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Today's Lancet brings fascinating and encouraging news that gene therapy has been successfully used to calm the over-excited brain cells of Parkinson's sufferers. There's an audio report here. If gene therapy can deliver calm control over a person's movements, one wonders how long it will be before shooters start to look into the technology's potential for performance enhancement.
From Geneva today, comes news that the UCI has asked all professional cyclists to sign a letter whereby they will agree to give DNA samples, forfeit a year's salary if they are caught doping and state that they have never doped before. While the UCI cannot enforce signature, it hopes to pressure those who do not sign into not starting this year's Tour de France (due to begin in London on July 7).
The DNA samples are undoubtedly being asked for in order to help identify the remaining clients of Dr. Eufamio Fuentes's Operacion Puerto. There are believed to have been over 200 athletes who took advantage of the the good Dr.'s blood doping and illicit prescriptions. But far fewer than that have been named to date. DNA samples are the only way to categorically match the bags of blood at the center of the operation with individuals.
It's doubtful all the necessary work can be done before the Tour, so this is the second year that le grand boucle will have to run beneath this particular cloud. The slate has yet to be cleaned and there is an excellent chance of any eventual winner being tainted. News of last year's winner Floyd Landis and the verdict on his doping case will also drop prior to the tour. And with the number of journalists now looking into Lance Armstrong's exploits, it is only a matter of time before the rumors and allegations are proven either way. Cycling's fresh start will require a lot more blood, sweat and tears.
Armstrong commented on the allegations from a golf tournament being run in aid of his charitable work. His approach to shortcuts on the golf course may be the most telling sign yet of how we won those Tours at record speed: "I'm a big believer in mulligans. I'll use as many as they give me."
In Britain, the rights of private land owners have long been balanced with those of the recreational public and a new initiative now seeks to ensure that last step of the coastline is made accessible. The right to roam became a hot political topic following the death of Labour party leader John Smith in 1994. He had been an avid hiker. Ensuring wider public access to Britain's land was quickly seen as a chance to provide him with a durable legacy and has been well received.
The new move will be popular too: 94% of Britons want access to the coastline of their island, with 30% of 2,500 miles being in private hands. The plan is to create a ten yard / meter corridor all along the coast, with provisions for waymarking, moving the corridor in case of erosion, etc. With walking generally agreed upon as something we all could stand to do a whole lot more of, let's hope the British plan inspires others.
Rafael Nadal's victory in the French Open earlier this week prompted a spate of fresh media exposure for the Spaniard's improbable physique. The photo below, for example, cropped up in The Guardian's weekly selection (worth a few thousand words, at least). Perhaps he's been on the Synthol, to intimidate opponents?
It's been a while since the ITF pulled any of its players up on a doping offense. Surely, there must no longer be a problem in the sport, then. In 2006, Nadal was tested just once "out of competition". But that test, on August 6, was actually on the eve of another tennis tournament the Rogers Cup, when Nadal was hardly likely to have been looking to bulk up that left cannon of his in the weight room.
Using language more commonly associated with the defense of a politician embroiled in a scandal, British Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell was forced into a show of public support for London's new Olympic logo today, claiming it will definitely not be replaced. 68% of Londoners say they hate it. 50,000 signed an online petition calling for it to be scrapped.
The Mayor, Ken Livingstone, ever one to jump a popular bandwagon, maintains his claim that the designers should not be paid their £ 400,000 fee. It does seem reasonable to wonder how that fee did not include the focus group work that would have brought to light the blindingly obvious.
Update: Seemed that London Olympics logo was a bit too good at jumping off the page. A movie clip based on the logo has had to be pulled after eight people suffered epileptic fits while watching it. News report.
A new logo was unveiled for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games today. Most people seeem to think it looks just horrible. Let's compare it with those that have gone before. London 1908 didn't have a logo, but the last London Games did:
More recent logos have sought to maintain that bold yet simple link with the host city. The running man Chinese script character in Beijing's logo is a typical example:
Clearly a new departure, then. But resistance to change is not the only apparent source of dismay at the new design.
It's really not hard to see why many dislike London's new logo. The graphical link to London itself is not clear. It works much better in dynamic form than standing still. The logo does away with the tradition of incorporating the colors of the Olympic rings, too, and so might be said to dilute the Olympic brand itself. It's also too easy to knock the launch, with an lack of opportunities for easy interaction: there's nothing to download and play with. Nothing to share. No screensaver for my mobile phone. Just a bunch of brand protection small print. Even London 2012's online press release had no logo link.
So the logo itself is resolutely, perhaps defiantly modern. To this extent it is reminiscent of the atonal, dissonant screeching and clanging that passes for that wonderful contradiction, modern classical music. That's useful: the modern Olympic Games have not been modern for a really long time. As an ethereal and temporary event, the Olympic Games seem to have a more tangible past than future. But modernisation will only work if it directly helps youth reconnect with traditional sport, while making adults more active. That's the goal. To meet it, London's real challenge with the Olympic brand is not updating classical but recreating pop.
