Heathrow Admits to "Unacceptably Long" Lines
London Heathrow Airport admits that lines for immigration have been "unacceptably long" recently, but says that won’t be a problem during the Games.
The airport came under fire over the weekend after senior UK politician and chairman of the Home Affairs Committee Keith Vaz made a spot visit. He said he was "appalled" by the length of customs queues, which left some customers waiting up to an hour to get into the country.
Vaz added that half the desks he saw were closed, but BAA – the company that runs the airport – says this should not be the case during the Games.
"Immigration is a matter for the Home Office. The Home Office has said that from 15 July all Border Force desks at Heathrow will be open during peak Olympic arrival periods," said a BAA spokesperson.
"Immigration waiting times for passengers during peak periods at Heathrow recently have been unacceptably long and the Home Office should be delivering a good experience for regular passengers as well as for Olympic visitors."
Heathrow has come under much scrutiny about how the airport will handle the huge number of passengers coming through.Olympic lanes and a special Olympic terminal will help to ease congestion during peak arrival times, which begin in less than 10 days.
Team GB Registers Squad
The British Olympic Association was on Monday the first of the 203 NOCs to complete its delegation registration with LOCOG and officially enter Team GB for London 2012.
The BOA confirmed that Team GB will be represented by 542 athletes across all 26 sports on the Olympic Program. In the delegation at the Olympic Park today were Team GB chef de mission Andy Hunt and deputy chefs de mission Clive Woodward and Mark England along with villages and operations manager Louise Whitehead.
The Team GB delegation is the largest in more than a century – the biggest since London hosted the Games for the first time in 1908.
At London 2012, Team GB will include more female athletes than ever before with 262 women (48 percent) and 280 men (52 percent) selected; at Beijing 2008, 143 women represented Team GB.
The youngest athlete is 15-year-old artistic gymnast Rebecca Tunney, also the shortest member of the team at 1.47 meters. Basketball player Dan Clark is the tallest at 2.12 meters. The oldest athlete to compete for Team GB will be 56-year-old dressage rider Richard Davison.
The 542 athletes will be joined by 519 support staff and 300 volunteers to complete a 1,360-strong Team GB delegation.
The first Team GB athletes from across five sport disciplines – diving, equestrian, football, shooting and swimming – will enter the Olympic Village when it opens on July 16.
Greene Captains UK Athletics Team
UK Athletics announced Monday that world, European and Commonwealth champion Dai Greene will captain the Team GB athletics team at London 2012.
The 26-year-old will take on captaincy duties of the 78-strong team for the second time, having previously held the position for the European Team Championships in Sweden in 2011.
"I think our team is one of the strongest in history and I believe that we can go out and do Britain proud and I intend to lead by example," he said.
CAS Opens Office for Games Disputes
The Court of Arbitration for Sport will open an office in London to resolve all legal disputes which may arise during the Olympics.
The CAS ad hoc division will provide all participants in the Games with free access to justice rendered within time limits that keep pace with the competition.
The tribunal for the Olympics, presided over by Judge Juan Torruella of Puerto Rico and Sweden's Gunnar Werner, will include 12 arbitrators. The CAS office in London will be headed by the organization's secretary general Matthieu Reeb.
Any sports body or athlete who wants to submit a dispute during the Games can do so to the London office. A panel of three arbitrators would rapidly convene a hearing with the ruling generally given within 24 hours.
The CAS offices in London, located at Grosvenor House Hotel, will be operational from July 12 to Aug. 12.
Torch Relay Update
Britain's Formula One star Lewis Hamilton was the first torchbearer on day 52 of the Olympic Flame's U.K. trek.
The 2008 world champion carried the torch in Luton.
"I've had such a great reception, they made it even more enjoyable," he told BBC Three Counties Radio.
"I am so incredibly honored to have the opportunity to do this, not many people get to do this.
"I've achieved a certain amount in my career and this is another thing that I can put on the list of wonderful experiences."
Olympic badminton silver medallist Gail Emms was a torchbearer in Milton Keynes, as the flame made its way 112.32 miles from Luton to Oxford.
Hoops Draw Complete
Lithuania, Russia and Nigeria are the last teams through to the men’s Olympic basketball tournament at London 2012.
The countries booked their berths over the weekend at the conclusion of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament hosted by Venezuela.
As the first and third-place finishers, Lithuania and Nigeria join Argentina, France, Tunisia and defending Olympic champions USA in Group A at the Games.
Australia, Brazil, China, Great Britain, reigning runner-up Spain and now Russia are bound for Group B in London.
South Korea, Greece, Jordan, Macedonia and Angola failed to make Sunday’s cut in Caracas.
Giant Grass Rings
Richmond Park boasts London's biggest set of Olympic Rings yet.
The five interlocking rings were mown into the grass by six of The Royal Park’s shire horses and measure a total of around 300m across.
The installation can be seen from the air en route into Heathrow and will also feature during the Olympic road race when cyclists pass through Richmond Park.
Reported by Mark Bisson and Christian Radnedge
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