London Olympics 2012: Gordon Brown promises greatest rock concert ever

Gordon Brown last night promised the greatest rock concert the world has ever seen for the opening ceremony of London 2012.

The pledge for a global spectacular to rival Beijing's came as London prepared to officially receive the Olympic baton in China today. The PM believes a line-up of rock legends such as Elton John, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones will provide a glittering celebration of Britain's talent.

A Downing Street source said: "Gordon Brown is determined to put on the biggest and best rock show the world has ever witnessed."

Last night the Prime Minister - in Beijing for the handover ceremony - said: "I think the Olympics in 2012 will be spectacular.

"Music and the cultural aspects of the Games will be very important as we move forward to 2012.

"In all these areas, where our creativity is leading the world, I think we will want to showcase that to the world when they look in on London in 2012."

Mr Brown also revealed he will campaign for Britain to have a UK football team - made up of the four home nations - competing in the London Olympics.

He said: "Britain is the home of football - we gave it to the world and I hope there will be a team in 2012."

Britain's record-breaking athletes were also given a royal seal of approval last night as the Queen described their success as a "golden triumph". She said: "Like so many people around the world I have followed their endeavours with great interest and admiration. To all the participants, and to everyone who has supported them so well, I send my warmest congratulations.

"As a nation we now look forward to holding the Olympics. The golden triumphs of the present British team can only serve as further inspiration to those who will be working hard over the next four years to make the London Games a shining example of Olympic success."

London Mayor Boris Johnson will today accept the Olympic flag in the handover ceremony in Beijing.

David Beckham will star in the extravaganza at the Bird's Nest stadium as he kicks footballs from the top of a double-decker bus.

Beckham, 33, backed the idea of a British football team and revealed he would love to be in it - if he is still playing.

"Football is the best sport in the world so it should be top of the list," he said. "I will be 37 in four years time so I'm not sure I will still be playing. But you never know."

The former England captain - who helped London secure the Games - also revealed he is a huge fan of Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who became the fastest man on the planet in Beijing.

He said: "I think he's great. He is so talented and has got so much confidence. It's such a big stage and the whole world is watching, so if you can perform like he has then you deserve to gloat."

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There was even more success for Britain's Olympians yesterday as we scooped three more medals, bringing the haul to 47 - our greatest performance in 100 years.

James DeGale, 22, led the way with gold in the boxing despite being an underdog in the final of the middleweight competition.

Sarah Stevenson, 25, claimed bronze in taekwondo amid a chorus of boos from Chinese supporters.

Tim Brabants, 31, also won bronze in the canoeing to go with the gold he won earlier in the Games.

And teenage sensation Tom Daley shone in the final of the 10m diving.

The 14-year-old - Britain's second youngest-ever Olympian - came seventh and then said he couldn't wait to try again for gold in 2012.

The Russians pipped Britain to third place in the table by two gold medals. But nothing could dampen the spirit of Team GB last night as the Olympic flame began the four-year journey to London.

THE FINAL DAY

1.30-10am: Final events. Britain's last medal hope Dan Robinson runs in the Men's Marathon.

1pm: Official closing ceremony watched by two billion worldwide.

1.40pm: In London McFly perform in The Mall in front of 40,000.

2pm: A special Sing The Nation event kicks off with mass concerts in 20 city centres across the UK.

2.30pm: Official handover event at which Boris Johnson is presented with the Olympic Flag and Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page perform Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love.

3pm: The Mall rocks to acts including Will Young, Il Divo and Katherine Jenkins.

4.45pm: The Red Arrows fly over Buckingham Palace

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Highlights of London handover performance at Beijing Olympics closing ceremony

    BEIJING, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The following are the highlights of the London 2012 Olympic Games handover performance at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on Sunday night.

    London 2012 presents a spectacular eight-minute cultural performance heralding the start of the four-year countdown to the next Olympic Games.

    -- The dramatic transformation of the bus into a stage for the headline performers as the roof opens out into petal-shaped sections. The scene inside is predominantly green with lush grass and a hedge cut into the shape of the London skyline. This reflects the greenness of London and the UK -- from green fields, Royal Parks and country gardens to famous sports fields: the green lawn courts of Wimbledon, the new Wembley and Lord's Cricket Ground -- all of which are venues for the London 2012 Games.

    The transformation of the famous London bus also provides a powerful example of the urban and practical being transformed into the dynamic and spectacular, symbolizing London's vision to use the power of the Games as a catalyst for change.

    -- Appearance of three great Team GB cycling Olympians chasing the bus -- Chris Hoy, Victoria Pendleton and Shanaze Reade -- enable the people to celebrate the central role of athletes in the London Games, the unprecedented success of Team GB at the Beijing Games, and particularly the outstanding medal haul of the Team GB cyclists.

    -- A handover of a treasured English football by a child of the world to a child of London that takes place by the bus -- a symbolic gesture reflecting the importance of friendship and young people to the Olympic Movement.

    -- The dramatic appearance of singer Leona Lewis and guitarist Jimmy Page on high-rising elevators, emerging from within the bus. Jimmy performs one of the most famous guitar riffs in the world -- a riff which he wrote. Jimmy and Leona then create a unique duet playing the Led Zeppelin classic, "Whole Lotta Love."

    -- The child of London gives the football to worldwide soccer icon David Beckham, who kicks the ball to athletes gathered in the stadium for the closing ceremony. This symbolizes the power of sport to unite the world and the importance of sport for young people, a central theme of the London 2012 Games.

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OLYMPICS 2008 - Indian athletes

A 57-member Team will go to Beijing OLMPICS to play for the medals from INDIA...
A 42-member support staff would accompany the contingent, according to sources.
The 17-member athletics contingent, spearheaded by ace long jumper Anju Bobby George, is the largest of all. Shooting comes next with nine Indians, including Athens Silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore.
India will also be fielding its largest ever boxing team and of the quintet, Vijender looks the best bet.
Full Coverage: India in Sri Lanka 2008 Click here for more cricket news
Though the Indian swimmers are yet to make a splash, as many as four of them would be part of the field in Beijing.
The number is same in tennis, where Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza and Sunitha Rao would have to live up to the expectation.
The contingent will also include three grapplers and as many rowers. Two Indians each will represent the country in table tennis, judo and badminton, while weightlifting and yachting will have one each.
Indian contingent for Beijing:
Archery: Dola Banerjee, Pranitha Vardhineni, L Bombayala Devi, Mangal Singh Champia.
Athletics: Anju Bobby George (Long Jump), Krishna Poonia (Discus), Harwant Kaur (Discus), Preeja Sreedharan (10,000m), Manjit Kaur (400m), Chitra Soman (4x400m relay), Sini Jose (4x400m relay), MR Poovamma (4x400m relay), Mandeep Kaur (4x400m relay), S Geeta (4x400m relay), K Mridula (4x400m relay), J J Shobha (Heptathlon), Sushmita Singh Roy (Heptathlon), G G Pramila (Heptathlon), Vikas Gowda (Discus), Renjith Maheswary (Triple Jump), Surender Singh (10000m).
Badminton: Anup Sridhar, Saina Nehwal
Boxing: Jitender (51kg), Akhil Kumar (54kg), A L Lakhra (57kg), Vijender(75kg) and Dinesh Kumar (81kg)
Judo: Khumujam Tombi Devi, Divya.
Rowing: Bajrang Lal Takhar (Single M1X), Devnder Khandwal and Manjeet Singh (Light Weight Double Scull).
Shooting: Manavjit Singh Sandhu (Clay Pigeon Trap), Mansher Singh (Clay Pigeon Trap), Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore (Clay Pigeon Double Trap), Gagan Narang (10m Air Rifle), Abhinav Bindra (10m Air Rifle), Samresh Jung (10m Air Pistol), Sanjeev Rajput (50m Rifle 3 Position), Anjali Bhagwat (50m Rifle 3 Position), Avneet Kaur Sidhu (10m Air Rifle).
Swimming: Virdawal Khade (50m, 100m, 200m Freestyle), Ankur Poseria (100m Butterfly), Sandeep Sejwal (100m, 200m Breaststrokes), Rehan Poncha (200m butterfly).
Table Tennis: Achanta Sharath Kamal, Neha Aggarwal.
Tennis: Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi (doubles), Sania Mirza (singles and doubles), Sunitha Rao (doubles).
Weightlifting: L Monika Devi (69kg)
Wrestling: Sushil Kumar (66 kg Freestyle), Yogeshwar Dutt (60 kg Freestyle), Rajiv Tomar (120 kg Freestyle).
Yachting: Maj N S Johal (Heavy Weight Dinghy).

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Shoot me if I test positive for drugs: Monika

New Delhi: With firm backing from the Indian Weightlifting Federation, dope-tainted lifter Monika Devi on Wednesday claimed innocence and alleged that she was being victimised by some members of the Sports Authority of India. Monika, the lone weightlifter chosen to represent India in the Beijing Olympic Games, was prevented from boarding the Beijing flight last night for testing positive for a banned anabolic salt but the Manipuri said she had no idea which dope test she flunked as she cleared four tests in the last two months. "I am innocent. I have always stayed away from doping and that is why I was selected in the trials," a tearful Monika told reporters at a press conference here. "Everyone knows there are various international tests and no sensible athlete would do that (dope). I am ready to go to Beijing where my dope test is scheduled for tomorrow. If I fail there leave apart banning me for life, shoot me in public," she said. Monika, who was selected ahead of Andhra weightlifter Shailaja Pujari in the Indian selection trials last month, claimed some people in the SAI were trying to make case for Shailaja due to regional allegiance. "I had no clue about anything till 7.30 pm yesterday and at 10-10.30 it was all chaos. It was a pre-meditated move because they did not give me tickets and other stuff required for traveling to Beijing when I asked for it and told me to collect it on the next day," she said. In Images: Most beautiful athlete of the games? | Offbeat: All for the sake of Olympics Monika claimed SAI Director (Teams) R K Naidu had already planned to send Shailaja. "Naidu had told me after the Asian Championships in Japan in April that 'our job of winning one Olympic berth was done and now Shailaja would be sent to represent the country in Olympics," she said. "Everyone wants to promote the player of his region," she added. Indian Weightlifting Federation General Secretary B R Gulati, who was also present at the press conference, said the IWF was behind Monika. "They have not cared to inform me. We were not knowing about the incident till 7 in the evening and suddenly we are slapped with this. I don't know which tests they are talking about. As far as I am concerned these are invalid tests. Our lab is also not WADA accredited. We are firmly behind her," he said. Infographic: Know all about the various disciplines at Beijing Olympics "I have not stopped her or selected her. Sending her was a prerogative of the IOA," he added. Gulati said the entire turn of events smacks of conspiracy to sabotage Monika's Olympic candidature. "The substance which she is accused of having consumed is a substance the effects of which last for a minimum six months to a maximum of two years. "No lifter even at the district level after being selected for an event like Olympics will take a substance which he or she knows will be detected even after six months. "It could only be a mischief or sabotage by inducting it orally to somebody about which also we have expressed our apprehension in writing to the Government. "And we insisted on SAI to remove the coaches who are not required with us in Beijing. Why were they interfering in the training?" he said.

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India announces squad for Olympics

New Delhi: A 57-member squad will represent India at next month’s Beijing Olympics, hoping to better the country’s dismal record at the four-yearly sporting extravaganza.

The contingent will not include a men’s hockey team – India’s flag-bearers at past Olympics – after they failed to qualify for the Games for the first time ever. But officials sounded confident India’s shooters, archers, boxers and tennis players will more than compensate. “Hopefully we well get some medals this time,” Suresh Kalmadi, president of the Indian Olympic Association, said at a press conference. “Our shooters are on the top of the list and they are raring to go. We also have great hopes from the boxers and the archery team. “Tennis stars Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza are also capable of throwing a surprise,” he said.

India, a fast-growing economy with ambitions to host the Olympics, has just four individual medals to show for its efforts at the Games, the first one a bronze by wrestler Khasaba Jadhav in Helsinki in 1952. The last three Games produced a medal each with Paes winning a bronze at Atlanta in 1996, women’s weightlifter Karnam Malleswari a bronze in Sydney four years later and shooter Rajyavardhan Rathore a silver at Athens in 2004. India’s world champion in trap shooting, Manavjit Singh Sandhu, also sounded upbeat about the country’s chances of a better show but asked fans not to burden them with too many expectations. “Earlier Olympians were plucked from the grounds, dusted off and instructed to win medals at the Olympics,” he said. “This is not the case now. We are the best you have, be proud of us and support us even if we fail.

“We promise that we will not return from the Games with even a drop of blood in us as all of it would have been spilled in training and on the ranges,” he said to loud applause from officials and media. afp

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Indian athltetic Results

No.	Event Name	Date	Venue
1	Indian Grand Prix I	21st February 2008	NS NIS, Patiala
2	Federation Cup National Senior Athletics Championships	26 – 29 February 2008	BHOPAL (MP)
3	Schedule | Meet Records | Start list- Day 1 | Day 2| Day 3 | Day 4 Results- Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Final Results
4	3rd South Asian Athletics Championships 2008, 7-8 March, Kochi Schedule | Records | Athletes , Start List- Day 1 | Day 2 , Results- Day 1 | Day 2, Final Results
5	World Athletics Days	Between 1- 10 May 2008	Bangalore
6	Federation Cup National Junior Athletics Championships & National Youth Athletics Championships	22 – 24 May 2008	Pune
	Schedule | Athletes - Fed Cup - Youth | Start list- Day 1 - Day 2- Day 3 Results- Day 1 - Day 2- Day 3 | Final Results | Medal Tally
8	National Inter State Senior Athletics Championships	15-18 June 2008	Madurai, Tamil Nadu
	Schedule | Athletes | State wise Athletes | Medal Tally | Final Results Start list- Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Results- Day1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4
9	2nd North East Zone Junior Athletics Championships	14-15 July 2008	Guwahati
10	National Jumps & Combined Events	17-18 July 2008	Bangalore
	Results- Day1 | Day 2 | Detailed results
11	North Zone Junior Athletics Championships	1-3 August 2008	Lucknow U.P.
12	East Zone Junior Athletics Championships	16-18 August 2008	Jamshedpur, Jhar
13	South Zone Junior Athletics Championships	13-15 August 2008	Chennai , Tamil Nadu
14	West Zone Junior Athletics Championships	6-8 August 2008	Pune, Maharashtra
15	National Inter Zonal Junior Athletics Championships	20-22 Aug 2008	Ranchi (Jharkhand)
16	National Open Athletics Championships	8-11 Sept 2008	Cochin – Kerala
17	Asian All Star Athletic meet	17-18 Sept 2008	Bhopal, MP
18	international Throws Meet	21-22 Sept 2008	Delhi
19	National Sprint & Relay Championships	3-4 October 2008	Mumbai
20	National Endurance Meet	15-17 October 2008	Jamshedpur (Jharkhand)
21	Inter District Athletics Meet	20-24 October 2008	Nasik
22	National Junior Athletics Championships	10-14 November 2008	Mangalore (Karnataka)
23	National Cross Country Championships	8th February 2009	Bhilai (Chhattisgarh)
SLOTS FOR OTHER COMPETITIONS
	State Athletics Championships.	15-30 July 2008	Throughout India
	District Athletics Championships	15 Aug- 7 Sep 2008	Throughout India
	Board Meets	1 -31 Aug 2008
	SAF Junior and Youth Athletics Championships	29-30 Sep 2008	TBD

Results 2007-08

No.	Competition Name	Date	Venue
1	Indian Grand Prix - I	2nd May	Patiala
Start list | National Records | Final Results
2	13th Federation Cup Sr. Athletics Championships	10-13 May	Kolkata
Schedule | Athletes | Officials | Meet Records | National Records | Final Results | Reports Start list: Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 Results: Day 1 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4
3	World Athletics Day	12-13 May	Bangalore
4	4th National Youth ( U-18) Athletics Championships	1-2 June	Bangalore
Schedule | Athletes | Officials | IAAF Qualifying Standard Meet Records | National Records | Final Results | Reports Start list: Day 1 / Day 2 | Results: Day 1 / Day 2
5	Asian Grand Prix- II	23rd June	Guwahati
Schedule | Start List | Results
6	Asian Grand Prix- III	27th June	Pune
Schedule | Start List | Results
7	National Combined Event and Jumps championships	28-29 June	Pune
Schedule | Athletes | Results
8	7th Federation Cup Junior Athletics championships	1-2 July	Madurai
Schedule | Athletes | Meet Records | Start list : Day 1 | Day 2 Results: Day1 | Day 2
9	Districts Athletics championships	Before 15 Aug	Throughout India
10	1st North East Zonal Junior Athletics championships	15-31 Aug	Guwahati
11	State Athletics championships	Before 31 Aug	Throughout India
14	Board Athletics Meet	12-30 Sep	Throughout India
15	National Inter-state Senior Athletics championships	17-20 Sep	Bhopal
Schedule Records Day 1 17-9 Day 2 18-9 Day 3 19-9 Day 4 20-9 Combined event Athletes National Start list Start list Start List Start list Heptathlon Final Results Meet Results Results Results Results Decathlon Medal Tally
16	East Zone Junior Athletics championships	20-30 Sep	Bihar
17	West Zone Junior Athletics championships	7-9 Sep	Baroda
18	North Zone Junior Athletics championships	25-27 Sep	Chandigarh
19	South Zone Junior Athletics championships	20-30 Sep	Pondicherry
21	Interzonal Junior Athletics championships	11-13 Oct	Guntur
23	National Open Athletics championships	23-26 Oct	Jamshedpur
Schedule | Athletes | Meet Records | National Records Results- Day 1 /Day 2 /Day 3 / Day 4| Final Results | Medal Tally
24	National Inter-District Junior Athletics championships	13-15 Nov	Haridwar
Athletes | Results- Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Final Results
25	National Junior Athletics championships	24-27 Nov	Vijaywada
Schedule | Results- Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 Final Results | Medal Tally
1st South Asian Junior Athletic Championships 2007 Nov 29-30, Colombo Final Results
27	Federation Cup Cross Country Championship Day 1- Day 2	2-3 Feb 08	Nagpur
28	National Cross Country championships	16-Feb-08	Goa

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indian athletes for olympics

Athlete of the Month

April 2007: Anju Bobby George Recipient of India's highest sports award " Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award 2003" and Padmashri awardee First ever Indian athlete to win World Championship medal. Anju won bronze medal in Long Jump at Paris on 30th Aug 2003. She jumped to 6.70m. Anju was World Rank No. 4 in Long Jump in 2005. More details on Anju's official website: www.anjubobbygeorge.com

May 2007: Manjit Kaur Recipient of India's sports award "Arjuna Award for the year 2005". Current Indian record holder in 400m run with a timing of 51.05s. Her splendid run in qualifying round of 4X400m relay at Athens Olympics was the most memorial run where she clocked 49.86s and India got into finals with New National Record. Manjit will defend her Asian Champion title in July 2007 at Beirut Asian Championship.

June 2007: Krishna Poonia IAAF World rank no. 24 (May 28) in Women's Discus ThrowKrishna Poonia has won bronze medal in 2006 Doha Asian Games with personal best of 61.53m. She hails from Gagarwas village in Churu district in Rajasthan and represents Indian railways in national tournaments. She has won Bronze medal in the Asian Championship 2005 at Incheon. Krishna has been regular face on winner podium of Asian Grand Prix for past 2 seasons.

July 2007: Renjith Maheshwary IAAF World rank no. 24 (as on July 9) in Men's Triple Jump Renjith became the first Indian to cross 17m barrier in Triple Jump. He won Gold medal in Asian Grand Prix series 2007 at Bangkok, Guwahati and Pune legs. His 17.04m jump has put on the World no. 18 in top 2007 list. He now won Asian Champion title in Amman with a jump of 17.19m. Renjith had finished 4th in the Asian Games Doha in 2006. He hails from Kottyam district of Kerala. Renjith is 22 years old.

Aug 2007 Navpreet Singh Asian Champion 2007 in Shot Put

Sep 2007 Joseph Abraham, 400m Hurdles India's first athlete to run break 50second barrier in 400m Hurdles. Joseph Abraham is working with CISF and training under Rajinder Singh at Patiala for last 4 years and he had show progressive improvement over the years. He had broken his national record 3 times in just 3 months time. His recent record timing is 49.51s which he clocked in the semi finals of 400m Hurdles at World Championship at Osaka

Chatholi Hamza, 1500m 26yrs old Winner of Bronze Medal in World Military Games 2007 in 1500m Under the training of National Coach Nikoloi, Hamza has improved his performance to new level in 2007. His personal best in 800m is 1:48.29s set in May 2007 and 3:40.19s in 1500m set in Jun 2007. Representing Indian army in World Military Games at Hyderabad on Oct 18, Hamza won bronze medal in 1500m with a timing of 3:42.84s

Sinimol Paulose,800m- 1500m 24yrs old Current Asian, Asian Indoor Games and Asian Indoor Champion in 1500m Under the training of National Coach Nikoloi, Sinimol has improved her performance to new level in 2006-08. Her personal best in 800m is 2:02.02s set in 2006 and 4:10.51s in 1500m set in 2006.

Susmita Singha Roy, Heptathlon 24yrs old Asian Championship medalist Under the training of National Coach Kuntal Roy, Susmita has improved her performance to new level in 2008 which is an Olympic year. She attained the B qualification in Heptathlon with points tally of 5866 during Bhopal Federation Cup. Her personal best in heptathlon is 5866 points

Vikas Gowda, Discus Throw 25yrs old Asian Championship medalist USA based gigantic Vikas has shown exceptional progress over the years in the Discus throw in which he currently holds the National record of 64.96m set in 2007 which also earned him Bejing Olympic Qualification.

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