Olympics: 100 days to go

London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe has defended the public expenditure on the Olympics after 64 per cent of respondents to a BBC poll said taxpayers had paid too much towards the Games.

Lord Coe also said the Olympics have created jobs and investment at a crucial time in the economy.

He said he was not surprised by the poll results but pointed out that the Games had meant that between £6 billion and £7 billion had gone into the British construction industry, 42,000 people having worked directly or indirectly on the Olympic Park.

Olympic cycling gold medalist Victoria Pendleton has said she is really excited to be 100 days away from competing in the London 2012 Olympic games.

She said the 100 day countdown is a really important milestone for athletes preparing for the games and that she "has as good a chance as any" of winning another gold medal.

Syria's Olympic chief could be prevented from entering the UK to attend the London 2012 Games.

General Mowaffak Joumaa, president of the Syrian Olympic committee could be refused entry, despite not being on the list of Syrian officials banned from travelling in Europe.

Joumaa is a close aide of President Assad.

The European Union imposed a travel ban on various members of the Syrian regime following the violent crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.

Olympics minister Hugh Robertson said:

Lord Coe has said there is still a lot of work to do to prepare for the Olympics, but he is confident and happy with how preparations are going.

He said there will be no last minute rush, and that he is very proud of how hard his teams have worked to keep everything on track.

To celebrate the UK's role in the birth of the modern Olympic movement, 40 'Coubertin Oaks' oak trees are being planted across the UK.

The trees have been grown from acorns taken from an oak planted in 1890 during the visit of Pierre de Coubertin; the man considered the 'father' of the Olympic Games.

Seb Coe planted the first tree this morning in Kew Gardens.

School children in Leeds braved the rain to mark the 100 day countdown to the Olympics.

YouGov has surveyed Londoners and the British public to see how they feel about the Olympic games.

• 48% of Londoners say that they are interested in the Games, while 49% say they aren't
• 45% of British people generally say that they are interested; 53% say they aren't
• 49% of British people think that London was right to bid for the games; but 40% say that the capital should not have

Flower displays of the Olympics rings have been unveiled in Kew Gardens to celebrate the 100 day countdown to the London 2012 games.

The Olympic rings are fifty metres long and contain 20,000 plants.

The flowers were planted five days ago by a team of volunteers and will be in full flower for the summer. The display will be visible from the Heathrow flight path.

Ian Crockford, Project sponsor at the Olympic Delivery Authority, has said he is really happy with how the preparations for the games are going.

He says the venues just need to be tested with crowds and that we are "well ahead of the game" in comparison to other host cities at this stage.