Monday 21 January 2008

British Shooting sold out.

Lord Coe, mercurial on the track has been equally mercurial in his adoption of a political mantra when questioned about the legacy to the shooting sports. Lord Coe dismissed accusations that no lasting legacy would be left.
"I don't accept that," he told the BBC in an interview.
"We are four-and-a-half years away from the opening ceremony, and we have teams making sure we do scope out a proper legacy.
"I'm determined to leave a legacy in every sport. An important part of that is not simply bricks and mortar; it is about being able to say that more people got engaged in sport. "Sometimes governing bodies of sports overlook that."
Coe added that his team had come under pressure from the International Olympic Committee to site venues closer to the capital.
"Back in early 2004 the IOC were quite critical about how far some of our venues were from London.
"We looked at Bisley for shooting and decided we wanted to bring the sport closer into London.
"These are sports that need accessibility. They're great sports, they have returned a large chunk of our medals, and it is important they are understood and shared by a larger group of young people."
If all this were true, why is Weymouth considered close enough to London but not Bisley? After all, there is plenty of room around the Isle of Dogs and in the estuary around the Thames inlet. Weymouth will be receiving over £200 million pounds from various pots to bring it up to standard for the Olympics. If as Lord Coe says it “is not simply bricks and mortar” then once the sailing is finished I assume that all the new sailing clubs and the infra structure will be removed and the site returned to its former glory. I think not.
This is all posturing on he part of the various committees to say that we are doing what we can so that we can get the Olympics but we are not truly worried about living up to the charter or providing a lasting legacy for sports that we do not think are politically correct. All this despite the fact that in recent Olympic, commonwealth and world championships Team G.B would have looked remarkably silly without the efforts of our shooting teams. Teams which include the various other shooting disciplines that do not even get a mention such as pistol, rifle, small bore and air-pistol. By reporting upon just the clay shooting the other disciplines are once again marginalised. Divide and conquer.
So if you think £25million as of today (previous price £18million) for a shooting complex to built in the middle of London for less than two weeks and torn down and replaced with football pitches is good value, you will by the looks of it get your way.
For a full report follow the link to the BBC web site.
Weymouth & Portland 2012 Olympics

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