Looks like we are going to be bailed out with medals by all the posh boys and girls in the sailing, rowing and equestrian events.

Empty seats in swathes on Day 1.

I know a lad who applied for almost £1000 worth of tickets and got none. They even said at the swimming yesterday that families of the swimmers had to apply for tickets and many missed out.

On the news it said that many tickets were given to sponsors and none turned up to the gymnastics!

Best track cycling team in the world!

Don't mind the Olympics, per se, but, I just can't stand all this Heat 7 of round 2 business.
Average athletes getting their egos massaged (and having a "contract" worth about 6 figures, from lottery funding), but only having an outside chance of making a semi final (at best).
You can guarantee, the majority of the 100m competitors in this years Olympics, have never broken 10 seconds. The current world record is sub 9.6. That gap is a lifetime in a sprint. I've no problem with Bolt, Gay, Gatlin etc, just the jokers who'll finish about 8 meters behind, yet be funded for little achievement.

Have to say I agree.

The "Twitter" generation has also given these also rans a chance for self publicity. Of course not everybody can be a great but back in the day there were earnest British athletes that struggled by on little funding, with little fanfare with their ambition being that they could compete at an Olympics and share a field with the greats of the day and try and get a PB.

These days they do all that but enjoy endorsements, contracts, low level celebrity status and babble on to their followers constantly on Twitter whilst the reality is they will get their asses kicked.

It's also why I have respect for Andy Murray, people like to have a go at him but he is at least somebody who is in the top 4 of his sport and the only ones better than him are three all time greats, and he never seems to try and cultivate his celebrity, its his disinterest to interacting with the media and his fans that gets him criticism.

I can concur, Sally.

Allthough I've no real interest in tennis, I can see that Murray is AMONGST his peers, but not quite to the level of Federer, Nadal and Novakwhatisface, there is a chance, on his day, Murray MAY beat them, when it REALLY matters.

It just p15535 me off, when the likes of Mark Lewis Francis, Darren Cambell etc, have been taking home 6 figure "salaries" from lottery fundings, when I've got more chance of having a 5h1t3 in the Queen's handbag, than these two "achievers" have of winning 100M gold.

I get even more p1553d off, when MLF (as he likes to call himself) wins a medal at European level (when the Yanks, Jamaicans etc aren't there) and think's he's the dog's , and gives it "the big I AM" to anyone who'll interview him. STOP. You're no-where near good enough. Stop being a sponger, and get yourself a job.

So, if you're not the best, you shouldn't compete?

Why doesn't this rule apply to all sports?

Not so much the best, but if you've not got a good chance of a final postion, then you shouldn't be allowed to compete.
It pi5535 me off when you get some bloke, who's legs are going at 100mph, but getting nowhere (like in a Hanna-Barbera cartoon) and getting a time of 10.46 seconds for the 100M. What's he doing at a tournament that honours excellence. If he's not good enough, stick to the level he can be competative at.

If the average people didn't have a chance to compete, then Man City would have never been able to reach the heights they have. Teams and individuals can improve and it's only competing against the best that teaches them how it's done.,

Average people......Abu Dhabi United Group have sunk at least £1billion into City since 2008.

Just imagine where we'd be if we were never allowed in Super League for the majority of its existence because we didn't compete with the likes of Saints, Leeds and Bradford?

Likewise, why do we bother with competitions like the Challenge Cup and the FA Cup in football if it's only about the teams that will win it?

Went to the fencing last night...............got rid of an iphone and a DVD player



Actually it was a fantastic session, really enjoyed it. No empty seats and very well organised.

I agree with you but I would not put Darren Campbell in that category. He came over as quite realistic about his abilities and he did win a silver medal in the 200m at Sydney (where the gold was won by a Greek guy that later got banned for drugs...) and a gold medal in the 4 x 100m relay in Athens, so he got a good return from his ability.

With MLF he ran a sub 10 second time while he was still a teenager and he was hyped up as the fastest junior in the world so people thought he would go on to be a great...he got made into a celebrity before he had achieved anything at senior level. Although in fairness he does have a relay gold as well in that same team as Campbell.

I can't understand why everyone is crazy about winning gold / silver / bronze. We need to get rid of all this winning stuff and medals, and go back to just 'taking part' for the fun of it.

All this competitive nonsense has destroyed sport.

As this is post number 2012 for me on RL Fans, thought I'd use it to say what a great spectacle the opening ceremony was. It's not often I feel proud to be British, but this was one of those rare occasions celebrating the music and people that put the 'Great' into Great Britain.

Only managed to get some football tickets so have been watching most of it on the TV so far, and despite the lack of medals for the host nation it has been a great festival of sport so far. Hopefully it will inspire a generation of kids to pursue more active lifestyles.

To all the moaners: there's more to life than rugby league.

What about the destruction of green land, the economic burden and the forced relocation of poor families in an extremely poor area of east London?

Just playing devil's advocate.

Well if everyone else took the same drugs as Gatlin they'd probably finish a bit closer.

Been brilliant today, Wiggins is an absolute champion in every sense of the word.

Not much chance of any decent odds from the bookies for the Sports Personality of the Year then, if any bets taken at all.

I just saw on Twitter that SkyBet are offering 1/6 on him, so no decent odds at all. They may as well give him the award now!

Correct and totally well deserved. The only way he will 'lose it' is if they find a banned jet pack in his 'sidies'

i really enjoyed the opening ceremony, especially how it told the history of Great Britain. My favourite bit was the parade with all the different countries we've conquered.

At least Wiggins has a 'personality' too, the bloke is top class full stop.

Peerless, a proud day for the town in Belgium where he was born.*

*that's a joke before anyone's head explodes, although he was born in Belgium.