Meridian Olympics 2012

The Olympic Cauldron has been donated to a museum in Oxfordshire. It arrived at the River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on Thames yesterday. It's been donated by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) as part of the legacy of the games.

Team GB Men's hockey captain, Barry Middleton who plays for East Grinstead Hockey Club said 'It is a great honour to have been selected in Team GB for my third Olympic Games. I am very proud that I will have the chance to experience a home Olympics with the amazing support of the British crowd.

"We have an amazing group of guys who have put themselves through so much pain in search of a dream we all share. We will be giving our all to achieve this dream while providing a lot of excitement at the same time.

"I look forward to stepping on the pitch in London and hearing that Great British crowd getting behind us.”

While fellow Team GB member Ashley Jackson from Tunbridge Wells, who also plays for the East Grinstead Hockey Club said:

“I'm very happy to be selected for the Olympics. Ever since we played the Test Event in front of a home crowd it's been very exciting to imagine how great the home support will be this summer.

"It has been a long, long few years of training and many highs and lows during that period but I'm feeling very confident about our chances over the summer. We have a very talented group of players through 1 to 27 and it's a real shame that only 16 places are available.”

*OLYMPICS FACT: *Men’s hockey was first introduced at the 1908 London Games. Great Britain have won gold in 1908, 1920 and in 1988.

The Team GB hockey squad announced this afternoon includes Nicholas Catlin from Marlow, Jonathan Clarke from Southend-on-Sea, Daniel Fox from Godalming, Ben Hawes from Lewes, Ashley Jackson from Tunbridge Wells; Barry Middleton, Glenn Kirkham and Iain Lewers who play for East Grinstead.

Also on the team are: Iain Mackay who plays for Reading, Robert Moore from Winchester, Richard Smith from Portsmouth and James Tindall from Virginia Water. There are four other men on the squad who play for teams outside our region.

Kent's landmark building, the Turner Contemporary is now sporting a large pink ribbon as part of preparations for the county to accept the Olympic torch. It'll arrive in Kent on the 18th July.

Local residents and councillors have criticised LOCOG for giving so many Olympic torchbearer places in Oxfordshire to overseas runners backed by the Olympic Games' sponsors. The leader of Oxfords City Council, Bob Price, said it was "disappointing" news.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) say sponsors like Coca-Cola are important for funding.

The online auction site has thirteen London 2012 torches up for grabs. Bids vary from £10 to £150,000. Some of those offering the torches for sale have not yet run their stage of the nationwide relay. Details of when the torch arrives in our region can be found here.

Nominations for torchbearers were considered between May and June 2011 and people were chosen after selection panels met in the Autumn. Tens of thousands of people were nominated, and 8,000 will be confirmed as torchbearers before the relay begins.

Eight thousand people have been nominated by people they know to carry the Olympic flame across the UK. In the South East, it will bass through major locations including Brighton, Dover and Canterbury.