Welsh dad's support a name too far

ATHENS (Reuters) - A Welshman believed to be the father of former world champion rider Nicole Cooke has been arrested for painting his daughter's name on an Athens street where she is due to ride past during Sunday's Olympic women's road race.


"The father, Anthony Cooke, and another Welshman wanted to show their support for the daughter so they used white paint to write her name on the street, breaching security cordons," a police official told Reuters on Saturday. "They were arrested on the spot."


She said the men had spray-painted the daughter's name on a central Athens road in the posh Kolonaki neighbourhood, where dozens of nearby embassies have heightened security throughout the August 13-29 Olympics.


The two men were released after police checked their identities, she said.


In major races such as the Tour de France, fans paint the names of their favourites and slogans of support on the road leading to the finish.


Cooke, a bronze medallist in the road race at the 2003 world championships in Canada, is among the favourites to win Britain's first ever Olympic road-race gold.


Greece has spent a record 1.0 billion euros (660 million pounds) on security for the first summer Games since the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States.