London Latest - UK Sport Predicts 40 to 70 Medals; Pistorius Selected for Games

(ATR) The chief executive of UK Sport says that a top four finish in the medal table is "very realistic" for Team GB at London 2012.

Liz Nicholl was speaking to reporters at the announcement of the governing body’s medal targets for British athletes in each of the 26 Olympic sports this summer.

UK Sport is targeting a repeat of the top four finish it achieved at the Beijing 2008 Games, but the specific medal target was revealed to be "at least 48 from 12 sports" – so an increase on the 47 medals won four years ago.

"Our target is very realistic - in Beijing 11 sports won medals, here 20 sports are targeting medals in London," she said. "That shows how the performance system has stepped up in the last four years."

"Fourteen of those have a medal target at the bottom of their range. Thinking back to what we committed to in Beijing, top four, more medals across more sports... we are confident we can get more medals in more sports."

Nicholl maintained that the figure of 48 was not a specific target, but just to make the point that they were aiming for more medals than Beijing. The stated target is between 40-70 medals across the selected sports.

She added: "It’s more probable it will be towards the middle [of 40-70]. It is more important to focus on the individual target ranges - it would be inappropriate to pick a number from that."

No target was set for gold medals, even though UK Sport knows that the number of golds ultimately determines the final medal table

The high targets were in cycling and rowing where they are predicting six to ten and six medals respectively.

Olympics and sports minister Hugh Robertson told reporters at the news conference that the targets showed British high performance sport was "in a very good position indeed".

While he admitted that the buck stopped with him if performances were disappointing this summer, Robertson said that it wouldn’t be a failure if Team GB were not to finish in the top four.

"No it’s not a failure – it is possible we could win more medals than Beijing but less in golds," he said. "I think before you declare anything a success or failure you have to do some in-depth analysis and figure out what happened."

"The dividing line between success and failure is tiny. If we do not achieve that [top four] then we would want to understand that and why that’s gone wrong."

Nicholl similarly warned that the "system will have underperformed" if Team GB fell under the target and achieved only 40 medals.

The theme of realistic expectations was prevalent in the briefing - basketball, handball, synchronized swimming, table tennis, volleyball, water polo, weightlifting, and wrestling all have zero medal hopes for Team GB.

Pistorius Headed to London

Oscar Pistorius was delighted to learn today that will be the first double amputee runner at the Olympics when he competes for South Africa in both the individual 400m race and the 4x400m relay.

"Today is really one of the happiest days of my life!Will be in London 2012 for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games," he tweeted.

"Thank you to everyone that has made me the athlete I am! God, family and friends, my competitors and supporters! You have all had a hand!" he added.

After failing to get the qualifying time for the 400m race, South African Olympic chiefs today announced they had relaxed their rules to allow him to run in that race.

Dubbed 'Blade Runner' because of his prosthetic carbon fiber limbs, Pistorius will also take part in the Paralympic Games in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x100m relay.

Cavendish Eyes Gold; Tweddle Among Team GB Gymnasts

The British Olympic Association and British Cycling today named the five men’s road cyclists who will compete for Team GB in the road race on the first day of competition at London 2012.

Mark Cavendish is hotly tipped to be Britain's first gold medalist of the Games when he takes part in the road race on July 28. Also selected were Chris Froome, former drugs cheat David Millar, Ian Stannard and Bradley Wiggins.

"I’m happy to be a part of it, we’ve got a good chance to win the road race with Cav and it’s a LondonOlympics which makes it very special," Wiggins said. "I’ve also got a chance to go for my fourth gold medal in the time trial."

Millar returns to the Team GB fold after serving a two-year ban in 2004 for taking performance-enhancing drugs. His participation comes after the BOA was forced to lift its lifetime ban for drugs cheats after the World Anti-Doping Agency took it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in April claiming the rule was not compliant with its code. The CAS then ruled that the lifetime ban was invalid.

The 250km men’s road race starts and ends on The Mall, while the 44km men’s time trial starts and ends at Hampton Court Palace on Aug. 1.

Also Wednesday, the British Olympic Association named 18 gymnasts to compete across all three gymnastic disciplines at London 2012. Three-time world champion Beth Tweddle, Britain’s most successful ever gymnast, is the biggest medal hope.

She represented Team GB at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, where she narrowly missed out on a medal by finishing fourth in the asymmetric bars competition.

Torch Relay Update

British javelin thrower Goldie Sayers and sprinter Marlon Devonish were among the torchbearers Wednesday as the Olympic flame made its way from Peterborough to Norwich in east England.

The torch traveled 127.30 miles today.

Olympics Photography Exhibition

Westfield Stratford City has partnered with Getty Images in association with Panasonic to present an exhibition of Olympic Games imagery at the official shopping center of London 2012.

Showcasing memorable Games moments through award-winning photography, the 'Olympics Through The Ages' exhibition is housed at the Getty Image Gallery.

It opened this week and runs through the Olympic and Paralympic Games until Sept. 30.

Reported by Christian Radnedge and Mark Bisson

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