* International Golf Federation executive director Antony Scanlon tells Around the Rings that Wednesday’s selection of U.S. architect Gil Hanse to design the first Olympic links since 1904 was unanimous.

* Around 650 delegates attended a conference in the Netherlands on Thursday that was dedicated to exploring the possibilities of a bid for the 2028 Olympics.

* With the London Olympics on the horizon, Ingrid O’Neil’s 68th mail bid auction features two historic items from a British precursor to the Olympic Games. A pair of silver winner’s cups associated with the Shropshire Olympian Games of the early 1860s highlight the 787-lot mail bid auction, which closes March 10.

* The silver cup awarded to the 1896 marathon winner, a piece that is so famous the IOC has a replica of it in its museum, will be auctioned by Christie’s in London on April 18.

* Families of the Israelis killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics are campaigning for an official commemoration in London this summer.

* The hospitality house for the Irish Olympic team will be located in Big ChillHouse in central London.

* LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe, former footballer Eric Cantona and Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius are among the speakers at this week’s Global Sports Forum Barcelona.

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