London 2012 Olympics: Ben Ainslie to follow up bid for record fourth gold medal with America's Cup campaign

After months of negotiations, Ainslie is set to join American team Oracle, the Cup defenders, but in an unusual move reflecting their keenness to have the world’s best sailor involved in their series, he has been given permission to set up Ben Ainslie Racing, an unsponsored campaign funded by Oracle boss Larry Ellison, but flying the British flag.

The scrapping of Sir Keith Mills’ Team Origin campaign in 2010, due to the lack of prospects over raising sponsorship, came as a major blow to Ainslie but his profile is likely to go stratospheric in 2012 which could flush out sufficient funds for a fully competitive campaign in the 35th America’s Cup.

Reports that Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic had been signed up as sponsors turned out to be premature but the company confirm they are still looking at Ainslie’s proposal since they support the idea of a British challenger.

So far only four teams, Oracle, Artemis, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand, have paid the $200,000 deposit for the America’s Cup regatta, including the Louis Vuitton Cup, with the Kiwis the only team having to rely on commercial backing rather than a wealthy benefactor.

But 10 teams, including Ainslie’s, have signed up for the cheaper ACWS which has been designed as an exhibition series to revitalise interest in an event that was seriously damaged by the long winded legal wranglings between Ellison and his billionaire rival Ernesto Bertorelli.

Any suggestion that Ainslie’s campaign will develop into a fully fledged challenger campaign, funded by the defender, will raise serious questions of neutrality for Oracle, who are both defenders and organisers.

London 2012 Olympics: Ben Ainslie to follow up bid for record fourth gold medal with America's Cup campaign

After months of negotiations, Ainslie is set to join American team Oracle, the Cup defenders, but in an unusual move reflecting their keenness to have the world’s best sailor involved in their series, he has been given permission to set up Ben Ainslie Racing, an unsponsored campaign funded by Oracle boss Larry Ellison, but flying the British flag.

The scrapping of Sir Keith Mills’ Team Origin campaign in 2010, due to the lack of prospects over raising sponsorship, came as a major blow to Ainslie but his profile is likely to go stratospheric in 2012 which could flush out sufficient funds for a fully competitive campaign in the 35th America’s Cup.

Reports that Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic had been signed up as sponsors turned out to be premature but the company confirm they are still looking at Ainslie’s proposal since they support the idea of a British challenger.

So far only four teams, Oracle, Artemis, Luna Rossa and Emirates Team New Zealand, have paid the $200,000 deposit for the America’s Cup regatta, including the Louis Vuitton Cup, with the Kiwis the only team having to rely on commercial backing rather than a wealthy benefactor.

But 10 teams, including Ainslie’s, have signed up for the cheaper ACWS which has been designed as an exhibition series to revitalise interest in an event that was seriously damaged by the long winded legal wranglings between Ellison and his billionaire rival Ernesto Bertorelli.

Any suggestion that Ainslie’s campaign will develop into a fully fledged challenger campaign, funded by the defender, will raise serious questions of neutrality for Oracle, who are both defenders and organisers.

London 2012 Olympics: Mo Farah's fears realised as Kenenisa Bekele declares himself fully fit for medal bid

Kenenisa Bekele, the defending Olympic champion over 5,000 and 10,000 metres and the man most likely to rain on Farah’s parade in London, says he is now fully recovered from the long-standing calf injury that restricted him to just two races in the whole of 2011 and is eager to add to his list of Olympic accomplishments, which began with 10,000m gold in Athens in 2004.

This year he will compete in the short-course (3km) race but it will be no walk in Holyrood Park. Lining up against him will be Kenyans Asbel Kiprop and Brimin Kipruto, the Olympic 1500m and 3,000m champions, as well as their compatriot, Eliud Kipchoge, who finished runner-up behind Bekele in the 5,000m at the Beijing Olympics.

In the build-up to last summer’s World Championships, where Farah won 5,000m gold and 10,000m silver, the Londoner’s coach, Alberto Salazar, did not hesitate to name Bekele as Farah’s No 1 threat.

“There’s only one guy out there that has been clearly superior to everyone else and that’s Bekele,” said Salazar.

As it transpired, Bekele was not fully fit at the World Championships, pulling out after 10 laps of the 10,000m final and withdrawing from the 5,000m, but just a few weeks later he sent his rivals a warning by clocking the fastest 10,000m time in three years at the Diamond League final in Brussels.

Bekele says he has yet to decide whether he will double up in London or concentrate on the 10,000m. He will run both distances this summer and then make up his mind based on his results.

As for the threat Farah poses to his Olympic ambitions, he does not appear to be losing too much sleep.

“He’s improved a lot, and last year was a good time for Mo Farah,” he said. “I can’t say that I’ll beat him because you never know until the race. But it’s not just about Mo Farah. Every athlete will be trying to win.”