sprinter champion's green jersey before becoming only the second British rider to win the Road Race world title.

Latest odds on the rest are: Mo Farah 11-1, Luke Donald 16-1, Alastair Cooke 50-1, Andrew Strauss, Dai Greene 125-1, Andy Murray, Amir Khan 200-1.

The cyclist's position in the betting is so far ahead in the betting that a spokesperson for Ladbrokes told Bettingpro.com this week: "Cavendish would have to fall off his bike in order to lose from this position."

The wheels have certainly been put in motion for Cavendish in the last few weeks by British Cycling, which has launched a campaign on social media sites in support of its star performer.

Mark Cavendish_wins_London_2012_test_event_August_14_2011

Mark Cavendish_wins_London_2012_test_event_August_14_2011

The tag #CAV4SPOTY yields pathways to the downloading of a standard Cavendish (pictured) face mask, and all those then posting images of it make themselves eligible to win a GB shirt signed by the man himself, with 10 Team Sky bottles.

British Cycling has also launched a Twibbon site, which promotes causes on Facebook and Twitter by overlaying a small icon onto supporters' profile images. When last I looked, this approach had garnered another 655 supporters, with associated comments along the lines of "Go Cav" and "Vote for Cav."

Cavendish's team-mate Geraint Thomas, who helped lead him out to his road race victory in Copenhagen, tweets: "Not long now people".

The BBC has its rules about unfair conduct in relation to the SPOTY, but as far as lobbying goes, all's fair. The official line is that it's too difficult a territory to patrol.

The British Cycling campaign page contains a mnemonic message, part of which quotes the assessment of Cavendish offered by Chris Boardman, the 1992 Olympic pursuit champion who subsequently rode several Tour de France races:

"I think it's fair to say that right now his is the most successful cyclist Britain has ever had, on pretty much any sort of scale you want to measure it on."

Now that is what you call a serious endorsement, and it underlines the respect, bordering on awe, with which Cavendish is now viewed in cycling circles as he seeks to become only the third within his sport to take this award after Tommy Simpson in 1965 and Chris Hoy in 2008. Success would also make him, at 26, the second youngest Sports Personality of the Year after the 24-year-old rugby player Jonny Wilkinson, whose World Cup-winning drop kick was honoured in 2003.

However, as the Bettingpro site points out, favourites don't always win this award – as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Rebecca Adlington could all attest.

The factors weighing against Cavendish could be the relative sparseness of his home base, with a population of 84,655, the Isle of Man has less chance statistically of generating the kind of concentrated support which Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland generated in helping the last four winners – Joe Calzaghe, Chris Hoy, Ryan Giggs and Tony McCoy – to the big old TV camera trophy.

Darren Clarke_celebrates_winning_British_Open

Darren Clarke_celebrates_winning_British_Open

There is also a feeling that the hugely popular Clarke (pictured), who has finally landed his first Major, the Open, at the age of 43, could yet mount a strong late run, with memories of his stoicism of 2006, when he managed to contribute to Europe's Ryder Cup win despite the recent death of his wife, Heather, through cancer, still fresh. Clarke, who was second in 2006 behind world eventing champion Zara Phillips, has a huge and committed fanbase.

In the end, no matter the downloaded masks or the tweets of support, it will all come down to old-fashioned telephone calls on the night. This household played its part back in 1998 in ensuring that Michael Owen, whose World Cup goal against Argentina as an 18-year-old remains one of English football's most inspiring moments, earned the SPOTY award, registering, as I recall, 14 votes in the course of an industrious evening on the dog-and-bone.

Will there be more willing to do this for Cavendish – who would seem to have many years of achievement ahead of him – than the rumpled golfer approaching middle age? There's the question.

One result that is already clear is that the Laureus World Sports Awards, which name their winners in February next year, has a less controversial categorisation than the BBC. At last week's announcement of nominated sporting figures, one of the Laureus people was reflecting gratefully upon the fact that, right from the start in 2000, there was a separate category for Sportswoman of the Year. A similar category would have saved the Beeb a lot of grief this year. But then there are those advocating women's sport who would argue that it is better to be fighting it out directly with the men.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, and has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames. Rowbottom's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Jim Cowan: Lack of coordination undermining London 2012 physical participation legacy

The last couple of weeks have seen two important reports published, neither of which has been linked to the other by media or politicians but which together add weight to my oft-repeated suggestion that far better vertical integration of strategy is demanded of our politicians and their quangos.

First came Cancer Research UK's report telling us that 40 per cent of all cancers are due to the lifestyle choices we all make. This was reported - correctly - as a ticking time bomb for the NHS, and while it hasn't really added anything to the body of knowledge on the subject, it did come as a timely reminder that lack of exercise and poor dietary choices have more downsides than just the thickening waistlines visible on every high street.

The second report was Sport England's 'Active People' survey which, although suggesting physical activity is slightly up, did not provide evidence that the Government and its agencies are in any danger of delivering the participation legacy promised to the world in 2005 - added to that, other than the figures for athletics, none of Active People's reported figures have undergone independent scrutiny and those for athletics have been shown to be wildly over-exaggerated - the picture is likely far worse.

In July last year Minister for Sport and the Olympics Hugh Robertson insisted a national strategy for the development of sport was in place. Following the announcement of the latest Active People figures he told Sky News that a strategy would be in place early next year. The apparent contradiction needs explanation and, further demonstrating poor understanding of strategy, neither has anyone in Government yet explained how scrapping New Labour's targets for participation but not replacing them gives any strategy - current, future or imagined - meaningful measures?

If the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is failing in its duty to honour the sporting participation legacy - and in providing any strategy at all for the development of sport - it should realise that has impact far beyond the world of sport and what Cancer Research UK's report reminds them is that a healthier nation will require far less intervention from an NHS facing obesity and cancer - and other - time bombs in the future.

I pick on the DCMS but in general, strategy emanating from all Government departments, where it exists, continues to be poor. And where it shows any degree of integrated thinking is limited to the horizontally integrated only. There is no evidence whatsoever of any of the vertically integrated strategy demanded to link - for example - the needs identified by Cancer Research UK's research and the promises made for physical participation when securing the 2012 Olympic Games.

In tough economic times it should also not be overlooked that ensuring strategy is well-integrated vertically doesn't only help to recognise broader - but related - issues and increase the likelihood of strategy being successful; vertically integrating strategy always offers far greater value and economy.

Jim Cowan is a former athlete, coach, event organiser and sports development specialist who is the founder of Cowan Global, a company specialising in consultancy, events and education and training. For more details click here.

Mike Rowbottom: London 2012's security measures may seem elaborate but they need to be respected

Since the terrorist attack at the Munich Games of 1972, the Olympics Games has had to accommodate itself to ever more costly and elaborate security measures.

As Tony Soprano might say: "What are you gonna do?"

When the stories come out as they have this week about the plan to deploy HMS Ocean and HMS Bulwark, RAF Typhoons, helicopters, ground-to-air missile systems and 13,500 military operatives in the London 2012 security operation, the scary-sounding nature of the information has to be put in context.

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has described the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympic Games as "the biggest security challenge this country has faced for decades".

Those charged with the task of trying to ensure that each quadrennial international gathering proceeds in safety are in an unenviable position. If anybody needed reminding that the worst-case scenario is always the one to have in mind in such circumstances, the pipe bombing at the Atlanta Games of 1996 – which resulted in the death of two individuals and left 111 injured – refocused the collective gaze.

atlanta 1996_olympic_bomb_16-12-1111

After that device had exploded in the Centennial Olympic Park in the early hours of July 27, I made my way from my press accommodation to the centre of the city, trying to interview any witnesses I could encounter. I spoke to two people who had been close to the incident, which had taken place after a late-night concert, and their faces were still blank with shock as they described the sights and sounds of the blast.

I have lost count of the number of times since then that I have had to unpack and re-pack my bag in passing through Olympic security checkpoints. I am not going to lie – it has often been a wearisome and vexatious process, especially when, as often happens, restrictions shift and change by the day. But the bottom line is that such measures have almost certainly prevented similar enormities from being visited upon the Games-going public, and as such, need to be respected. Atlanta is the reminder of that.

Six years after Atlanta the Olympic world returned to the United States for the Salt Lake Winter Games – which took place just three raw months after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. What had happened in lower Manhattan on that sunny September morning was present in everyone's mind as the Games approached.

atlanta security_16-12-11

Every morning in my hotel I breakfasted in front of a huge mural depicting fireman raising a Stars and Stripes flag above the rubble of Ground Zero, after the iconic photo of GI's raising the US flag following the bloody Second World War victory in Iwo Jima.

As I queued for the Opening Ceremony at the Rice-Eccles stadium, where the tattered Stars and Stripes flag recovered from Ground Zero was due to be carried into the stadium and hoisted, symbolically, alongside the Olympic flag, I momentarily felt my stomach grip with apprehension.

As with any Olympic opening, the occasion was an epicentre of world attention. President Bush was attending. Sting was due to sing a duet with Yo-Yo-Ma. Meanwhile twin thoughts were duetting in my own head: this is the most dangerous place in the world; this is the safest place in the world.

At those Salt Lake Games, US skier Picabo Street competed with a helmet bearing the images of an American eagle, the US Flag, the Statue of Liberty and an F16 fighter plane.

Above her, real versions of the F16 patrolled the skies as part of a $300 million (£192 million/€224 million) security measure.

The 2002 Games involved some 16,000 police and military officers – that is, roughly six officials for every competitor. Soldiers with M16 rifles patrolled all the major compounds. Hundreds of CCTV cameras watched the streets, linked to an intelligence centre in Washington. Sniper and assault teams stood ready, along with specialised units to monitor for biological and chemical threats. Thousands of doses of anti-anthrax drugs were also stockpiled.

The world at that moment was desperate for normality, for the opportunity to lose itself in the parallel world of sport.

riot 16-11-12

Thankfully, the 2002 Games passed without any terrorist incident – although not without a riot, which was hardly what Salt Lake had expected.

"Riots," said the cashier at the convenience store beside my hotel, wonderingly. "We don't have riots in Salt Lake City."

But a few hours earlier, as Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning, a riot is exactly what the Mormon capital found itself dealing with after an incident reported to have begun at the popular Bud World venue near the Olympic Plaza.

Shortly after midnight, the whole drunken sprawl had reached the junction of Pierpont Avenue and West Temple in the downtown area, which was where I had just dined with a group of journalists.

A group of around 30 riot police in shiny black helmets and visors were grouped outside the Hilton Hotel foyer. Most of those around me were young, male and – I would have guessed – drunk. Their mood was a volatile mix of heady excitement and surly anger.

"What's this all about?" I asked. One person said it had begun when police had ejected a group of youngsters from a concert. Another said it had begun when a girl had refused to raise her top for another group.

The scene on the street was just as confused. While most stood watching, a number of others, occasionally shouting "USA, USA" or "Utah, Utah", roamed methodically around a nearby parking lot and found missiles – traffic cones, a metal grill, a piece of brick – which they hurled at the still huddled group of police.

Someone, somewhere, began a systematic smashing of glass. A little way down Pierpont Avenue by this time, I assumed it was the windows of the Macaroni Grill in which we had recently been sitting. The morning revealed, however, that the windows remained intact – it was the large glass and metal ornamental lamps all around the restaurant which had been smashed.

Yes, this was a riot – but one which remained within reasonable parameters.

Whether that could be said of the response was another question. Triggered by reasons unknown, the riot police outside the Hilton decided to charge the crowd, which fled in front of them.

The air grew loud with the sound of helicopter blades as police hovered overhead, illuminating the streets with powerful, directed lights. Reports eventually indicated that up to 300 police officers – including a SWAT team from the local sheriff's office – had become involved. At various points in the evening, police fired a number of foam bullets – less lethal munitions, in their own charming vernacular – into the crowd and later said they had made 30 arrests in an incident which went on until around 2.30am.

A Games that had begun with a real sense of foreboding about possible terrorist attacks ended with the resounding crack of sledgehammer on nut.

Not ideal. But the sledgehammer has to be there. Just in case.

Mike Rowbottom, one of Britain's most talented sportswriters, has covered the past five Summer and four Winter Olympics for The Independent. Previously he has worked for the Daily Mail, The Times, The Observer, the Sunday Correspondent and The Guardian. He is now chief feature writer for insidethegames. Rowbottom's Twitter feed can be accessed here.

Alan Hubbard: Despite dwindling sport participation figures, table tennis is fast becoming the new snooker

According to Sport England's latest survey we are breeding a nation of lazy beggars. New figures reveal that the number of young people playing sport is falling at an alarming rate. Rather bad news for Olympic legacy.

"Very disappointing," admits the Sports Minister, Hugh Robertson, whose Government has quietly dropped they Labour-made pledge to increase the numbers taking part in sport three times or more a week by a million by 2013.

Curiously however, such diverse activities as boxing and mountaineering are among the handful of sports actually bucking the downward trend, but the biggest upsurge of all is in, wait for it, table tennis.

Ah yes, good old ping pong, the game beloved of politicians as means of bringing global peace to mankind.

Ping pong diplomacy is a phrase that has firmly lodged in the sporting lexicon. The favourite sport of Chairman Mao, it famously brought the United States and China together again during the Cold War and 40 years on it is still building bridges. The first Peace and Sport Table Tennis Cup in Doha last month featured pairings between North and South Korea, India and Pakistan and the US and Russia.

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president obama_and_david_cameron_ping_pong_13-12-11

President Obama and David Cameron (pictured left and right respectively) have swatted balls at each other and London Mayor Boris Johnson never misses the opportunity to pick up a pimpled bat and take a swipe or two whenever he visits a school or youth club.

How he ruffled the traditional inscrutability of the Chinese when informed them in Beijing that "wiff-waff" was invented on the dining tables of England in the 19th century.

True. It was first played among the upper-class as an after-dinner parlour game with a row of books as a net, cigar box lids and bats and ball.

And now, it seems, it is finally coming home. And not just at Butlins.

Table tennis, which has 300 million participants worldwide and has been an Olympic sport since 1988, may be dominated by the Chinese but Britain has spectacularly re-embraced the old parlour game. Well, socially anyway.

The English Table Tennis Association boasts on its website that numbers for the sport are booming, adding an extra 40,000 regular players to the 2.6 million who already waft their paddles weekly.

In Britain, table tennis seems to have become the new snooker, played in clubs and pubs and often in lunch breaks by office workers.

And they are said to be pinging and ponging like mad across the Atlantic, too.

So what is behind the boom? It is partially down to Andrew Essa, a former City lawyer whose London Ping Pong Company (lppco) is the capital's first and – so far – only corporate ping pong entertainment firm. The lppco offers a night of wiff-waff fun for willing employees who get free retro headbands and play doubles with colleagues in front of a DJ or between karaoke-singing sessions.

llppco 13-12-11

Essa noticed the growing appetite for ping pong in both bars and companies in America and London and, since starting the lppco late last year, he has now put on scores of events for firms like Microsoft, Accenture, LinkedIn, Google and Bank of America.

London hosts a number of ping pong-themed club nights at venues around the city, including King Pong at Shoreditch's Book Club. A specialist ping pong palace, tentatively named Bounce, is currently being planned by the owners of another London venue.

What made Essa invest in ping pong? "For a start it's low-risk, inclusive and fun," he says. It's something where you don't have to go to the gym to keep fit.

"I was in a Hammersmith pub a couple of years ago and there were hundreds of players, all paying £50-a-head to wear fancy dress, drink and play ping pong for charity."

The 2.6 million who regularly play have been boosted by a further 40,000 taking advantage of tables set up in pubs and clubs like King Pong.

Yet it is still regarded here as a minor sport in Olympic terms. Why? According to Andrew Baggaley, Britain's leading male player, "you need a Barry Hearn to get hold of it and promote it like boxing or snooker. Give it a bit of glamour. And it needs to be on television.

"I know that people who have watched table tennis have loved it. The biggest medium for the promotion of any sport is television and the press. If you don't see it or read about it regularly, you have nothing.

"I don't think you necessarily need an iconic figure but what you do want is someone who is a bit of a character, whose profile can be developed – look at Eddie the Eagle."

Britain have never won an Olympic medal, one in London from any of GB's three men and women (if they qualify) would be a triumph. Baggaley is Britain's number one, ahead of Paul Drinkhall and Darius Knight, but is ranked only 142 in the world. There will be 172 players in the Olympic tournament and four of the world's top six men and five of the women are Chinese. Medal hopes are slim, judging by the lack of success at the recent ExCeL test event.

Fred Perry was the last Briton to win Wimbledon, but had table tennis been an Olympic sport in the thirties he most likely would have struck gold. He was a world table tennis champion at 19.

Andrew Baggaley_13-12-11

Baggaley (pictured) has been a full-time table tennis player since leaving school in Milton Keynes. To date he has won three English senior titles and five Commonwealth Games medals, as well as beating several world class players. Yet outside his sport few have heard of him though he's something of a character who speaks his mind and spends his spare time playing guitar in a rock group.

"What I like about the sport is the individualism," he says." One against one. There are not many sports where you are not actually hitting each other but can still go eye to eye. Barry Hearn has compared table tennis to boxing and I think there is an element of that in our form of combat.

"I train quite a lot with MK Dons and the people there have set up a programme for me. It's great working with professionals from another sport although we are from different worlds. Their chairman, Pete Winkelman who is in the music industry, has been very supportive.

Can he make a decent living out if it? "Obviously it's not like being a top football or rugby player, but we do alright," Baggaley says. "Most of us play in overseas leagues. I now play for a French club who pay me a weekly wage. We play in front of relatively big crowds, sometimes up to 2,000. I've also played in leagues in Italy, Sweden, Germany and Belgium

"Ideally, I'd love to be in a professional league in this country but you need a promoter to set up a grand prix with decent prize money – I am sure that's something Sky would be interested in.

boris johnson_table_tennis_13-12-11

What did he think of BoJo's wiff-waffling?

"Loved it – anyone who has a good word for table tennis and helps boost the sport is great," he said. "I'd love to challenge him to a match if he's up for it."

And how about 2012? "Obviously, the Olympics are the pinnacle of any sports person's career. I am going to give it my best shot and hope for something big, but even just to compete when they are in your own country is absolutely amazing. The opposition will be strong, particularly the Chinese. Beating them is always difficult, but the times they lose is when they have the maximum pressure on them, so there's a chance."

Meantime the pubs and clubs are alive with the sound of plastic on rubber.

So, anyone for table tennis? Just about everyone, it seems.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title from Atlanta to Zaire.

Daniel Keatings: Putting the wind up my London 2012 preparations

I recently took part in a photo shoot for my sponsors, Opus Energy, at Beech Tree Farm in Melton Mowbray, which is generating its own energy from a huge wind turbine. I performed elements from my pommel routine in front of the dramatic back drop of the turbine and fields.

I must say that it's the first time I've ever been asked to perform a routine in the middle of a field with no shelter from the winter wind - perfect for the wind turbine but not so good for an indoor sport, like gymnastics. I had to keep running back to the car between photos just to warm up - what a wimp!

daniel keatings_13-12-111

I also got to meet some local school children who came along to see me perform and ask me questions about my sport before having a group photo taken on the pommel. It was a really good day apart from the freezing wind - all credit to farmers who have to work in all weather conditions throughout the year.

My focus this month is now on the Olympic test event in January. I'm concentrating my efforts on building up stamina and consistency in my routines especially after the injury I picked up on my index finger. I will also be returning to Lilleshall, the National Sports Centre, to train with the rest of the GB squad for the whole of December - except for weekends and two days off at Christmas.

While we are at Lilleshall we get the chance to review our routines on the big screen which they use to judge competitions. This allows us to pick out the good and bad bits from our routines which we can then use to help us in improving our overall performance.

I was also asked recently what else I'm good or bad at, and to be honest I am generally good at most sports. I think that's partly because I'm very competitive, although my gymnastics really does take up most of my time so I only get to take part in other sports very occasionally. I tend to chill out playing computer games and I guess I'm pretty good at them as well, well I like think so anyway, especially Call Of Duty and FIFA.

What I'm bad at...it has to be singing. My girlfriend is a really good singer and I do like to sing, but you should see the cringe on my girlfriend's face when I do.

Daniel Keatings, who is powered by Opus Energy, made history in 2009 when he became the first British gymnast to win a medal in the all-round event at the World Championships. He was also the first British gymnast to win a European Championship gold when he won the pommel horse event in Berlin in 2010. To find out more about his sponsorship deal with Opus Energy click here.

Mihir Bose: IOC's investigation shows willingness to correct the wrongs in sport's governing bodies

The wider impact of the investigation by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Ethics Commission into Joao Havelange, Issa Hayatou, Lamine Diack, three of the most powerful men in world sport, cannot be overestimated.

The treatment of the three men may not appear all that drastic. But there is a message here about the way the IOC is prepared to react to the demands that the administrators of world sport and, in particular, football must become more accountable and transparent.

It would be too much to say that this is sport's equivalent of the Arab spring. However, it shows that the leaders of the Olympic Movement now seem prepared to demonstrate that international sport bodies are no longer cosy clubs where whatever happens inside the club remains hidden and does not concern outsiders.

Before you think I am reading too much into all this just consider what has happened.

In November last year, the BBC Panorama programme made a series of allegations about the three men. This was not the first time the media had made allegations about leading sports administrators and their alleged financial misdeeds. The seriousness of the allegations against Havelange, Hayatou and Diack could not be doubted.

Panorama alleged that Havelange, who combined his FIFA Presidency with membership of the IOC, had received $1 million (£639,000/€746,000) from ISL, one of the most important of the many companies that FIFA dealt with under the Brazilian's leadership. ISL owned World Cup television rights and its collapse back in 2001 with debts of $300 million (£192 million/€224 million) has been at the heart of the many corruption allegations that have swirled around FIFA in the last decade. Havelange denied all allegations and to date there has been no action by football's governing body.

However, even before the IOC Ethics Commission had reported, Havelange, who seemed to be a permanent IOC member having been on the committee for 48 years, suddenly resigned. He is believed to have cited health reasons – he is after all 95. Yet the outside observer could not help but note that his health problems emerged just as the Ethics Commission was due to report. Stories floated around that he even faced expulsion from the IOC.

With Havelange a "private person", as the IOC President, Jacques Rogge, put it, the Committee was left to report on Hayatou (pictured left) and Diack (right). The sentences they have received are light but their consequences go beyond the actual punishment to what they say about the running of world sport.

Issa Hayatou_and_Lamine_Diack

Diack, who as President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is an IOC member, was warned for receiving a series of payments totalling 52,680 Swiss francs from ISL.

But it is how the IOC dealt with Hayatou that is very significant. The man, who since 1987 has been President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), was alleged to have received French francs 100,000 from ISL. The money was paid in 1995 and the Cameroonian admitted to IOC investigators that he had received payment in cash. His justification: "the state of banking technology in some countries, making cash payments was current practice at the time". He also insisted, as he has done since the BBC broadcast, that the money was necessary to finance CAF's 40th anniversary dinner.

Hayatou's reprimand was based on the fact that the IOC Ethics Commission found the documents had been drawn up "a long time after receipt of the funds" and could not "guarantee that these payments were indeed made into the CAF accounts". For Rogge, this merited Hayatou getting, as he put it, a "yellow card".

Observe that the event happened long before he became a member of the IOC. But this is where the words of the Ethics Commission acquire tremendous significance: "The Commission notes that, although the acts took place at a time when Mr Issa Hayatou was not yet an IOC member, he was the then vice-president of an international federation, FIFA, a constituent of the Olympic Movement and that, as such, he was obliged to respect the fundamental principles of Olympism."

The words of Rogge go even further, "We will not hesitate to act. The wider world will acknowledge that the IOC means business and is accountable and transparent."

Rogge's words suggest that the IOC now sees itself as a sort of supervisory sports body which can investigate actions even when they do not directly relate to the Olympic Games. Should the IOC follow up on this new principle, then it could have far reaching consequences for world sport. This will not only impact on the IOC's relations with other sports bodies but it could lead to an unravelling of the remarkable organisation that Antonio Samaranch created as the linchpin of world sport.

Samaranch wanted to bring all the world sports bodies under the IOC's umbrella and made many of those who ran the various sports federations members of the IOC. It did not matter how these federations were governed as long as their sports men and women competed in the Olympic Games. Indeed, he saw their IOC membership as tying them to the Olympics.

Rogge, on taking over the IOC Pesidency, had lauded Samaranch as his sports political guru saying he had learnt about sports politics from the Spaniard. But with sports organisations under increasing scrutiny and demands that they follow good governance, he is now saying that the IOC will lay down the law on how these sports bodies must be governed. Not even football, the most powerful of these bodies, is immune.

This is, of course, very welcome, more so in a world where sports organisations like FIFA have until now shown little awareness of acceptable governance and accountability. Rogge is setting out to create a new IOC and a new world sports order. How he works this out will demonstrate whether sport can reform itself without legislative guidance. And, as he sets out on this mission, Fifa, and indeed all major international sport organisations, need to pay close attention. It may be an uncomfortable road but it is a road world sport, particularly football, must travel to regain public trust.

Mihir Bose is one of the world's most astute observers on politics in sport and, particularly, football. He formerly wrote for The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph, and was the BBC's head sports editor. Follow Mihir on twitter.

www.mihirbose.com

Alan Hubbard: When we witness Britain's success at London 2012 we must remember the team behind the team

Mike Rowbottom: The sailors still making waves about being forced to miss Moscow 1980

Mihir Bose: Blatter's turn towards Europe shows him at his best as he attempts FIFA clean up

Andy Hunt: It's 2012, it's time for British athletes to deliver

Alan Hubbard: A successful London 2012 could see Joshua become worth his weight in gold

David Owen: Youth Olympic Games can provide a city with the Olympic aura but without the cost

David Gold: The swimmer with a chlorine allergy aiming for London 2012

David Owen: If science can't beat drugs cheats, what can?

Alan Hubbard: "Plastic Brits" wrestling policy contrary to Olympic spirit

Mike Rowbottom: Cavendish odds on for SPOTY but Clarke could yet beat him on the final straight

Jim Cowan: Lack of coordination undermining London 2012 physical participation legacy

Mike Rowbottom: London 2012's security measures may seem elaborate but they need to be respected

Alan Hubbard: Despite dwindling sport participation figures, table tennis is fast becoming the new snooker

Daniel Keatings: Putting the wind up my London 2012 preparations

Mihir Bose: IOC's investigation shows willingness to correct the wrongs in sport's governing bodies

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