I’ve had a change of mind over the Beijing-based Olympics. In an earlier blog I said Ben Ainslie and other sporting folk should not be expected to respond to the fact that the host country imports oil from Sudan.

However news that Nepalese security men have been given the all clear to shoot people demonstrating against the wretched Olympic torch being traipsed up Mount Everest is a different matter altogether.

If a single soul demonstrating for or against the Olympic host country loses his or her life as a result of heavy-handed action by whichever nation, then any sportsman taking part in the games will be competing for fool’s gold.