OLYMPIC DIGEST:Reigning Olympic champion Rafael Nadal will not be competing at London 2012 due to injury.
The 26-year-old won gold for Spain in Beijing four years ago but will not be defending his crown this summer.
Nadal confirmed he will not be travelling to London for the Games, which would have been his first event since being eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon by then 100th-ranked Lukas Rosol.
"I am not able to compete at the Olympics in London and therefore will not be travelling as planned with the Spanish delegation," he said in a statement on the Spanish federation (RFET) website, www.rfet.es.
"I have to think about my colleagues. I cannot be selfish and I have to think of the good of Spanish sport, especially Spanish tennis, and let a team-mate who is better prepared to compete.
"I've waited until the final moment of my preparation and my training, but I cannot do it." Nadal was due to carry the Spanish flag at the Olympic ceremony in eight days.
The Spaniard added: "Today is one of the saddest days of my career.
"Perhaps one of the most special moments was to be Spain's flagbearer in the opening ceremony for the Games in London, so you can imagine how difficult it has been making this decision."
RFET president Jose Luis Escanuela was also devastated, saying: "It's the worst news we could have. Rafa has always been an example of perseverance and tenacity, which makes it hard to miss out because surely he would have loved to return to the Games. I hope he recovers quickly."
Home Office knew of G4S shortfalls as early as June 27th
G4S SHORTFALLSThe British Home Office was warned of a "possible temporary shortfall" in G4S guards for the Olympics as early as June 27th, the home secretary admitted yesterday.
Theresa May said G4S and Locog met at the Home Office on June 27th and said they were “experiencing scheduling problems” which could see a shortfall of “significantly less than 1,000” guards.
But the firm was “unable to specify the size of the shortfall” and only said they were no longer confident of reaching their workforce targets on July 11th.
The details came in a letter from May to Labour MP Keith Vaz. But culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said the numbers of staff provided by the company were rising, and there was currently no need to deploy more military personnel.
Shooter Mark aims to keep wife’s room in his sights
ATHLETES' VILLAGEAustralian shooter Russell Mark is planning to sneak off in the night to see his wife, also a competitor at the London Olympics, after accepting that he cannot share a room with her in the athletes' Village. The six times Olympian, a Double Trap gold medallist in the 1996 Atlanta Games, had made headlines after the Australian Olympic Committee decided he could not share with his spouse Lauryn.
The AOC had said allowing the couple to share would inconvenience other female athletes. “I made the point and I lost,” Mark told a news conference yesterday.
“I guess it’s like cricket. You can snick a ball where you’ve been given out caught behind . . . you can argue but at the end of the day, you’ve got to walk.
“I’ve walked and I’ll probably walk across the corridor into Lauryn’s room somewhere. As far as I know that’s not illegal . . . just got to get out of there before the sun gets up,” he added.
Mark will be sharing a room in the Village with six times Olympian and double gold medallist Michael Diamond – “not as good looking as Lauryn and not as cuddly” – and said it was time the furore blew over.
The burly 48-year-old added that his friendship with Australian chef de mission Nick Green, a rower who also won gold in 1996, had not changed and he had no personal issue with him.
“The reality is I’m here to shoot clay targets, not argue about who’s going to be sleeping beside me every night,” added Mark, who made headlines back in May when he talked about parading at the opening ceremony in a lime-green ‘mankini’ after losing a bet.
CDs to be released
SOUNDTRACKThe soundtracks to the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympics are to be released as albums within hours of the celebrations.
Dance act Underworld have composed music for the opening and there will also be performances by guest artists at the ceremonies, although much of it has been cloaked in secrecy.
Decca Records, part of music giant Universal, said it will release both ceremonies digitally shortly after the end of each.
The music for the opening – entitled The Isles Of Wonder – on July 27th will feature choirs and orchestras as well as the chimes of a specially-commissioned 23-ton bell. It will be available on CD a little over a week later.
The closing ceremony takes place on August 12th.
Decca president Dickon Stainer said: “The speed of these historic releases will be truly record-breaking.”
