Warning: there's a missile heading to London this summer (Photo: Reuters)
The fastest 100m freestyle swimmer in the world – James "The Missile" Magnussen visited London this week for some pre-Games promotions but won't get a chance to swim in the Olympic Aquatics Centre.
Magnussen, an Australian, said he would don his budgie smugglers inside the centre to get a feel for what it might be like at the end of July.
"I'll just strip down to the swimmers and walk up and down the side of the pool and try and get a feel for it, something like that," said Magnussen, 20.
In a threat to his rivals, Magnussen said he had suffered some respiratory illness during the recent Australian trials in Adelaide but didn't want to reveal it at the time lest it give his opponents a sniff of his weakness. His trial time was just short of the world record.
Smith sent home
Teenage strongwoman Zoe Smith has revealed that she had no choice but to quit British Weightlifting’s high-performance centre in Leeds and return home to Greenwich due to child-protection regulations, myTelegraph Sport colleague Simon Hart tells me.
Smith, 17, took a year out of school to move to Leeds last year but is now preparing for the Olympics back at her old Europa gym in Bexley.
“They said no under-18s can live in the house due to child protection rules,” she said. “I’m not 18 until next month so I’m back down in London now.”
Smith, a special guest at yesterday’s Balfour Beatty London Youth Games, admitted she was happy to be back at home.
“It seems to be the best thing for me anyway because I felt a bit like I was over-training in Leeds,” she said. “My coach down here knows me much better.”
Queue forming behind Jacques Rogge
Quite a few International Olympic Committee members are jockeying for support to run for the presidency when Jacques Rogge steps down next year.
Senior IOC members Thomas Bach of Germany and Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico are the current front-runners but behind the scenes others are canvassing the numbers.
Princess Haya of the United Arab Emirates heads the International Equestrian Federation and is gathering support, with insiders saying she has handfuls of votes, so too the Australian John Coates. More than 100 IOC members will vote.
Protest Olympics
Meanwhile Rogge will present his final report on the London Olympic preparations at a press conference tomorrow morning, but officials are expecting to have to wade through protest action organised by Bhopal activists upset about the Dow Chemical sponsorship of the London Olympic Stadium wrap and its role as an IOC global sponsor.
Shoe companies Nike, adidas – the official Team GB sponsor – and Usain Bolt's Puma will also be the subject of protest action on Saturday by UK Feminista activists angered about women's working conditions in Bangladeshi factories which produce the footwear. Occupy protesters have moved into the Olympic basketball practice venue being constructed at Leyton Marshes.
White elephant, what white elephant?
Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said today he was pretty relaxed about having two Olympic venues still to find tenants for post-Games use, saying there would be no white elephants.
"I am pleased to have got six out of eight done but the last two will be knocked off before the Games," he said. Tenders are currently out for the media centre and the Olympic Stadium.
Robertson described the Olympic Legacy "jewels" as being the Olympic Park and the nearby Westfield shopping centre and while he ticked off economic and sports benefits he noted that using the Olympics to bring about large scale social change was "debatable".
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