London 2012 - Government calls in troops for Olympics

Britain will provide up to 13,500 troops to protect next summer's London Olympics -- more than it has in Afghanistan -- after organizers said international uncertainty meant security for the event needed to be doubled. 

Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the military support would provide back-up for police and private staff already hired to secure the perimeters of the Olympic and Paralympic venues in what will be Britain's largest peacetime security operation.
The military presence will also include special forces and specialist bomb disposal units as well as a 1,000-strong contingency force "in the event of an Olympics-related civil emergency".
The Olympic Park in Stratford, east London, will be protected by missiles against airbone attack, in line with measures taken by Beijing in 2008 and Athens in 2004.
"Next year's Olympic and Paralympic Games are once-in-a-generation events for the UK," Hammond said in a statement.
"We want them to be secure, so that all those competing and attending can enjoy the games for the celebration of sporting achievement and cultural celebration that it is."
Increased concern about international security after the Arab Spring uprisings and other events had led to an increase in the budget for venue security to £553 million from the previous estimate of £282m, Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said earlier this month.
Another £475m is being spent on policing and other security measures outside stadiums, with 12,000 officers on duty at peak times.
Britain has been a target for Islamist militants for many years as a leading ally of U.S. military action in Iraq and Afghanistan, and 52 people were killed in suicide bombings in the capital in 2005.
The government said in July that the terrorism threat level had been downgraded by one notch to "substantial", the third highest category, meaning an attack is a "strong possibility".
The military presence for the games will now be bigger than Britain's current deployment in Afghanistan, where there are about 9,500 British troops.
Of the 13,500 military personnel, about 7,500 will help at venues, helping to admit spectators, athletes and officials through airline-style security.
They will combine with guards from private security firm G4S and volunteers to produce a force of 23,700, up from an original estimate of 10,000.
HMS Ocean, the largest ship in the Royal Navy, will be moored in the River Thames at Greenwich, providing a base for military helicopters, while the navy's flagship HMS Bulwark will be deployed off the south coast.
Typhoon fighter jets will also be based at RAF Northolt in west London.
In November, London's national Olympic security coordinator Chris Allison dismissed as "rubbish" reports that the United States had been unhappy with arrangements for the games and was planning to send up to 1,000 agents to protect its athletes.
The games will coincide with the 40th anniversary of the Munich Olympics, where 11 Israeli team members died after being taken hostage by Palestinian gunmen.
"Every Olympics since Atlanta (1996) has had a significant military component around its security," Hammond told the BBC.
"Our allies and our friends would expect us to deliver the same in London and I think both the London public and Olympic competitors and visitors should be greatly reassured by the role that the military are playing."

London 2012 Games, insisting "there is no place for it at the Olympics"

The British Olympic Association have faced opposition to a team from the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish football associations because they want to protect their footballing independence.
Welsh athlete Greene, though, opposes the idea because he fears more traditional Olympic sports could be "overshadowed" by football next summer.
"I don't think the football team should be there in the first place," he told BBC Wales.
"I hope that those big names don't overshadow those people who have trained for four years to be there for that one moment. These guys have four to five weeks off in the summer then become an Olympian. It does seem a little bit out of place.
"These guys wants to win Premierships, Champions League trophies and World Cup medals. They don't grow up wanting to be an Olympic champion, they want to be the best in football.
"The crowning glory in football isn't being Olympic champion so I don't think their sport should necessarily be involved - or at least at a professional level."
The former youth-team footballer added: "Most athletes would agree with what I'm saying. There's no place for it at the Olympics.
"When some guy wins a gold medal in badminton or swimming, they want it to be about them and their hard work and their story to get there.
"But sadly in some of the papers that might be overshadowed with what David Beckham had for breakfast maybe - and that is not a great story from our point of view. I'm all for players representing Team GB but I wish there wasn't a Team GB in the first place."

London 2012 - Baulch: Rooney has hope in rubbish 400m

Olympic silver medallist Jamie Baulch believes Martyn Rooney has a chance of success in what he describes as a 'rubbish' 400m standard.

The 24-year-old paid the price for a change in his training this season failing to make the final of the 400m at his fourth World Championships in Korea in August.
Rooney clocked a season's best of just 45.30seconds in the heats in Daegu, with the Croydon Harrier quickly bemoaning a decision to work primarily on speed this year.
And Baulch, who won Olympic 4x400m relay silver in Atlanta in 1996, is adamant Rooney will benefit from going back to his tried and trusted methods in the build up to next year's Olympics.
"Martyn needs a really consistent training regime between now and 2012," Baulch said.
"He tried to focus on a lot of speed work this year and it didn't really happen for him. He was a bit unsure of himself and he really lost his way in terms of pacing his races and judging them tactically.
"So he needs to get back to what he does best. He's got the talent but it all depends on his winter and his coach and what they come up with because now is the time.
"It's no good saying 'oh I'm number one in Britain' or even 'I'm number one in Europe' - we need to be looking beyond that now, we can't be settling."
Rooney's 2011 best is exactly seventh tenths of a second shy of his lifetime best of 44.60 - ran on the way to reaching the 400m final at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, where he finished sixth.
However, with the world leading 400m time having got progressively worse year on year since 2007, Baulch believes that if Rooney can rediscover his rhythm, success can be forthcoming.
"To be perfectly blunt the standard in the 400m at the moment is rubbish and someone like Martyn has got the talent but he needs to get his head right and put some serious training in," he added.
"If he does that then why can't he get a medal in London? He's run 44.6 before so he needs to believe in himself and I really think he could break the European record and go 44.3 and under."