Yorkshire stars back security measures

SECURITY concerns at the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Delhi remain cause for debate among many of the participating nations yet England will today finalise their biggest squad to travel overseas in the event's 80-year history.

The announcement of the Rugby 7s squad will improve England's already handsome team of 371 athletes for the Games which begin in India on October 3.

The build-up has been dominated by concerns over the security of athletes, officials and spectators in Delhi following several incidents on the sub-continent in the past two years which have resulted in other sporting events being relocated.

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No specific threat has been made on the Games or the competitors and Delhi Police will today begin initiating security measures for all Games venues from now until the closing ceremony.

However, many of the leading nations have been unequivocal in their threat to withdraw their athletes if their safety is placed in jeopardy or the standard of security measures are deemed unsatisfactory.

A party of assessors representing England, Wales, Australia, Canada and New Zealand has been sent to report on Delhi's security set-up with recent events on the sub-continent, namely the events in Pakistan last year when a bus carrying the Sri Lanka cricket team was attacked by terrorists, creating concern.

English administrators have been bullish in their belief that their Indian counterparts have done everything possible to ensure the safety of athletes and spectators at the Games.

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The athletes have generally fallen in line with their respective governing bodies' assurances.

Yorkshire will be represented in the England team by a wide range of competitors across the 17 sports, from tennis professional Katie O'Brien to cycling stars Ben Swift and Lizzie Armitstead, athletes Martyn Bernard and Luke Cutts to leading squash players James Willstrop Nick Matthew.

World and European heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis and Olympic sprinter Emily Freeman will not be in attendance, with Ennis citing the scheduling of the Games and Freeman injury as the reasons for their non-participation.

Leeds-born badminton player Jenny Wallwork, who bids for Commonwealth gold in the mixed and ladies doubles – the latter with fellow Leeds player Gabby White – has already missed a trip to India following Great Britain's decision to pull their team out of the World Championships in Hyderabad last October due to security fears.

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"It amazes me that the Games are being held somewhere that is encountering big problems like this," said the 23-year-old.

"We pulled out of the World Championships and if we have to do the same again it would be ridiculous.

"People in the badminton world are thinking that we should just go and whatever happens, happens."

The English hockey team, captained by Doncaster's Barry Middleton, faced a similar quandary when February's World Cup in Delhi was singled out as a target by a terrorist cell of al-Qaida. The team still went out and competed and were kept safe.

England's swimmers also have faith in the administrators.

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"I'm quite confident that the Delhi organisers are going to do everything possible to ensure that we are all very safe and secure," said European 200m backstroke champion Lizzie Simmonds, 19, of Beverley.

"It's fantastic for the country to have the Commonwealth Games and to be honest it's all media hype.

"I'm pretty confident that all the athletes and support staff who are out there are going to be in safe hands."

The Games mark the senior international debut for City of Leeds swimmer Anne Bochmann, 17.

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As well as the chance to swim for medals in the 200m individual medley, the 200m and 400m freestyle, Bochmann is keen to get major games experience ahead of 2012 and says: "There have been troubles over there and obviously it's a concern but I'm confident everything will be okay, otherwise we wouldn't be taking a team."

Sports Minister Hugh Robertson, who will travel to the Indian capital for the formal opening of the Games before attending the Commonwealth Sports Ministers' Meeting, is satisfied with the precautions that have been taken. He said: "I've been out to India on a number of occasions. I've seen the Indian security forces at work, I know exactly how much preparation has gone on, and I'm entirely confident they've done everything that's necessary.

"The Indian security forces are extraordinarily efficient; I've seen them at work. I think through my background in the military, I'm in a reasonably good position to judge."

Freeman makes London priority

Danny Hall

EMILY FREEMAN is to sit out next month's Commonwealth Games to continue her rehabilitation from an Achilles injury which hampered her in the European Championships earlier this year.

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The 29-year-old 200m runner from Huddersfield narrowly missed out on a place in the final despite running a season's best 23.21sec in Barcelona.

After admitting that she was not fully fit in Catalonia, Freeman intends to return to the track at the 2011 European Indoor Championships in Paris, and is setting her sights on next year's World Championships and the London Olympics.

"It was disappointing to have to cut my season short – I was struggling a bit, but I went to the European Championships just to see what I could do on the day," said Freeman.

"It was nice just to step on the track again – if I hadn't, then it would have been a whole year before I would have managed to race again."

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Freeman, who reached the semi-finals of the 200m and the final of the 4x100m relay in the Beijing Olympics, is confident her rehabilitation programme will put her in the best possible shape for London 2012.

"It was difficult, really difficult – I was training in Sheffield and Loughborough, where a lot of people were training fully fit," said the Wakefield Harrier, who lives in Rotherham.

"Every athlete goes through injury trouble at some stage but I've come out the other side and I have faith in the team around me."

Freeman believes that missing the Commonwealth Games will prove the right decision ahead of an 'important winter'.

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"I made the decision quite early on that two Championships in a year would be quite stressful on my body, so I plan to miss the Games in India," said Freeman, echoing the reasons given by Sheffield's world and European heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis for also withdrawing.

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