London 2012 Olympics diary: WW1 verterans to be honoured by BOA

Noel Godfrey was one of only three people to be awarded the Victoria Cross twice for bravery and devotion to duty

Olympic athletes who gave their lives during World War I will be honoured at the Armistice Remembrance Day Ceremony in Yprés, Belgium.

British Olympic Association Chairman Colin Moynihan will lead a delegation of British Olympic medallists and officials at the Menin Gate at 11:00 am on the 11th of November and will be joined by IOC president Jacques Rogge.

The Last Post Association says,there are three British Olympians in the Yprés Salient: Captain (Doctor) Noel  Godfrey  Chavasse VC and Bar,  who was a 400m runner at the 1908 London Olympics;  Lt G.R.L. ‘Twiggy’ Anderson a hurdles finalist at the Stockholm Olympics in 1912 and world record holder and Gunner George Albert (GA) Hawkins a 200m finalist at the 1908 London Olympic Games.

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How fortunate that the Team GB football teams had their fixtures announced months ahead of any other team.

With more than 1.5 million football tickets to shift, London Olympic Games organisers are now able to market – and sell – a wad of Games football tickets as ideal Christmas presents.

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A big pre-opening ceremony Olympic Games rock concert is being mooted to put the capital in a festive mood but the planning has put a couple of Olympic sponsors offside.

While Coca Cola has the celebrated DJ Mark Ronson involved to produce a worldwide advertisement including the sounds athletes make, it appears Locog wants one massive rock event, rather than separate sponsor activations.

But we are hearing there are  problems securing an adequate venue.

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With the Olympic torch relay route confirmed this week, the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport Jeremy Hunt has started his own nationwide tour to promote the tourism benefits of the Olympics.

Unlike the torch Hunt won't quite reach 95 per cent of the country but his 13 city visits  will launch 20.12 per cent discounts for domestic tourism on the back of the

Olympics.

This scheme is funded from nearly £3 million of the £9.3 billion  Olympic budget.

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More than 4,000 semi-mature trees, including Willow, Poplar and Alder have been planted at the Olympic Park.

The greening of the Park is now completed with more than 10 football fields’ worth of nectar-rich annual and perennial meadows ready to flower during the  Olympic Games.

Designers have built more than 3,300 seats into the park so people are never more than 50m walk from a seat.

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One of the Olympic sponsors, Coca Cola, is planning to create 80 million new Coke bottles within six weeks of the closing ceremony of the Games using about a fifth of the total waste from the  Games.

The company says all of the clear PET plastic will be recycled and will help Locog's target to send zero waste to landfill. A new recycling facility with Eco Plastics in North Lincolnshire will double the current recycled  plastic from 35,000 tonnes to more than 75,000 tonnes.