Inside Lines: Kelly's aye on schools sport gives Labour the blues
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Your support makes all the difference.Getting Kelly Holmes to chair their proposed Olympic legacy task force is certainly more of a bonus than Bono for the Tories; it is a slap in the face for the Government who have been using the dashing Dame as their resident sporting A-lister, spearheading a number of their projects. It isn't yet clear whether Holmes has actually boarded the Blues bandwagon – she was at both party conferences – but her proposals for a Schools Olympics, enthusiastically endorsed by the Conservatives, does not augur well for the future of the Government-backed UK School Games. Currently organised by the Youth Sport Trust, there have been criticisms that these do not truly represent school sports. Holmes and the Tories want to feature 38 sports, including Paralympic events, and introduce a more competitive element among schoolkids of all ages.
Lording it in Lausanne
It has been a good week for our sporting "nobility" at the IOC session in Lausanne. The former BOA chairman Sir Craig Reedie was elevated to the executive board, the most influential berth occupied by a Briton in world sport for almost half a century, and there were plaudits for his domestic successor Lord Moynihan's high-profile role in formally presenting the session's recommendations to the congress on behalf of re-elected president, Jacques Rogge. One of these is that Sir Clive Woodward should be invited to discuss the possibility of an IOC coaches committee. On top of this came another coup for Mike Lee, OBE. The canny spinmeister behind London's 2012 victory, who had done a similar job in Lausanne for Rio's 2016 vote-winning campaign, then helped rugby sevens scrum down in their Olympic programme.
Beth of British at 02
When Britain's Luol Deng led the Chicago Bulls to victory over Utah Jazz in the annual NBA fest last week he said the huge crowd at London's 02 inspired him to think of what the Olympic basketball event might be like in London. Let's hope GB's gymnasts, led by European champion Beth Tweddle and Beijing bronze medallist Louis Smith are similarly supported and uplifted when the world championships begin there on Tuesday. Like boxer Carl Froch, who defends his world super-middleweight title against Andre Dirrell in Nottingham on Saturday, they have skills well worth wider appreciation.
League play ball with 2012
Under pressure from the IOC to finalise all Games venues asap, London's Olympic planners can at least welcome one piece of good news. The Football League have decided to delay the start of the 2012 season until 18 August, six days after the Games end. This, they say, is to help ensure police and transport links are not overstretched (unlike the Games budget) during the event.
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