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LOCOG announced the first 74 locations on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route

With one year to go until the Olympic Flame arrives in the UK, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) today reveals the dates and locations for the evening celebration events and island visits on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay route. The announcement of these events and visits is the first stage in confirming the route the Olympic Flame will take around the UK. A list of the first confirmed locations and maps are available for download here The Olympic Flame arrived in the UK from Greece and the 70 day Olympic Torch Relay started at Land's End, Cornwall on the morning of 19 May 2012. On leaving Land's End, the Olympic Flame is expected to travel an estimated 8,000 miles around the UK giving thousands of communities and individuals their moment to shine as the Olympic Flame comes to a place near them. The Olympic Flame will arrive at the Olympic Stadium on 27 July 2012 for the lighting of the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, signifying the start of the London 2012 Olympic Games. To find out more about the first places to be confirmed on the route go to

Junior World Championships Penang – 38 days to go

7th of June 2011 is the deadline to send your Final Entry Forms to participate in the 2011 IWF Junior World Championships to be held in Penang, Malaysia from 26 June to 7 July. You should send your application form (downloadable from the IWF website) to the address of the Organizing Committee: [email protected] and to the International Weightlifting Federation:[email protected] For more information, go

Highlight on the Arafura Games and Oceania Championships

The Arafura Games, including Oceania Senior, Junior & Youth Championships were held in Darwin, Australia on 11-13th may 2011. The 3 days of competition attracted large crowd. 125 lifters competed during the Games and the Pacific Island lifters - who are based at the institute - achieved excellent results. Yukio Peter (Nauru) in the 77kg category won the best male lifter of the tournament and broke the Commonwealth and Oceania record with a snatch of 157kg. Itte Detenamo (Nauru) in the 105+kg broke all Commonwealth and Oceania records with 184kg snatch, 229kg clean & jerk, 413kg total. The best junior lifter in the tournament was Steven Kari (PNG) who clean & jerked 182kg for a new Commonwealth and Oceania Junior record. The best female lifter went to Ele Opeloge (Samoa) with 275kg total. The team event for the men went to Australia and the team event for the women went to Papua New

Sportcal’s 20 Years of Sport: Samaranch the Most Influential

Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former International Olympic Committee president who died last year, was the most influential sports executive of the last 20 years, according to the results of Sportcal's poll 20 Years of Sport: Who Was the Most Influential? The results of the poll were unveiled at yesterday's 20 Years of Sport event held by Sportcal at the offices of Clifford Chance in London, where almost 200 delegates came together to reflect on the last 20 years of sport and discuss and debate what the next 20 years might look like. Voters were asked to give their top three nominations, in order of merit, along with their reasons for choosing them. Three points were awarded for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote and one point for a third-place vote. Samaranch emerged victorious with 101 points to McCormack's 82 points, albeit Samaranch attracted just two more first-place votes than McCormack. It is worth remarking that five of the top 10 (Samaranch, Blatter, Ecclestone, Rogge and Johansson) were primarily involved in sport as organisers and officials, three (Murdoch, Bodenheimer and Sawhney) as broadcasters and two (McCormack and Nally) in an agency capacity. Comments on Samaranch's achievements as a transformative leader of the IOC were typified by the International Weightlifting Federation's Aniko Nemeth-Mora, who wrote: "A charismatic and genial leader, under whose leadership the IOC grew into by far the world's most influential and powerful sports organisation and the Olympic Games the No.1 event (not only in sports); a leader of fantastic diplomatic

Jackie Chan relayed the Torch for the FISU Universiade

May 4th, the torch relay for the 26th Summer Universiade kicked-off at Peking University, marking the 100-day countdown to the opening of FISU's main event. "I declare the start of the torch relay for the 26th Summer Universiade", Li said after handing the torch to Xing Yan'an, a Peking University postgraduate who was the first relay runner. The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen will host the 26th Summer Universiade from August 12th-23rd; 10 years after Beijing held the 21st event in 2001. The flame, which was kindled on April 25th at Tsinghua University in Beijing, will be carried through Shenzhen University on May 10th before Guangzhou University Town takes the baton on May 15th. The torch will also be passed around the city of Shenzhen on August 10t and 11th before the opening of the Universiade. A total of 100 torchbearers continued the Universiade torch relay through Guangzhou University Town yesterday, the third leg of the Games torch relay. An estimated 13,000 participants from more than 180 countries and regions will take part in the 11-day

Progress made as IOC hosts second meeting between Israel and Palestine Olympic Committees

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today welcomed the progress being made on sport-related issues between the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Israel and Palestine following the second joint meeting between the two, held at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne. A complete analysis was made on the issue of free movement of Palestinian athletes. Measures for the development of Palestinian and Israeli sport, including cooperation between the two NOCs were outlined. Participation by both NOCs in the Mediterranean Games was also discussed. The IOC and Olympic Solidarity will continue to work closely with the Palestine Olympic Committee so it can benefit from a range of development and assistance programmes. Particular emphasis will be placed on assisting athletes aiming to take part in the London 2012 Olympic Games. During the meeting, the NOCs also agreed to cooperate on coaching and other practical support for athletes. "The IOC has an obligation to support measures to protect athletes and to use sport as a tool for peace and development," said President Rogge. "We are encouraged by the frank and friendly discussions between the two NOCs, and will continue to work with them to ensure that further progress on sport-related issues is