Trashed elbow

The sporting spat between Britain and Australia plumbed new and comical depths yesterday as the most senior Australian Olympic official accused British athletes of lacking personal hygiene.

After Rebecca Adlington's 400m freestyle gold set the tone for Britain in the pool here, John Coates, the head of the Australian Olympic Committee and an International Olympic Committee member since 2001, was asked for his thoughts. "It's not bad for a country that has no swimming pools and very little soap," he said.

Olympics: Australian official accuses British swimmers of bad hygiene
# guardian.co.uk Tuesday August 12 2008

Labels: DIPLOMACY