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A special postbox painted in gold to celebrate the victory of Britian's Mickey Bushell at London 2012 has been vandalised.
The postbox was one of more than 100 painted gold around Britain by Royal Mail to celebrate every Team GB and ParalympicsGB gold medal during London 2012.
The post boxes are to remain permanently gold to mark the achievements of the athletes and the historic Games.
The post box located in Telford in Shropshire was painted gold following Bushell's victory in the T53 100 metres.
When British skaters Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won the Olympic gold medal in ice dance at Sarajevo 1984 with 12 perfect 6.0s from every judge, for their interpretation of Maurice Ravel's Boléro, an important member of their team was singer-actor Michael Crawford. Crawford, who had played Frank Spencer in British sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and the title role in the musical The Phantom of the Opera, had become a mentor to the pair in 1981 and went on to help them create their Olympic routine. Crawford said he “taught them how to act". He was present with their trainer Betty Callaway at the ringside at Sarajevo as they created one of the most iconic moments in Olympic history.
Reporting to and working closely with the Events Director – Technical Operations, the Head of Technical Officials is responsible for day-to-day management of the Technical Officials programmes within the Events Department, including:
Management of day-to-day technical officials operations including tournament assignments and planning;
Management and development of the professional technical officials workforce including referees, umpires, and tournament doctors;
Technical officials policy development through consultation with key stakeholder groups including commissions, panels, Continental Confederations and working groups;
Innovation initiatives within the technical officials area to enhance officiating accuracy and sport presentation; and
Technical officials pathway development including working with Continental Confederations and Member Associations on recruitment, education, training, and development initiatives.
Pierre de Coubertin once said cricket has "practically no appeal for those who are not British". While he expressed doubts about the Olympic viability of cricket, lacrosse and baseball, Philip Barker wonders how the man who helped revive the modern Games would have reacted to new sports at Los Angeles 2028.