Today we unveil a brilliant new look for insidethegames that means we are bigger, brighter, better.

It now contains even more features and news to ensure that our readers continue to be given a unique, first hand look behind the scenes into the world of London 2012, the Olympic Movement, the Commonwealth Games, the FIFA World Cup and the bidding process and the multi-billion pound business that surrounds them. 

Everyone here at insidethegames is very excited about them and believe they are making a brilliant product even better.
 

When we launched insidethegames in October 2005 it was as a weekly newsletter. The first issue featured the exclusive news that David Higgins was set to be announced later that day as the chief executive of the newly-formed Olympic Delivery Authority. We have been leading the way ever since.

 

Our unique mixture of exclusive stories and in-depth features meant we soon established a loyal readership. But it quickly became apparent that so much was happening in the build-up to London 2012 that a daily service was needed. The site has now evolved into an unrivalled news portal updating all the latest stories as they happen - and we have now expanded our remit a long way beyond just London 2012.

Since launching insidethegames Glasgow has been awarded the 2014 Commonwealth Games and England has announced that it is bidding to bring football's World Cup back to this country for the first time since 1966. That is why the site includes a host of features that are a must read for anyone who has any interest not only in the Olympic Movement but also the Commonwealth Games and global industry of bidding for major events, including the increasingly tense race to host the 2016 Olympics and football’s 2018 and 2022 World Cup.

This can often mean up to 15 stories a day being placed on the site and our archive now contains more than 6,000 stories dating back nearly four years - a unique source of information. You will be glad to know that we have now upgraded our search engine so it is more efficient and faster than ever before, meaning the information that you need is only ever just a mouse-click away.

But that is not all. We have added several other exciting features. I am particularly proud of the new sports section which means that every one of the 26 sports that will make up the London Olympics now have their own page which has every bit of information you could possibly want to know in the build-up, including its history, a guide to the venue for 2012 (2016 will be added on October 3 when we know who the Host City is along with information on rugby sevens and golf if they are added) and a comprehensive diary so you can plan what to follow leading up to the big events. But best of all is that it allows us to carry even more news from around the world of sport. So if your particular passion is, say, handball or wrestling, you now know there is a website that is guaranteed to cover your sport.

Other innovations include a new expanded blogs section. We have some really top names lined up to write exclusively for us over the next few weeks, including Sir Chris Hoy and Dame Kelly Holmes. We start off today with Ade Adepitan, who feels especially close to the London Games as he is from Stratford.

It is appropriate that we should start with Britain's best-known wheelchair basketball player because the Paralympics is an area where we have big plans to increase our coverage as we feel this is an area that is currently neglected. Joining us today is Tom Degun, a talented young writer who recently graduated from the University of Bedfordshire with a BA First Class honours degree in Sport, Media and Culture.

Tom, who is keen rugby player and qualified fencing instructor, will be our new Paralympics Correspondent and will be providing unrivalled daily behind-the-scenes coverage on the issues and personalities that will shape the Games in three years time. Check out his exclusive interview with Dame Tanni Grey Thompson that is published on insidethegames today. 

Tom joins a list of world-class contributors that includes David Owen, the former sports editor of the Financial Times, and Mike Rowbottom, who covered the Olympics for The Independent for 16 years, who both help ensure that insidethegames will not be beaten for quality writing. It is no surprise therefore that insidethegames is now recognised as the authoritative independent guide to London 2012 and the Olympic Movement.

We today also launch our new regular poll that gives you the opportunity to let us know what you think. The first question we ask is “Which Candidate City should win the right to host the 2016 Olympic Summer Games?” Whoever it is, insidethegames' team of ace reporters and photographers will be in Copenhagen later this month to cover the build-up to the IOC Session before the decision is announced on October 2 to ensure you are kept fully updated on the campaign to decide whether Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro or Tokyo are chosen to follow London.

You can sign up for our free daily e-alerts simply by filling in a quick simple form here. Why pay for inferior information when you can read the market leaders for free? At insidethegames, we believe that quality writing and ground-breaking new stories is priceless.

We have many more exciting features lined up over the next few weeks that we believe will make insidethegames even better and consolidate our position as the number one source for Olympic news on the web. We thank all our loyal readers who have been with us since we launched. And we welcome our new readers. Together we shall share the exciting journey up to London 2012 and beyond.

 

For further information and to send any materials of interest, please email me at [email protected].