By Mike RowbottomThe impending World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia will draw together the very finest of oarsmen and oarswomen. But it is hard to think that any will have as compelling a motivation as Britain's debutant in the adaptive TA mixed double scull - Captain Nick Beighton of the Royal Engineers.On October 5, 2009, Beighton lost both legs, and very nearly his life, when he stepped on an explosive device while serving in Afghanistan's notorious Helmand Province. So now that he finds himself - in tandem with Samantha Scowen - challenging for world, and, he hopes, Paralympic honours in...

he get from that dark place to the sunny bank of the Redgrave and Pinsent Rowing Lake as part of the GB

team for the 2011 World Rowing Championships?

I thought it a bit presumptuous to think I might try and get into the GB squad despite never having rowed

Some could call it fate, but the team had been looking for someone to fill that slot in the boat with

By Tom DegunJuly 25 - Team GB diving team manager Tina Lander has been praised for helping to save the

and a large open wound on his leg.Mitch Geller, chief technical officer for Diving Canada, said: "The team

Geyson finished eighth in the 10-metre platform synchro in Shanghai with partner Eric Sehn.The team missed

By Mike RowbottomJuly 25 - Britain's judo players are warming up for next month's World Championships in encouraging style as they claimed nine medals at the hugely competitive German European Cup in Hamburg.

The 15-strong GB team earned four gold medals, three silver, two bronze, one fifth-place and four seventh-place

The team is on a very positive pathway for Paris."

intermittent rain had given way to sunshine at the Redgrave and Pinsent Rowing Lake, and the entire GB

Rowing Team for this year's World Championships in Bled, Slovenia. were assembled at their HQ at Caversham

media member chancing their arm, was good humouredly but swiftly uninstalled by Caroline Searle, the GB

Rowing press officer.As the World Championships loom on the horizon, GB Rowing appear a happy crew -

press conference, this team has a greater breadth of quality - across men's and women's heavyweights

By Duncan MackayJuly 22 - A set of 10 stamps marking the one-year countdown to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been unveiled by Royal Mail.

representing the largest Royal Mail commission since the Millennium series in 1999 and 2000.Jeanette Kwakye, a Team

GB 100-metre sprinter, said they were "beautifully designed"."

the Project Sochi tracker board is starting to fill up.It was a pleasure to speak at the launch of Team

GB House last Tuesday.

GB and Paralympics GB.So how does Mission 2012 actually work?

helps sport drill down into to the components which may hold the key to performance breakthroughs.Our team

results of the Mission 2012 process alongside UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl, David Faulkner of GB

By Duncan MackayJuly 21 - Britain's former Olympic 100 metres champion Linford Christie's hopes of playing a major role in the build-up to London 2012 have been dealt another blow after he was today banned from driving for 15 months and fined £5,000 ($8,000) after being found guilty of careless driving.

European Under-23 champion Toby Sandeman.But Christie is already banned from any official involvement with Team

GB because he is a convicted drugs cheat as a result of testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid

By Emily GoddardJuly 21 - Team 2012 Ltd and its presenting partner Visa Europe have ended a deal that

A statement from Team 2012 today said: "The Team 2012 joint venture, including Visa as its presenting

British newspapers - The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times - lose their title of "Official Newspaper of Team

All parties in the joint venture remain totally committed to Team 2012 and are working to make sure that

for Team GB and Paralympics GB at London 2012," the statement continued."

To help drive national support for Team 2012 we are now exploring media partnerships across a range of

By Duncan MackayJuly 20 - A deal giving News International the right to exclusive access to Britain's top athletes preparing for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is under review because the firm is at the centre of the phone-hacking scandal that has shaken Britain.

News International and Team 2012 Ltd and its presenting partner Visa Europe announced an agreement

of the World, The Times and The Sunday Times to carry the title of "Official Newspaper of Team

September between National Lottery provider UK Sport, the British Olympic Association, Paralympics GB

 Over the next year News International is due undertake a multi-channel campaign featuring Team

Visa the best chance of achieving success by competing for Team GB and Paralympics GB at London

By Mike Rowbottom at CavershamJuly 19 - Sam Scowen and her new partner in the double scull, Army Captain Nick Beighton (pictured), will hope to establish themselves as Paralympic contenders by achieving a podium finish at next month's World Championships in Bled, Slovenia.

Speaking at the GB Team announcement here, Scowen, who finished fifth in the adaptive TA mixed double

The GB Rowing Team, sponsored by Siemens, once more takes a strong contingent of adaptive rowers to Bled

featuring Dave Smith, who has come back from major neck surgery to win a place in the boat.To read the full team

By Tom DegunJuly 19 - The British Olympic Association (BOA) have announced a 64-strong team to represent

Team GB at the 11th European Youth Olympic Festival (EYOF) in Trabzon, Turkey, which is due to start

GB Chef de Mission Craig Hunter."

Many Team GB Olympians have already graduated from the EYOF to succeed at the Olympic Games."

Team GB has finished in the top three in the medal table at the past three editions of the EYOF and I

GB at an Olympic Games," he said."

At the last EYOF in 2009 in Tampere, Finland, Team GB placed third in the medal table wining 10 gold,

By Mike Rowbottom at CavershamJuly 19 - Peter Reed admitted to insidethegames today that he and his partner in the men's pair, Andy Triggs-Hodge (pictured), have "a mountain to climb" if they are to overhaul their all-conquering New Zealand opponents at World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia, from August 28 until September 4.

Speaking at the announcement of the GB Rowing Team, sponsored by Siemens, Reed acknowledged that the

double as the main Olympic and Paralympic qualifying regatta, appear bright.David Tanner (pictured), GB

Rowing's team performance director, described the squad at the team press conference as having the greatest

But clearly we are absolutely on a trajectory to produce the GB rowing team's best ever Olympic results

silver medallist, is under consideration to join the quad scull which won World gold last year.The GB

By Tom DegunJuly 19 - Keri-Anne Payne has become the first British athlete to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games next year as she today claimed victory in the women's 10 kilometre open water event at the FINA World Aquatics Championships in Shanghai.

To be on that Olympic team at a home Olympics is going to be absolutely amazing."

GB Chef de Mission at the Olympics next year."

GB," said Hunt, who is in Shanghai watching the action."

place for London 2012 comes in an event which brought us so much success at the last Olympics, where Team

In terms of Team GB Olympic qualification, that's one down, around 549 to go."

By Tom DegunJuly 17 – Britain's star Danielle Brown underlined her status as favourite for victory at London 2012 as she claimed a gold and two silver medals at the 2011 World Paralympic Archery Championships in Turin.

on the final day of the event followed her silver medal successes earlier in the week in the mixed team

final and the women's compound team final.Brown's feat of claiming a gold and two silvers was matched

by John Stubbs secured victory on the final day of the event when he won the compound men's team event

superb performance from Britain as they claimed a total two gold medals and three silvers and Archery GB

I'm so proud of all our archers, it's been a great team effort, and there were some emotional moments

By Mike RowbottomJuly 16 - Britain's hugely promising men's pair of Constantine Louloudis and George Nash are among a record entry for the World Rowing Under 23 Championships at Amsterdam's Bosbaan venue from July 20-24.

Championships, with Germany, which finished top of the table last year with 12 medals, supplying the largest team

were in the British four which took silver.Louloudis, 19, and Nash, 21 finished fourth in this year's GB