Olympic Newsdesk - Hotel Revenge Averted in London; 2012 Fencing World Champs

FIFA Ban from Dorchester Short-Lived

FIFA chiefs will be able to stay in London during the 2012 Olympics, despite initial reports that London London mayor Boris Johnson wanted the football chiefs barred from the Park Lane hotel.

"Despite what has been said, the Dorchester Hotel business is really a matter for LOCOG and I'm sure they'll make their decision on the best possible basis," said Johnson, backtracking on his intended revenge against FIFA for rejecting the English bid for the 2018 World Cup.

"Losing the vote in Zurich was bitterly disappointing but as they say, 'Them's the breaks' and you have just got to get on with it."

A statement from LOCOG said "FIFA has requested rooms in the Dorchester Hotels for the Games along with others groups. We are currently working out room allocations and availability. All rooms are paid for by the occupants, not by the organising committee."

Fencing Champs Bound for Ukraine

The 2012 World Fencing Championship will be staged in Kiev, Ukraine.

The decision came at the International Fencing Federation’s annual congress held over the weekend in Moscow.

All but four voting member federations favored Kiev, the only city in the running.

"Kiev as a bidding candidate got the undoubted support of the world fencing community as 96 out of 100 world federations voted in favor," the Ukrainian Olympic Committee said in a statement.

Hosting rights to such international events would take on new meaning should the UOC decide to launch a bid for the 2022 Winter Games.

Sochi Unveils Coins

Sochi 2014 partner Sberbank of Russia will release a series of Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic collectible gold and silver coins.

Thirteen gold coins, 21 silver coins and 3 non-ferrous metals will be included in the series. The coins will feature "Olympic Sports", "MassSports", "Olympic Venues", "Cultural Heritage" and "The uniqueness of the Sochi Region".

"The launch of the coin program always has special significance in the preparation for the Olympic Games," Sochi 2014 President Dmitry Chernyshenko said in a press release.

"These coins are particularly special as their manufacture will use innovative technologies to create them, which once again underlines our commitment to creating the most innovative Games in history."

PyeongChang Bus to Slopes

Gangwon Province and the Visit Korea Committee launched a free shuttle bus visitors traveling to PyeongChang to get to the city’s winter sports sites.

The shuttle will connect Seoul with the Alpensia Resort and Gangneung, two venue clusters for PyeongChang’s Winter Games Plan.

Busses started running Dec. 5, and will operate for three months each winter season. Visitors can find more information and can make reservations for the shuttle service by going to the Visit Korea Year website: http://english.visitkoreayear.com.

Kyung-Hwa Hahn, Visit Korea marketing director said: "The new shuttle service to Gangwon Province will help the ever increasing number of tourists visiting the region enjoy the winter sports facilities and the great new hospitality and entertainment options."

Sydney Olympic Venue Catches Fire

A warm-up venue for Sydney 2000 was briefly ablaze Monday.

About 100 people evacuated the Olympic Park Athletic Center in west Sydney after a basement air-conditioning unit caught fire, the Herald Sun reported.

Authorities said the fire was quickly extinguished and no one was hurt.

The dual-track complex was the main athletics training site during the Games and has since hosted the Sydney Marathon as well as Australia’s national championships and junior championships.

Written by Matthew Grayson.