Andy Murray has vowed to focus on his own game and not get carried away by the Olympic hype in London, after admitting that his performance suffered in Beijing as a result of immersing himself in the Games experience.
After being announced at Wimbledon as the first British tennis player to secure a place at London 2012, Murray said that he was so desperate to be perceived as a team player in Beijing and so excited by the prospect of watching other sports that his performance suffered as a result.
In 2008 he crashed out in the first round in straight sets in the singles to the unheralded Yen-Hsun Lu and won only one match with his brother Jamie in the doubles.
"You need to be selfish and do your own thing and make sure you're prepared as best you can for your matches. Because I wasn't used to being around other sports, other athletes and stuff I was maybe not as focused as I will be this time, and that's because I will have learned from the last experience," Murray said.
"It was just being around other athletes, wanting to go and see other sports, almost wanting to help the team or be seen to be being a good team member. What being a good team member is is performing the best in your sport and making sure that you give yourself the best chance at winning a medal and that's what I'll do this time."
Murray, who has declared himself fit for Wimbledon and altered his training schedule after the tournament to prepare for the Olympics, said his disappointment in Beijing would serve him well in London.
"Having had that experience, I will learn from that and do things a little bit differently this time and hopefully that will contribute to a better performance because I was very disappointed when I finished so early in Beijing," he said.
"You go back to your room in the Olympic Village and there is a table of who has won and who has lost, and which medals have been won, and you feel like you haven't contributed. It was tough, and I didn't like it and I want to do better this time."
Although Murray stayed in the Olympic Village in Beijing and relished the experience, he said it was likely he would stay in his house at SW19 for as long as he remained in the London tournament.
Tennis, which returned to the Olympics in 1988 after a 64-year absence, has proved a controversial addition, with some questioning whether it deserved its place. But Murray said the attitudes of the top players had changed over the past 10 to 15 years and that winning a gold medal would equate to winning a grand slam tournament.
"If you look at the reaction of the players at the last Olympics - Djokovic won a bronze medal and he was in tears. You wouldn't be that happy if you lost in the semi-finals of Wimbledon," he said.
"It means a lot to the players when you're representing your country and it's definitely up there with the grand slams."
The world No4 said that he felt more pressure to succeed when playing doubles with his brother because of his desire to do well for him, but added that he would enjoy playing at home.
"It makes it much easier to play when you have friends and family around you because of the time you get to spend with them off the court," he said.
Murray is so far the only tennis player confirmed as part of Team GB and will also qualify to play with his brother Jamie in the doubles. Fellow British pair Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming are also hopeful of earning direct entry but may need a wildcard.
Team GB tennis team leader Paul Hutchins said he was hopeful that the fact the tournament was taking place on home soil would make the ITF sympathetic to its requests for wildcard places.
Hutchins is optimistic Britain will be represented in all five events – men's singles and doubles, women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles, which is included in the programme for the first time.
As the British No1 Anne Keothavong is in pole position for any wild cards awarded to Britain for the women's singles. Elena Baltacha, Heather Watson and Laura Robson are also contenders. Keothavong and Baltacha could compete in the singles, while Watson and Robson would play in the doubles.
ends
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
London Calling: Childline marks its 25th birthday in the capital with a celebration of one of Britain's great icons - Daily Mail
By Ian Garland
|
At first glance it looks like a great British icon has taken on a life of its own.
Dozens of old fashioned telephone boxes have appeared across London - but with a dramatic twist.
The traditional red kiosks have been accessorised, recoloured and transformed by artists in a project to celebrate children's charity ChildLine's 25th birthday.
The Artboxes were showcased in Trafalgar Square before being scattered at various locations around London
A giraffe nibbles on foliage in Benjamin Shine's creation London Distance. Right: A box on a box
Left: Ring Ring for Britain, created by fashion chain Accessorize. Right: Bert Gilbert's padded Cell Phone Box
There are 86 of the bedazzled boxes in total, each one adapted from its original state by artists including Sir Peter Blake, model Liy Cole and designers Giles Deacon, Zandra Rhodes, Philip Treacy and Julien Macdonald.
As well as marking the charity's birthday, the project is a celebration of the humble phonebox, which played an important role in ChildLine's conception.
Esther Rantzen, the charitys founder, explained: 'It's fantastic to meet some of the creative and outstandingly talented artists involved in the BT ArtBox project this evening.
'In ChildLine's early years the public telephone box played a crucial role in enabling abused and neglected children to ring ChildLine safely and reach the help they so desperately needed.'
Speaking at gala to launch Artbox in London last night, Mrs Rantzen added: ' I'm thrilled that beautifully decorated phoneboxes will play there part again today liberating desperate children, since the proceeds from the sale of the boxes will go to support the work of ChildLine, enabling us to help many more children and young people.'
The boxes have been scattered across the capital, where they will stay on display until July 16.
Shiny: Ted Baker created a bling box, left, while Harvey Nichols dreamed up a kiosk that 'celebrates the style and eccentric glamour of Knightsbridge
Artists Rob & Nick Carter's stained glass ArtBox is an illumintated spectrum of multicolours
Left: Lidia de Pedro and Fee Fee La Fou's spectacular circus-themed box. Right: The Cure - a 'Dark and brooding' creation from The Prodigy MC MM
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk
London 2012 Festival: Launch events around the UK - BBC News
Pop stars, fireworks and orchestral premieres have marked the launch of the London 2012 Festival.
Events kicked off in Derry, Northern Ireland, where Imelda May and Pixie Lott played the Peace One Day concert.
A spectacular display of pyrotechnics lit up the stormy skies above Windermere; and there were further events in Scotland and Wales.
The London 2012 Festival is a 12-week, nationwide programme of arts events running alongside the Olympics.
Organiser Ruth Mackenzie has billed the programme, which involves more than 25,000 artists, as "a once-in-a-lifetime cultural event".
In Scotland, the Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela performed in front of Stirling Castle.
The world-renowned musicians were joined by 450 children from the nearby estate of Raploch, formerly one of the most deprived areas in the UK.
The youngsters, some of whom were as young as six, received a standing ovation following their performance.
They have been learning orchestral instruments and playing music together in the Big Noise Orchestra since 2008, as part of a project led by charity Sistema Scotland.
Sistema's chairman, Richard Holloway, said: "This wee housing estate in Stirling has joined the ranks of the Royal Albert Hall, Usher Hall and Royal Festival Hall. Who could ever have predicted that?"
"This is beautiful," said conductor Gustav Dudamel. "How music has changed this community, with the commitment of the children, the passion that they have, the discipline.
"We are so proud to be here, so happy and so honoured. It's really something big."
The concert in Northern Ireland was part of a wider campaign for World Peace Day on 21 September.
Hosted by actor Jude Law, it was held at a former military barracks which has been transformed into a shared arts space.
Speaking before the show, Law said: "If you go back to the origins of the Olympics, it was always about truce as well and that's why it seems so apt that Peace One Day, as an organisation, is working alongside the 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
"For the two to combine, and for there to be a heart, and a good reason for people to celebrate is only a good thing. I'm all for that."
Pixie Lott, Newton Faulkner and an eight-month pregnant Imelda May were among the acts taking to the stage.
Meanwhile, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performed the UK premiere of Jonathan Harvey's choral work Weltethos, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 3.
In Carmarthen, Wales, artist Jeremy Deller's inflatable Stonehenge sculpture was unveiled. It will travel around the UK for the next 12 weeks.
Most of the outdoor events were hampered by rain and wind but audiences braved the elements, equipped with umbrellas and raincoats.
However, in Birmingham a free outdoor show involving a 50ft replica of a ship had to be called off because of the poor weather.
An extravagant display of fire, percussion and pyrotechnics at Windermere suffered some delays due to heavy rain but proved spectacular despite the stormy skies.
The Cumbrian night was illuminated by French street art company Les Commandos Percu whose show, Lakes Alive: On the Night Shift, coincided with the arrival of the Olympic Torch in the region.
"Historically, the Olympics was as much about the arts and poetry as it was about sport, so this is about bringing a flavour of that back," Jan Shorrock from arts company Lakes Alive told the BBC.
'Value for money'The London 2012 Festival involves artists from all 204 Olympic nations, and will spread to every corner of the UK.
Jeremy Deller's life-size Stonehenge bouncy castle is being unveiled in Wales before touring the UK
But the current economic climate means the 2012 festival's £55m price tag has attracted plenty of criticism. Ruth Mackenzie maintains it is "pretty good value for money".
"I assure you, for a 12-week festival over the entire United Kingdom, compared to the budget for just three weeks in Edinburgh or the two weeks in Manchester, frankly it's a pretty small investment," she said.
More than 130 events take place in the festival's opening weekend alone, including the Radio 1 Hackney Weekend, headlined by Jay-Z and Rihanna.
Around 100,000 people are expected at the free London gig, which takes place over Saturday and Sunday.
Other highlights include comedian and musician Tim Minchin performing at The Eden Project in Cornwall and an exhibition of Olympic and Paralympic posters at London's Tate Britain in London.
Scottish artist Martin Creed will mark the opening day of the Games on 27 July by encouraging people to ring a bell for three minutes from 8:12 am.
He said: "The sound of bells to herald a big event is what bells were made for which is why I thought it would be good for the Games."
'Uniting the country'Yorkshire poet Ian McMillan and composer Tim Sutton have written Cycle Song, a brand new opera celebrating Scunthorpe's rich cycling history.
Next month's show will feature a community cast of 1,700 performing alongside professional opera singers and aerial artists.
McMillan admits he is gripped by Olympic fever and even has tickets for the basketball and hockey, but he says it is hard for people around the UK not to write the event off as a "London thing".
"We know it is a London thing but I think the whole country's involved in the cultural bit of it and that should be the excitement," said McMillan.
"But isn't it a shame that they call it the London 2012 Festival?" he added.
"Surely it would be better to call it the 2012 Festival? We don't need the word London, we know where it is!"
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment