29th November 2013
Beirut, Lebanon
French diplomat Jules Cambon saw the dangers of diplomatic openness in 1931, complaining that ‘the activities of the press, and ignorance of a public that insists on being told everything, do not create an atmosphere favourable to prosecution of political designs’. He was right, long before Assange and Snowden, that the media would sweep away […]
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9th November 2012
Beirut, Lebanon
This weekend, Beirut will come together for the marathon. There is no more striking example of unity, common purpose and the best of the Lebanese spirit. The road is a great leveller – it does not ask your confessional group or political allegiance. A small group of Ambassadors always join in, slowly. This year, they […]
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5th July 2012
Athens, Greece
London 2012 has been a major FCO priority this year, for British Embassy Athens especially. For 6th century BC city-state diplomats the Olympics was but one of four ancient Greek sporting contests to organise. Mythology suggests the Nemean games were founded by Herakles, having completed the first of his labours – wrestling the Nemean Lion. […]
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27th June 2012
Washington DC, USA
I was fifteen years old when I watched Edwin Moses become an Olympic champion in the 400 metres hurdles, breaking both the Olympic and world records with a time of 47.63 seconds. After those 1976 Montreal Olympics, I followed his progress from afar as he re-wrote the record books in a fashion that no-one would […]
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23rd May 2012
Athens, Greece
The Olympic Flame is in UK hands! On 17 May at the imposing restored marble Panathenaic Stadium, symbolically the venue for the first modern Olympic Games, the Olympic Torch completed its journey around Greece following the Lighting Ceremony at Ancient Olympic and was handed over to The Princess Royal. For me these events were emotional […]
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17th May 2012
Athens, Greece
Yesterday HRH The Princess Royal arrived in Athens to attend the Olympic Flame Handover Ceremony, which takes place in just a few hours at the Kallimarmaro Stadium. Early evening yesterday, accompanied by British Ambassador David Landsman, Minister for Sport and the Olympics, Hugh Robertson, and Mayor of London Boris Johnson, Princess Anne arrived at the […]
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11th May 2012
Athens, Greece
Yesterday, hundreds of spectators gathered at the birthplace of the Olympics in Ancient Olympia to witness the lighting of the Olympic Flame in an hour long traditional ceremony. Four of us from the media team in the Embassy were excited to have the opportunity to go to Olympia to support the UK delegation, made up […]
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19th April 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Justin Bedford, Deputy Head of Mission: The spectacle of the Olympic and Paralympic Games gives us a reminder of what sporting excellence should be all about: top-class competition, set within a spirit of friendship. This summer, just 100 days from today, the 2012 Olympic Games will open in London. The last time London hosted the […]
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21st March 2012
Bucharest, Romania
Eduárd Novák (36 yrs old) , cyclist from the Tusnad Cycling Team, Miercuri Ciuc, Romania has become world champion for the third time, after he took gold in the 4 km pursuit race at the veladrome, at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Los Angeles. Eduárd succeeded in defeating the Czech rider Jiri Jezek, the […]
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14th February 2012
This post was published when the author was in a previous role
Last week the embassy hosted a reception to celebrate the fact that the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics Games this summer in London will be the greenest and most sustainable ever. I was pleased to welcome not only the President of the Ukrainian Paralympics Committee Valeriy Sushkevych, the General Secretary of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee Volodymyr […]
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