London 2012 Olympics: athletes may get a budget haircut

The London Olympics have got off lightly in these new austere times. A cut of £27 million from the Olympic Development Authority’s construction of Olympic venues is a barely noticeable trim in the first round of budget cuts. More so when the total ODA budget is over the £7 billion mark, and the reality is the ODA looks like coming under its budget anyway.

The real pain is to be felt at UK Sport – the government’s elite funding body – which has been enormously successful in focusing and demanding excellence from sports in return for their share of public cash.

Less than five per cent of monies received by UK Sport is spent on administration. So a cut of three per cent – despite the body’s pledge that sport won’t suffer could be relatively brutal.

Then there is Sport England, which has already intimated that athletes in lesser sports lower down the talent pool might be affected. Ouch. The families of those athletes already dig deep to fuel Olympic dreams.

It could be argued that in one fell swoop the Government has signalled that glossy stadiums and facilities might count for athletic performances, and also more than getting people active.

This is a nonsense of course. Behind the scenes the powerbrokers are fearful of an Olympic security nightmare and they are stockpiling any savings from the construction to boost the £600 million set aside for security. No one wants a Games that is not secure, but it is a shame that it looks like the fringe athletes in the first instan

London 2012 Olympics: GB track cycling analysis and predictions

Telegraph Sport looks at the performance of the British team at the World Track Cycling Championships in Copenhagen and ahead to their prospects for the London 2012 Olympics.

Men's sprint: Sir Chris Hoy remains Great Britain's best bet but the Sprint cycling world is clearly beginning to gang up on him. He qualified second fastest here in Copenhagen with yet another sub second ten ride in the flying 200m and clearly still has the legs. Got badly caught out tactically, however, by Robert Fostermann in the first round and won't make that mistake again. Matt Crampton can beat anybody in the mood but lacks consistency, a criticism that can perhaps also be levelled at Jason Kenny. 2010 WC: Three quarter-finalists. London 2012 prediction: Hoy silver

Men's team sprint: much work to do but not without hope. A serious back injury to lead-out man Jamie Staff has hampered progress but Kenny made a good fist of the role in Copenhagen. If Staff cannot return the hunt is on to find the rider best able to fill the number two role. That could be Crampton with Hoy at three but David Daniell is an unusal talent GB are trying to bring into play, a kilo rider who is nearly an out and out sprinter. If he could find an extra gear in the next two years he could make a big contribution. 2010 WC: Bronze. London 2012 prediction: Silver

Women's sprint: Victoria Pendleton, with her fifth world title in six years, still reigns supreme and as long as she can stay sharp mentally and free from injury the world is her oyster. The prospect of "doing a Hoy" at London and competing in three events is the juiciest of carrots. Neither Jess Varnish or Becky James are yet in her class but in fairness nobody else in the world is either. 2010 WC: Pendleton gold. London 2012 prediction: Pendleton gold

Women's team sprint: there is a big medal to be won here but GB have got to find somebody to launch Pendleton onto the final lap. Jess Varnish has tried, Vicky James could develop quickly but the return of Shanaze Reade from the BMX circuit would seem the most likely solution. Even that is problematical though because the cycling programme has not yet been formalised and if the BMX comes first - with the ever present risk of crashes and injury - Great Britain might decide that including Reade in the team sprint sprint programme is too much of a risk. WC 2010: Fourth. London 2012 prediction: Bronze

Call for London 2012 Olympics tickets clarity

London 2012 organisers have been urged to be up front about how many tickets will be available for the Olympics and how much they will cost.
The London Assembly's economic development, culture, sport and tourism committee said the public needed to have faith in the ticketing system.
Games organisers said details would be revealed after the Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver had finished.
There will be 9.2 million seats available during the event.
The committee has written to London 2012 chiefs requesting details on how they plan to fill seats at the Games.

'Open and transparent'

Committee Chair Dee Doocey said: "The key issue is simple: How many people will be ahead of the average Londoner in the queue for Olympic tickets?
"Locog - London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games - needs to be open and transparent about how many tickets are going to be available for the public and how many are going to be reserved for the Olympic family.
We will be making an announcement about our ticketing strategy after the Vancouver Paralympic Games has finished
London 2012 spokesman
"These tickets for International Olympic Committee staff, officials, partners and sponsors will significantly reduce the number of seats available for the public."
The committee said it would like to know how many tickets will be available at less than £10, £20 and £30 and how they will be shared out among the events.
Other questions included how any possible stand-by scheme for unused tickets might work and who, if anyone, would count as a priority group for preferential or low-cost tickets.
London 2012 should publish its ticketing strategy in draft form as soon as possible to allow the public to comment on it before it is finalised, the committee advised.
Tickets for the Games will not go on sale until 2011, according to Locog.
A London 2012 spokesman said: "We will be making an announcement about our ticketing strategy after the Vancouver Paralympic Games has finished."
The 2010 Paralympics is scheduled to finish on 21 March.