Nick Mashiter's Olympics diary - August 10

After Robbie Grabarz’s struggles to get into Team GB house for his medal winner’s Press conference Germany’s discus champion Robert Harting has gone one better.

He shunned partying in trendy West End clubs with the stars for a night under them – after someone stole his pass.

Harting had to sleep on the ground in the plaza of the athletes’ village after security refused to let him in.

It was a downer on his night after he ripped off his shirt ‘Hulk’-style before leaping over the hurdles on the Olympic Stadium track in celebration.

He tweeted: ‘Puuh i just got robbed while i did some work to please athletic fans! I lost all my accreditation for Olympic village! – no entrance.’

The 27-year-old had celebrated his win with friends and family but someone pinched his pass and on his return to Stratford found himself denied entry.

He said: “We passed two security guards but the third said we were not allowed in. It was 6am and I needed some sleep so I slept on the ground.”

Harting said the incident was “kind of annoying” but admitted “it’s a funny story”. Bet the medal made up for it.

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We know the French love a good moan but they still can’t let the GB cycling dominance go. GB Cycling chief David Brailsford joked that the reason for their Velodrome brilliance was ‘magic wheels’.

It was a tongue-in-cheek comment but one which has left the French public fuming. Their media have taken it as it was meant – but try telling that to their readers.

A poll by French newspaper L’Equipe shows 70 per cent of those voting feel GB cyclists still break Olympic rules. It wouldn’t have helped to find Team GB’s ‘magic wheels’ are made in France by manufacturers Mavic either….

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Irony won’t be lost on football fans after it was revealed the MK Lions basketball team – from Milton Keynes – will be rebranded the London Lions and move to the Copper Box after the Olympics and Paralympics end.

They have struggled to find a local base and won’t be met with any hostility with the club effectively forced out of town. Their old Winterhill home was sold for retail space and, before that, Bletchley Leisure Centre was demolished.

The Lions haven’t had much luck and a proposed deal to take up residence next to Stadium MK fell through, leaving them no option but to move.

“Everybody has talked about legacy – this is an actual, real, tangible legacy,” said Lions chief executive Vince Macaulay.

“We’re excited to be in London, we’ve got a history in London, there’ll be an automatic rivalry with the East London Royals, I think it’s exactly what basketball needs.”

A slightly different story to the football team who swapped London for Buckinghamshire nine years ago.

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Politicians have a habit of landing themselves in it and when deputy Prime Minster Nick Clegg pitched up at the hockey last night he did his best to continue the trend.

The Lib Dem leader was introduced to the crowd for a half-time interview at the Riverbank Arena and was roundly booed by most of the 16,000 fans.

Defiant, he continued chatting to the compere, only to admit he had a Dutch mother – to intensified booing.

Sometimes they don’t help themselves.