Few things in Hackney reach speeds of up to 125mph legitimately. That changed yesterday when Olympic chiefs successfully orchestrated the first trial of a super-express train service linking St Pancras and the Olympic Park in East London.
The target was to reach Stratford International, 5.6 miles (9km) along a purpose-built high-speed track, in less than seven minutes — three years before the opening ceremony on July 27, 2012.
The fear of failure was palpable around the Champagne Bar as athletes including Tom Daley, the newly crowned world champion diver, joined dignitaries and the media for the most high-profile test to date of London’s £9.3 billion Olympic project.
As 2012 officials laughed nervously at the ominous departure point on Platform 13, sceptical reporters boarded the Javelin ready to gloat when the train broke down in time-honoured British fashion.
Reassuringly, the train was built by Hitachi and based on Japan’s shinkansen “bullet trains”, which on average arrive within six seconds of their scheduled time and were a product of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Perhaps less comforting, for those who thought his area of expertise lay in running shoes and not running trains, was the voice of Lord Coe over the public address system. “This train will depart promptly at 09.42,” the double Olympic 1,500 metres champion predicted.
And so it did. Without incident and with no time for a trip to the buffet car, the Javelin scorched through Hackney and came out of a tunnel the other side in Stratford only 6 minutes and 45 seconds later. Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, was triumphant. “We can run trains ahead of schedule,” she said.
“This is going to bring a large number of people to the park and London will be the beneficiary of investment in its transport infrastructure, which is being accelerated by the Olympics.”
During the Games, the Javelin will carry up to 25,000 people an hour to and from the Olympic Park. Spectators will get free use of public transport with their tickets to Olympic events but a separate Javelin pass may be issued to manage crowds. The cost of running 12 shuttles an hour for 17 days of Olympic competition and 11 days of the Paralympics will be taken from the Olympic Delivery Authority’s £900 million transport budget.
Boris Johnson said he that he had clocked the Javelin’s maiden journey at 6 minutes and 10 seconds but anyone who has waited for the Mayor to arrive at an official engagement knows he has a loose concept of time.
Mr Johnson didn’t miss the opportunity to rub salt in French wounds: “I’ve a great deal of sympathy for the French who must be consumed with envy at the rapidity with which we’re bringing this project to birth,” he said.
“The key thing is we’re getting our legacy in advance of the Games. People have yet to get into their heads quite how much is going to be ready before 2012.”
Regular rail passengers are already travelling at speeds of up to 140mph along the £5 billion track built for the Eurostar. Under a pilot service operated by Southeastern Trains, the journey from St Pancras to Ashford takes 37 minutes compared with 1 hour 20 minutes on the main line and it is only 17 minutes to Ebbsfleet.
From December, the first high-speed domestic train service will be fully operational, stopping at Stratford 19 times during peak hours and four times an hour, off peak.
Source:The times
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Women's golf looks to Michelle Wie for boost
Women's golf is desperately in need of a boost. Perhaps it will receive it in the next few days when the Ricoh Women's British Open, the fourth and last major championship of the year, is played at Royal Lytham & St Annes. If this event has a conclusion that is half as good as was the men's Open at Turnberry two weeks ago, then it will be all right.
What with the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour in the US losing seven events since 2007 and its commissioner being sacked two weeks ago, as well as Annika Sorenstam, the greatest female player for a generation, retiring last year, the women's game is in turmoil - and this with the Solheim Cup, the biennial match between the women professionals of Europe and the US, coming up in three weeks.
Step forward Michelle Wie, 19, who is playing her last major championship as a teenager. Wie has for some time been the gifted but trouble child of the LPGA tour and has not yet qualified for the US team. She is currently 16th. A win here would get her into the team as an automatic selection; anything less and she will have to rely on being picked by Beth Daniel, the US captain.
Wie spoke tongue in cheek yesterday about death threats and how the last time she was at this venue, when she was handled by the William Morris Agency, she was given ten bodyguards and now, having moved to the International Management Group, she appears to have none.
"There have been no death threats to my face" Wie said. "But I am sure there have been. You always have to sign these forms in tournaments like if you receive a death threat, do you want to be informed or not and I'm like no, I don't want to know. I'm still alive, I'm still breathing and it's all good."
Wie competed in this event at this venue in 2006 and finished tied 26th having been tied 3rd the previous year at Royal Birkdale. She says she has recovered from the injury to her left wrist that seemed to bedevil her for so long and now, as a full member of the LPGA tour while on holiday from school, she has had one third place finish and two runners-up finishes this year.
What would the powers that be give for Wie to win on Sunday?
Source:The times
What with the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour in the US losing seven events since 2007 and its commissioner being sacked two weeks ago, as well as Annika Sorenstam, the greatest female player for a generation, retiring last year, the women's game is in turmoil - and this with the Solheim Cup, the biennial match between the women professionals of Europe and the US, coming up in three weeks.
Step forward Michelle Wie, 19, who is playing her last major championship as a teenager. Wie has for some time been the gifted but trouble child of the LPGA tour and has not yet qualified for the US team. She is currently 16th. A win here would get her into the team as an automatic selection; anything less and she will have to rely on being picked by Beth Daniel, the US captain.
Wie spoke tongue in cheek yesterday about death threats and how the last time she was at this venue, when she was handled by the William Morris Agency, she was given ten bodyguards and now, having moved to the International Management Group, she appears to have none.
"There have been no death threats to my face" Wie said. "But I am sure there have been. You always have to sign these forms in tournaments like if you receive a death threat, do you want to be informed or not and I'm like no, I don't want to know. I'm still alive, I'm still breathing and it's all good."
Wie competed in this event at this venue in 2006 and finished tied 26th having been tied 3rd the previous year at Royal Birkdale. She says she has recovered from the injury to her left wrist that seemed to bedevil her for so long and now, as a full member of the LPGA tour while on holiday from school, she has had one third place finish and two runners-up finishes this year.
What would the powers that be give for Wie to win on Sunday?
Source:The times
Sir Alex Ferguson warns of problems with Real Madrid building a star-studded cast
It is a peculiar summer when four of the world’s most illustrious clubs, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors and Manchester United, can contest a pre-season tournament and the sponsor, Audi, can be accused of failing to attract the kind of glamour that supposedly only Real Madrid can bring.
This may be the same Real Madrid who have consistently bombed in the Champions League over the past five seasons, but their activity in the transfer market this summer has been extraordinary.
They broke the world transfer record first by signing Kaká from Milan for £59 million, then Cristiano Ronaldo from United for £80 million, followed by deals to take Raúl Albiol from Valencia, Karim Benzema from Lyons and, they firmly expect, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool. By the time the transfer window closes on August 31, their spending will have gone far beyond £200 million.
Sir Alex Ferguson has frequently aimed barbs at Real in recent years, famously remarking that he “wouldn’t sell a virus to that mob”. However, having given Ronaldo’s transfer his blessing, the United manager seemed to be offering constructive advice to the Spanish club over a transfer policy that has appeared to carry all the hallmarks of Florentino Pérez’s previous galácticos regime, which was characterised by style and attacking flair but, ultimately, a distinct lack of substance.
Asked whether Real’s spending makes them favourites to win the Champions League, Ferguson said: “There’s a very good example of a team in the 1950s, Sunderland, who spent so much money it was known as the Bank of England club. They didn’t win anything and in the end they got themselves relegated.
“I’m not saying Real Madrid will get relegated, but it’s difficult and they will have plenty of problems with balance. I wouldn’t want to be Manuel Pellegrini [the coach] picking his first team with all those individuals. I told Ronaldo he will end up playing centre half because they don’t have one.”
Real conceded 52 goals in La Liga last season — only five fewer than Recreativo Huelva, who finished bottom of the table — but they have at least added Albiol, the Spain centre half, to their defensive options and are close to completing a deal to sign Arbeloa for £3.5 million.
Luring Alonso would give them some much-needed poise in front of the defence, but Leonardo and Louis van Gaal share Ferguson’s doubts about the way Pérez has gone about trying to build another team of galácticos.
Van Gaal, the new Bayern coach, said: “My philosophy is that you have to make a team. You cannot just go out and buy one. I hope the trainer of Real Madrid can make a team out of so many individuals, but I don’t know if he can. Sometimes you can, but it is very, very hard.”
Leonardo, who has replaced Carlo Ancelotti at Milan, said: “It won’t be easy for Madrid and they have not succeeded in the past. They had their experiment with the galácticos and in the end they didn’t win anything.”
“You can buy good talent and create possibilities for yourself, but it is not easy to construct a squad and manage players like Kaká, Ronaldo and Benzema. You need more than just money to build a team. You need spirit and we will have to see if Madrid have [it].”
As for Ferguson’s team, Luis Antonio Valencia, the Ecuador winger, will have his first run-out in a United shirt against Boca tonight, having missed the four-match tour to Asia because of complications with his visa.
Ferguson has high hopes for Valencia, a £16 million acquisition from Wigan Athletic, but Owen Hargreaves remains months away from a return to fitness, having stayed in Canada to continue his rehabilitation from knee surgery rather than join up with his team-mates in Munich, where he spent several years playing for Bayern.
Source:The times
This may be the same Real Madrid who have consistently bombed in the Champions League over the past five seasons, but their activity in the transfer market this summer has been extraordinary.
They broke the world transfer record first by signing Kaká from Milan for £59 million, then Cristiano Ronaldo from United for £80 million, followed by deals to take Raúl Albiol from Valencia, Karim Benzema from Lyons and, they firmly expect, Xabi Alonso and Álvaro Arbeloa from Liverpool. By the time the transfer window closes on August 31, their spending will have gone far beyond £200 million.
Sir Alex Ferguson has frequently aimed barbs at Real in recent years, famously remarking that he “wouldn’t sell a virus to that mob”. However, having given Ronaldo’s transfer his blessing, the United manager seemed to be offering constructive advice to the Spanish club over a transfer policy that has appeared to carry all the hallmarks of Florentino Pérez’s previous galácticos regime, which was characterised by style and attacking flair but, ultimately, a distinct lack of substance.
Asked whether Real’s spending makes them favourites to win the Champions League, Ferguson said: “There’s a very good example of a team in the 1950s, Sunderland, who spent so much money it was known as the Bank of England club. They didn’t win anything and in the end they got themselves relegated.
“I’m not saying Real Madrid will get relegated, but it’s difficult and they will have plenty of problems with balance. I wouldn’t want to be Manuel Pellegrini [the coach] picking his first team with all those individuals. I told Ronaldo he will end up playing centre half because they don’t have one.”
Real conceded 52 goals in La Liga last season — only five fewer than Recreativo Huelva, who finished bottom of the table — but they have at least added Albiol, the Spain centre half, to their defensive options and are close to completing a deal to sign Arbeloa for £3.5 million.
Luring Alonso would give them some much-needed poise in front of the defence, but Leonardo and Louis van Gaal share Ferguson’s doubts about the way Pérez has gone about trying to build another team of galácticos.
Van Gaal, the new Bayern coach, said: “My philosophy is that you have to make a team. You cannot just go out and buy one. I hope the trainer of Real Madrid can make a team out of so many individuals, but I don’t know if he can. Sometimes you can, but it is very, very hard.”
Leonardo, who has replaced Carlo Ancelotti at Milan, said: “It won’t be easy for Madrid and they have not succeeded in the past. They had their experiment with the galácticos and in the end they didn’t win anything.”
“You can buy good talent and create possibilities for yourself, but it is not easy to construct a squad and manage players like Kaká, Ronaldo and Benzema. You need more than just money to build a team. You need spirit and we will have to see if Madrid have [it].”
As for Ferguson’s team, Luis Antonio Valencia, the Ecuador winger, will have his first run-out in a United shirt against Boca tonight, having missed the four-match tour to Asia because of complications with his visa.
Ferguson has high hopes for Valencia, a £16 million acquisition from Wigan Athletic, but Owen Hargreaves remains months away from a return to fitness, having stayed in Canada to continue his rehabilitation from knee surgery rather than join up with his team-mates in Munich, where he spent several years playing for Bayern.
Source:The times
Australia have lost their aura, says England captain Andrew Strauss
Andrew Strauss says England have nothing to fear from the current Australian side, which he believes has lost its aura of invincibility.
The England captain, speaking before tomorrow's third Ashes Test at Edgbaston, says the fear factor associated with great Australian sides of the past has gone and the current team was no different to any other Test team.
“I don’t think this Australian side has an aura about it,” Strauss said. “We didn’t think so even before the series started.
“Not to be disrespectful, they still have some great players. The aura came from players like [Glenn] McGrath, [Shane] Warne, [Matthew] Hayden and [Adam] Gilchrist. A lot of the guys in this team are at the start of their Test careers and don’t necessarily have an aura yet.
"An aura is built up over time. We've got some reasonably fresh faces around our group finding their feet at international level. An aura comes from results as well, and if we come out on top in this test I'm sure they will be thinking slightly differently."
Strauss went on to speak about the importance of the third Test, which he believes could be pivotal to the outcome of the series. He also expects Andrew Flintoff to play.
"Freddie [Flintoff] seems fine. He has come through all the workouts okay. Barring any dramatic stuff overnight, we are confident he will be fit," he said.
"We are very happy with the way things have gone for the last two days and we take a lot of confidence from Lord's [the second Test, which England won]. I believe this Test will be the hardest of all, a huge Test, and whoever does well will take the momentum into the second half of the series.
"If we can go 2-0 up, we will be in a great position but we've got to raise the level of our performance from Lord's. We expect the Australians to come back strong and motivated. We need to raise things to another level and, if we do that, we will put them under pressure again."
Strauss also revealed that England have released spinner Monty Panesar from their squad.
Source:The times
The England captain, speaking before tomorrow's third Ashes Test at Edgbaston, says the fear factor associated with great Australian sides of the past has gone and the current team was no different to any other Test team.
“I don’t think this Australian side has an aura about it,” Strauss said. “We didn’t think so even before the series started.
“Not to be disrespectful, they still have some great players. The aura came from players like [Glenn] McGrath, [Shane] Warne, [Matthew] Hayden and [Adam] Gilchrist. A lot of the guys in this team are at the start of their Test careers and don’t necessarily have an aura yet.
"An aura is built up over time. We've got some reasonably fresh faces around our group finding their feet at international level. An aura comes from results as well, and if we come out on top in this test I'm sure they will be thinking slightly differently."
Strauss went on to speak about the importance of the third Test, which he believes could be pivotal to the outcome of the series. He also expects Andrew Flintoff to play.
"Freddie [Flintoff] seems fine. He has come through all the workouts okay. Barring any dramatic stuff overnight, we are confident he will be fit," he said.
"We are very happy with the way things have gone for the last two days and we take a lot of confidence from Lord's [the second Test, which England won]. I believe this Test will be the hardest of all, a huge Test, and whoever does well will take the momentum into the second half of the series.
"If we can go 2-0 up, we will be in a great position but we've got to raise the level of our performance from Lord's. We expect the Australians to come back strong and motivated. We need to raise things to another level and, if we do that, we will put them under pressure again."
Strauss also revealed that England have released spinner Monty Panesar from their squad.
Source:The times
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