The Olympic torch had to be rerouted 100 yards yesterday because of protests in the North.

The Olympic torch shone a light on the North’s dramatic north coast today on the second day of its journey around the region.

A week ago Rory McIlroy was being hailed as part of the only show in town, a prizefighter given top billing, primed for a title tilt against his arch rival Tiger Woods.

A YOUNG boy, his face pressed firm against the plate glass, points in the direction of a towering, twisting hulk of clay-red metal in the middle distance asks “Is that a roller coaster, daddy?” His father, reading off an inscription on a nearby viewing panel replies: “No son, it says here it’s a piece of art.”

OLYMPIC athletes should be given tax breaks to train here ahead of next year’s London games, a committee has urged.

A receiver today has been appointed to P Elliot, one of the country's 10 largest construction firms.

Tottenham today launched a targeted assault on West Ham’s bid for the Olympic Stadium as they finally broke their silence on their own plans to take over the site.

ATHLETICS Ireland chiefs confirmed yesterday that the Chair of High Performance, Patsy McGonagle is under investigation — as revealed in yesterday’s Irish Examiner.

The Olympic torch arrived in China’s earthquake disaster zone today, to be carried on a solemn run through a stadium that weeks ago housed tens of thousands of displaced Chinese.

LIVERPOOL forward Dirk Kuyt admits he cannot wait for Robbie Keane to arrive at the club.

BARCELONA’s grip on the Spanish title shows little sign of loosening after another classy display saw them cruise past Real Mallorca 3-0 last night.

Italy’s premier vowed that construction will start on a high-speed rail link in an Alpine valley where clashes continued today between police and demonstrators.

THE British tourist industry is hoping for a £2 billion (€2.9bn) bonanza after London secured the 2012 Olympic Games.

The judgement in the trial of Greek sprinters Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou has been delayed for two weeks.

ARCHAEOLOGISTS have discovered ancient graves during excavations near Ancient Olympia, the hallowed site where the Olympic Games were born in 776BC.

OLYMPIC 49er sailor Tom Fitzpatrick (Howth YC) set an Irish record when he won the Allianz Irish Helmsmans’ title in a blistering five race final at Royal North of Ireland Yacht Club on Belfast Lough yesterday.

The opening ceremony of the 12th Paralympic Games took place this evening at the Athens Olympic stadium,with the 41-strong Ireland team gearing themselves up for a busy first weekend.

OLYMPIC city Athens was jolted by a small earthquake yesterday but there were no reports of any damage.

Two top Greek athletes will today learn if they will be banned from competing in the Olympics following a drugs scandal.

A drugs test storm was threatening to overshadow the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens today with the future of Greek athletics hero Kostas Kenteris in doubt.

Athens-bound boxer Andy Lee has vowed to do everything in his power to land a medal at next month’s Olympics.

A power failure hit Athens and other parts of Greece today, cutting off air conditioning as temperatures pushed past 40 degrees Celsius (104F) and blacking out most Olympic venues as crews raced to finish work before the start of the games.

IRISH OLYMPIC chiefs remain confident that the Athens games will start on schedule 100 days from today, despite growing concern over construction delays in the Greek capital.

The International Olympic Committee are still focusing on the end of June as the deadline for the Olympic stadium roof in Athens to be in place.

SPECULATION intensified last night on Christian Vieiri’s future at Inter Milan after he was left out of the side for the shock home defeat by Empoli.

REAL Madrid beat Deportivo Coruna 2-1 at the Bernabeu last night to extend their perfect home league record and stay two points clear at the top of the Primera Liga.

THE Olympic Council of Ireland will stand firm on the standards and quotas for next year’s Olympic Games in Athens — which means that only A standards will be accepted in the case of athletics and swimming — as well as on the final date for achieving those standards, set as June 30 next year.

Body Worlds can go ahead this weekend in Munich, a court has ruled, throwing out a ban imposed by the city council which ruled that the show of preserved corpses was an offence against human dignity and in bad taste.

A SQUAT, square block atop Olympic House on Pleasant St, commands views over the city as far as the Dublin mountains.

OLYMPIAKOS Piraeus thrashed last year’s finalists Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 helped by a hat-trick from Predrag Djordjevic in their opening Group F Champions League match.

Winter olympic bosses were today working on last-minute changes to security after the US attorney general raised concerns about safety.

Security concerns have swiftly followed the bribery scandal and scarred the build-up to next month’s 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

A librarian who hijacked a helicopter to pluck her lover from a top-security jail was today sentenced to a minimum of seven years in prison.

Bernhard Langer has slammed as ‘‘ridiculous’’ the hole or rather the green where this week’s US Open could be won or lost.