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BOA begins Beijing Games countdown

30/04/2008

The British Olympic Association (BOA) has begun its countdown to the Beijing Games today, with the competition just 100 days away.

To mark the occasion, the BOA have launched a new Team GB Beijing website dedicated to the countdown to the event and tracking the progress of the team in China.

Former Olympic silver medallist Darren Campbell was among those present at the launch of the site, which features a 'Brits to Watch' section as well as a message board for the public to leave notes of support for the athletes.

The lead-up to the Games has been disrupted by pro-Tibetan protests at almost every stage of the round-the-world relay of the Olympic flame.

There was widespread criticism over the fact that the Metropolitan police presence at the London leg, which ran through ten boroughs and saw 37 people arrested, had cost almost three-quarters of a million pounds.

According to the Met report, 1,963 police officer shifts were needed to police the 31-mile route.

Protests were also seen in Paris, San Francisco and Melbourne as crowds vented their anger at human rights abuses by the Chinese government in Tibet.