PR Company Fast Track has been appointed by sprinter Oscar Pistorius, buy nicknamed the Blade Runner, after a week that saw him become the first amputee sprinter in the history of the Olympics to qualify for the Games.

Chime Communications-owned Fast Track will handle all international media activity and will be Pistorius’ official spokesperson.

24-year-old South African Pistorius said: “Fast Track has a detailed understanding of elite disability sport and the agency is very well connected in Olympic and Paralympic sport. I am delighted to announce I will be working with them.”

Pistorius runs with carbon fibre prosthetic blades after both his lower legs were amputated at 11 months old.

Pistorius has had a long battle with the IAAF, world athletics’ governing body, over the use of his blades, but a Court of Arbitration ruling in 2008 cleared him to compete in competitions for able-bodied athletes.

Fast Track head of communications Steve Chisholm commented: “Oscar Pistorius is an inspirational athlete and will be one of the faces of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Fast Track has a great history with Oscar and we are thrilled to be working with him to publicise his outstanding achievements.”

Japan’s state broadcaster, NHK, has said it will not be showing the next sumo tournament live following a recent betting scandal which has engulfed the sport.

It will be the first time NHK has not shown a tournament live in more than 50 years, but after viewer complaints over the scandal, the broadcaster will now only air a daily review of the tournament.

NHK conducted a survey with viewers which found 68 per cent of 11,100 of those asked did not want the tournament to be broadcast.

NHK chairman, Shiego Fukuchi, said: “The comments from our viewers have been more sever than ever. The sumo association must take the situation as a once-in-a-century crisis, and we hope it will take measures to improve its governance.”

The decision comes just days after the Japanese Sumo Association dismissed top wrestler Kotomitsuki and his coach after they admitted being involved in illegal betting on baseball –  an alleged source of funding for Japan’s ‘yakuza’ gangsters.

Five sponsors have already pulled out of the Nagoya tournament, which is one of six main annual tournaments in Japan.

 

The annual Sports Podge lunch took place at the Institute of Directors last week and as always with the lunch the sports theme played a big part in proceedings. Having had boxing, anabolics horseracing, football, world records and rugby in previous year’s this year was themed around the Commonwealth Games.

The 250 invite-only guests were on 25 tables, each representing a country with its own flag and dialects etc, the move half way through the lunch when 125 guests changed tables took the form of a diplomatic exchange between countries. All very tongue in cheek but beautifully designed and as with all podge lunches having its own website www.sportspodge.co.uk.

50% of the guests are rotated every year to keep the lunch fresh and this year’s guest list is live on www.sportspodge.co.uk/2014/athletes/and as always it was a mix of people from athletics, football, rugby, cricket, clubs, charities, bodies, sponsors etc etc.

Bill Sweeney, the CEO of British Olympic Association and attended this years event, said: “I always enjoy Sportspodge days, one of the benefits of returning to London is to be able to attend on a more regular basis. It’s a highly knowledgeable attendee group and the atmosphere is relaxed, convivial, being highly informative and productive.”

Founder and organiser Phil Jones was really pleased with the way this year’s lunch went and is now planning the theme for the 10^th anniversary lunch in 2015 and briefing in designers and digital teams to bring it all to life.

Phil is also working on music podge which will make its debut at the Café Royal in September this year.

More Pictures Below:

Edwin Moses enjoying Sports Podge 2014

Liverpool CEO Ian Ayre with ex Liverpool centre half Mark Wright at Sports Podge 2014

Baroness Tanni Grey Thompson chatting with Matt Jones of Benchmark Sport

John Lewis have accounted their improved profit margin to their sponsorship of the London 2012 Games.

John Lewis Partnership, which includes the John Lewis department stores and Waitrose supermarket chain, today (13 September) reported pre-tax profits of £144.5m, up 60% on the year, in the six months to 28 July. 

Revenues were up 8.6% to £3.9bn.

John Lewis claimed its role as the official department store of the London Olympics had “a positive impact in the run-up to the Games”, as did customers hitting its stores during the Diamond Jubilee.

The company statement said: “Product innovation, brand partnership with suppliers such as Apple, and our continued commitment to being ‘Never knowingly undersold’, contributed to our market share gains.”

John Lewis returns to TV this weekend with its latest emotional epic TV campaign, created by Adam & Eve/DDB.

The partnership also flagged up its digital arm, johnlewis.com, which boasted a strong half year, with sales up by 40%. Online sales now account for 24% of total John Lewis sales.

Its Click & Collect service, the company said, had grown by 114%.

Operating profits at Waitrose were up 28.9% to £142m in the period, while revenues were up 6.6% to £2.6bn.

The retailer maintained that a “tight focus on efficiency and managing costs” at Waitrose meant it was able to extend its Brand Price Match pledge.

Waitrose also revealed that 2012 marked its highest rate of product innovations to date, with 2,700 new and improved products launched in the first half of the year and 2,200 planned in the second.

The Portland Trail Blazers have continued to look to boost ticket sales after last season’s “Deal of the Week” promotion soared more than 210 percent following a revamped Twitter, clinic Facebook and email campaign powered by global interactive marketing provider ExactTarget.

Using ExactTarget’s Interactive Marketing Hub and its SocialEngage and Email applications, anesthetist the Trail Blazers centralized its interactive marketing campaigns, analytics and reporting, giving its marketing team new insights to offer more relevant promotions and improve real-time engagement with fans.

“Before ExactTarget, we were less connected to what we were doing on social media and email,” said Caitlin Leonard, interactive manager for the Portland Trail Blazers. “ExactTarget has enabled us to effectively engage fans and followers and unified our communication, sales and service to improve our customer experience.”

During the season, the Trail Blazers sent weekly emails featuring ticket offers and information alongside a Facebook campaign that encouraged fans to subscribe to their email for exclusive “Deal of the Week” ticket promotions. Managing engagement and offers across the multiple platforms caused difficulty engaging fans, said Leonard– something the team remedied with ExactTarget’s suite of integrated applications.

Last year the team saw their Twitter following double to over 80,000 and reached over 386,000 fans on Facebook.

“By integrating the power of social media with other interactive channels, brands can create cross-channel opportunities for fans to interact whenever and wherever they like,” said Tim Kopp, ExactTarget’s chief marketing officer. “Now more than ever, social engagement is driving real business results – from generating leads to improving customer satisfaction and driving website traffic.”

Spain’s first Soccer strike in almost three decades is the perfect chance to reform the administration of sport according to a industry finance expert.

Friday’s showdown talks between the Spanish Football League (LFP) and Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) failed to prevent the weekend’s opening round of matches of the top two divisions falling victim to the strike. Talks are now ongoing to avoid cancellation of this weekend’s matches with the Spanish calendar faced with the challenge of rescheduling the games. Domestic action cannot be extended past the current end date of May 13 due to the time allocated to national teams to prepare for UEFA Euro 2012 which a delay in fixtures might end shortening the season.

The AFE is expecting greater protection for players’ wages at clubs that have gone into administration. The union is demanding that an emergency fund is established with around $72 million owed to 200 footballers from the end of last season. The AFE believes the League’s proposed $57.6 million fund is not enough to cover a growing problem, with an increasing number of debt-laden clubs seeking protection from creditors by going into administration.

Racing Santander last month became the latest club to seek protection from creditors, joining fellow La Liga clubs Real Mallorca and Real Zaragoza as well as all three teams promoted to the first division at the end of last season – Real Betis, Rayo Vallecano and Granada – in administration.

Jose Maria Gay, an accounts professor at Barcelona University, believes the current impasse is shaking La Liga’s reputation as one of the world’s top leagues. He told Reuters:  “We have the best football in the world, but it is run very badly. The league has failed to control the situation with the clubs. Winning Euro 2008 and the World Cup earned Spain a great deal of goodwill, it helped open doors for us. But a strike because we can’t pay our players will generate a lack of confidence in Spain as a whole. It would be a good time to use the situation to restructure Spanish football. It can’t carry on as it is. They need to get out of the clouds and back down to earth.”

World Sport Group have agreed to represent Australian golfer David Gleeson.

The former Australian amateur champion and winner of the Eisenhower Trophy joins a list of top golfers including India’s Arjun Atwal and Shiv Kapur, ed Daniel Chopra from Sweden, Malaysian Danny Chia, Australia’s Marcus Both, Filipinos Gerald and Jennifer Rosales and Dutchman Guido Van Der Valk who are represented by the firm.

World Sport Group, founded in 1992, are one of Asia’s top agencies, covering a variety of sports.

The illegal betting scandal surrounding the world of sumo wrestling has now led to the firing of wrestler Kotomitsuki and his stable master, Otake, for their involvement in illegal baseball gambling.

The Japanese Sumo Association took the decision yesterday afternoon at an emergency meeting after it was found Kotomitsuki had gambled on professional baseball, with money allegedly a source of funding for mobsters.

Kotomitsuki is one of the most famous wrestlers in sumo, and he was promoted to the champion rank of ‘ozeki’ in 2007.

The sport has already suffered from the scandal, with companies Fuji Xerox and Nagatanien withdrawing their sponsorship of a tournament due to be held this month.

Even the broadcaster NHK is considering cancelling its coverage of the sixth-annual sumo tournament that it has been showing since 1953 unless the association can sufficiently deal with the scandal.

Around 65 members of the sport have admitted to illegal gambling on baseball, mahjong and card games.

Bath Rugby Club has appointed Sir Ian McGeechan as their new Performance Director on a two-year contract.

McGeechan is hugely experienced having been head coach on four British and Irish Lions Tours, prostate and was in charge of Scotland, link Northampton, ed and, most recently, Wasps.

Bath Chairman Bruce Craig said: “He will enhance a well established and successful coaching team and work with head coach Steve Meehan. Ian will become an integral part of our management set-up.

“His contribution to rugby union is unrivalled and he has been at the forefront of rugby development for many years now.”

McGeechan added: “Bath have a very clear vision for the future development of the club and have made a clear statement of intent with the new headquarters at Farleigh House.

“I am delighted to become part of a club that is developing the infrastructure on and off the pitch to achieve long-term success and become one of the strongest clubs in Europe.”