Beijing Diary

THE armoured personnel carrier may have gone but security is noticeably tighter around certain Olympic sites. Yesterday access areas to the Olympic Village, Media Centre and the Bird’s Nest Stadium were patrolled by troops in full combat fatigues with automatic weapons cradled in their arms.

ONE of our photographic colleagues spotted an interesting sign in the lost and found section of their department. “Found: Fire. Contact desk for details.”

THE South Korean Archery team which won gold at the weekend have revealed the secrets to their success. To make themselves immune to external stimuli they practised at noisy venues to grown accustomed to crowd noises. Earlier this year they had an unusual training regime at a military base. One of the techniques they faced was having snakes put into their clothes so they could learn to overcome their fears.