Two 2012 Olympic Venues Take Shape

The Telegraph: During the London 2012 Games, the Aquatics Centre will be the venue for Swimming, Paralympic Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming and the aquatic discipline of the Modern Pentathlon.

After the Games the centre - designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Zaha Hadid - will become a facility for the local community, clubs and schools, as well as elite swimmers.

Meanwhile the distinctive white basketball arena, which at 35 meters high is one of the largest temporary venues used for an Olympics, will be dismantled after the Games.

Officials Set Twitter Rules for 2012 Olympics

BBC: Athletes at the London Olympics will be allowed to blog and post on Twitter but could be thrown out if their musings breach guidelines. Competitors may write only "first-person, diary-type" entries but should not act as reporters, International Olympic Committee (IOC) guidelines say.

All social media activity must respect the Olympic Charter, which bans political demonstrations. Postings deemed to be for commercial purposes will not be permitted. The guidelines, which were highlighted by the Australian Olympic Committee on Monday after initially being published on the IOC website, explain that the IOC "actively encourages and supports athletes... to take part in 'social media' and to post, blog and tweet their experiences".

But the IOC cautioned that the accreditations of "any organisation or person... may be withdrawn without notice" if its guidelines are breached. Athletes will be able to upload still photographs taken at venues - a practice which was mostly banned in Beijing in 2008 - but will not be allowed to sell or distribute them for other purposes.

The broadcast of video and audio taken inside Olympic venues will be banned but athletes may post videos taken elsewhere. Athletes will not be able to use the official Olympics symbol, and any reference to the word "Olympic" must be factual and "not associated with any third party or any third party's products or services".

Internet domain names and URLs including the word "Olympic" or "Olympics" will not be allowed either, unless approved by the IOC.

The perils of Twitter postings made headlines in June when there was a very public disagreement between triple-jump world champion Phillips Idowu and the head of UK Athletics, Charles van Commenee.

Idowu angered Van Commenee by using the micro-blogging site to reveal he was pulling out of the European Team Championships. Van Commenee responded by saying that "these things are done personally, there are certain channels you have to follow".

London 2012 Olympic Torch Design Revealed

MediaBistro: We know you’ve all been chomping at the bit to see photos of the 2012 Olympic torch after we told you back in March that design super group Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby had won the commission to create it.

Well, as the old saying goes around here at UnBeige HQ: Ask and you shall receive…but only after at least five months have passed. Late last week, the mouthful of an organization, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, released images of and information on the first prototype of the torch.

Looking something like a solid gold mesh tank top for an emaciated, long torso’ed and limbless athlete, it features 8,000 circles, which apparently offers “a lasting representation of the Torchbearer stories of personal achievement or contribution to their local community that will be showcased with every step of the Relay.” Said relay will begin next May and if you want a shot at carrying it, or know someone who is good at holding things and running, here’s where you can nominate yourself or others.

And here’s footage from its unveiling: