Great Britain rowers sail to unfair advantage, claim rivals

Olympics organisers came under fire on Thursday night from foreign rowing teams as they were accused of doubling expected travel times to the competition venue from the athletes' village and tipping off the British team.

International rivals have had to change their transport and accommodation plans and are worried that the home nation, who they claim were given time to find a solution, have been provided with an unfair advantage.

"For three years we have been told the travel time is 30 minutes, and now, just days ago, we have been told it's an hour," Australian rowing team manager Ray Ebert told Telegraph Sport from the team's training base in Italy.

"But we don't know that it will be just an hour because travelling on the M25 and the A4 gives us enormous concerns if there is a hold up. Lord Coe has said these Games will be fair, but it looks like it is a lot fairer in lane one, than in lane six."

The Australians have started to look for places to stay within walking distance of the competition venue at Eton Dorney, near Windsor, and the Canadians' revised plans involve them cycling there. The anger is widespread with Germany, Holland and the United States also furious.

The teams' outrage over potential travelling times erupted last weekend at a team summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, and their concerns were so great that the rowing competition manager for Games organisers Locog, Anne Louise Morgan, flew from London to try to placate team officials. THE TELEGRAPH