100 days to go...

...until July 27th when the Queen will declare the Olympic games open. The first medal competed for will be in the 10m air pistol shooting, though Britain's realistic hope of a first medal will be in the men's cycling road race with Sports Personality of the Year - Mark Cavendish. Here are some Olympic facts to get you in the mood.
 

• 26 Olympic sports will be competed over 17 days
• 20 Paralympic sports will be contested over 11 days
• 14,700 athletes will be competing (10,500 in the Olympics and 4,200 in the Paralympics)
• 3 out of 4 people in the world watched at least some of the last Games
• 302 gold medals will be won
• 205 countries will be involved
• 120,000 people will pass through Stratford Regional train station every morning of the Olympics

Spring marathon season

We've had the North Pole marathon won by Scotland's Andrew Murray (no, not that Andy Murray), and the hardcore  Ultra-Marathon Des Sable (six days, 151 miles = six marathons) is currently in full flow. The Virgin London marathon (good luck GT!) is coming up on 22nd April so it must be Spring Marathon time.

Before that we have Paris, Rotterdam and Boston, the latter of which isn't record-eligible (despite being one of the 'majors' and the world's oldest regular marathon). This is due to its point-to-point elevation drop not meeting IAAF standards - a shame for the Kenyan Geoffrey Mutai who ran the fastest ever marathon there last year in 2 hours 3 minutes and 2 seconds, 36 seconds faster than the official world record of Kenyan Patrick Makau in Berlin last year.

Rotterdam is renowned as a fast course so we may well see a new  men's world record there, or potentially in London where the field is stronger. There is extra pressure placed this year as each country can only supply three runners for the London Olympic marathon. That means that 17 out of the top twenty mens runners last year, being all Kenyan, will miss out!

Good luck to everyone competing in a Spring Marathon. I'll be cheering from the comfort of my armchair, there in spirit, but not body, due to a shot cartilage.

Arrivederci Giorgio

In 1977 the former Charlton Athletic player and manager Eddie Firmani was appointed manager of the New York Cosmos. His players included Pele, Carlos Alberto, Franz Beckenbauer and Girgio Chinaglia, who has just passed away, aged 65. The former Swansea, Lazio and Italy striker retired in 1983 as the leading goalscorer in the North American Soccer League with 243 goals.

Here's a clip about him from the New York Cosmos film 'Once in a Lifetime'