London Latest - Rogge Rejects Munich Moment of Silence; BMX Track Revamped

5/17/2012

IOC Rejects Moment of Silence for Munich 1972 Victims

Israel’s deputy foreign minister says the IOC’s refusal to hold a moment of silence for Munich 1972 victims in London is “unacceptable” and against the ideals of the Olympic Movement.

“The terrorist murders of the Israeli athletes were not just an attack on people because of their nationality and religion; it was an attack on the Olympic Games and the international community,” Danny Ayalon said in response to IOC president Jacques Rogge’s rejection letter.

“Thus it is necessary for the Olympic Games as a whole to commemorate this event in the open rather than only in a side event,” he added in a Thursday statement from the Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Ayalon wrote to Rogge earlier this year requesting the gesture on behalf of the widows of two of the 11 athletes and coaches slain by Palestinian terrorists 40 years ago.

"Please rest assured that, within the Olympic family, the memory of the victims of the terrible massacre in Munich in 1972 will never fade away," Rogge said in his reply, indicating that Olympic officials would attend the Israeli delegation's traditional tribute to the victims but would not open the Games with a minute a silence.

“This response is unacceptable as it rejects the central principles of global fraternity on which the Olympic ideal is supposed to rest,” said Ayalon.

According to the Israel Minister of Foreign Affairs, he will continue to lobby the IOC to reverse the decision.

ATOS Discusses IT Security

TOP sponsor ATOS' Olympics chief says the I.T. giant is prepared for “most of the known scenarios” posing a cyber threat to London 2012.

"We are prepared for most of the known scenarios and have a response for them all," Patrick Adiba, ATOS vice president for the Olympics, told the U.K.’s Computing magazine.

"If it's a new attack we have never encountered before, we'll react on the spot, but the priority is to protect the Games," he said.

Without mentioning specifics, he did list some of the big concerns at the Games.

"The biggest threats are losing accurate data and protecting and managing personal data from the event," said Abida.

"Fifty percent of the security threats are coming from social engineering, such as losing passwords or not having strong enough passwords. So half the issue is about retraining, re-education and making people aware of these problems."

Ahmadinejad: “Enemies” Hope for Iranian Olympic Failure

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran’s “enemies” are conspiring against the country at the Olympics.

"The enemies do not want our athletes to win medals, but our young people shall be present at the Olympic Games and, like Arash, give new reasons to take pride in Islamic Iran," he was quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

Iran has listed the United States and other western countries as its enemies.
 
Ahmadinejad added he that he hopes to go to the London Olympics, despite organizers’ reservations about his attendance.

"I would like to be beside the Iranian athletes at the Olympic Games in London to support them, but (the British) have issues with my presence," he was quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

Second Test for BMX Track

Top riders take no issue with changes made to the BMX track in Olympic Park.

“The first straight is now a lot more even, the new first corner is really good, and they’ve made the second straight a little bigger so that we come into the tunnel with a lot more speed now,” women’s world no. 1 Caroline Buchanan said Thursday in comments posted to LOCOG’s website.

“It’s nice to be riding the surface that we’re familiar with,” added Liam Phillips of Team GB.

Buchanan and Phillips were among the first to train at the revamped track since feedback from athletes and the International Cycling Union at last August’s test event prompted the tweaks.

Media Watch

The London Photographers Branch of the U.K.’s National Union of Journalists will devote their May meeting to a discussion about the Olympics.

Titled “Olympic Concerns: Preparing Photographers for London 2012”, the meeting is scheduled for May 25.

A post on the Branch website says the discussion will be about “what our members are likely to face over the coming months – from terror laws and the imminent Protection of Freedom law, to private security and military personnel – and how we can be best prepared as the capital braces for the Diamond Jubilee and the London 2012 Olympic Games.”

Written by Matthew Grayson and Ed Hula III.

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