LONDON (AP) a From London to Sochi to Rio de Janeiro, the deadly bomb attacks on the Boston Marathon raised new concerns Tuesday over security at major sports events around the world, including the Olympics and World Cup. The twin bombings near the marathon finish line that killed three people and wounded more than 170 people brought into sharp focus the security issues facing next springs Cold temperatures Olympics in Sochi, Russia, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the 2016 Summer Games in Rio. "We are very, very concerned," senior IOC member Gerhard Heiberg of Norway informed The Associated Press. "Security is concern No. 1, no question about it." More immediate could be the safety planning for this weekend's London Marathon, which draws more than 30,000 athletes and half a million visitors. Organizers said these were reviewing protection for Sunday's race a one of the world's six major marathons a' but the function will go forward as planned in a display of unity with Boston. "The best way for all of us to respond is to press forward with the race on Sunday, to have people on the roads and to observe it once we always do in London," British Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said. "We are definitely confident here that we may keep carefully the function safe and secure. ... The best way to demonstrate solidarity with Boston would be to continue and deliver a very clear message to those responsible." The London Marathon, which ingests a number of the city's most familiar landmarks, draws many of the world's top marathoners as well as thousands of inexperienced and "fun" athletes who raise money for charity. Prince Harry, patron of the marathon's charitable trust, is planned to attend Sunday's race and make the presentations to the winners. "When you have a meeting of any character a' a race, celebration a' it's only as safe since the city itself," competition chief executive Nick Bitel said. "If it is not held in a ground, you can not do a lockdown like you may do in a building." Also taking place Sunday is the Bahrain Grand Prix, a One race that faces its security problems after having a series of explosions, including a gas cylinder blast that set a car ablaze in the Gulf nation's financial center. A Human Rights Watch report alleged that Bahrain authorities rounded up activists living around the track in a to "silence" dissent prior to the competition. Protesters, holding pictures of people killed in the nation's almost three-year rebellion, are calling for a boycott of the race. Protection for the Olympics, meanwhile, has been important since the assaults by Palestinian gunmen that killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches at the 1972 Munich Games. The emphasis now comes on Sochi, a Black Sea resort which will host Russia's first Winter Olympics next February. Security was already an issue because of Sochi's proximity to an insurgency that spread across southern Russia after separatist wars in Chechnya. "Naturally, we are beefing up safety measures," Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said in statements taken by the R-Sport news agency. IOC vice president Thomas Bach, who was simply on his way to Sochi on Tuesday for an international journalists' meeting, said the attacks in Boston strengthened the IOC's policy that safety is paramount for any Olympics. "I am sure that malicious attack can cause the general public authorities to own another look at all safety measures," Bach told the AP by telephone. "While it is too soon to draw any final conclusions, we've complete confidence in the Russian authorities. They've already analyzed the entire condition and I am sure they will take the necessary measures." and take this event into consideration Heiberg, who prepared the 1994 Cold weather Games in Lillehammer, Norway, and now chairs the IOC's advertising fee, said security problems have been raised since the Sept. 11, 2011, panic attacks in the United States. Ever since then, Olympics have passed off peacefully in Salt Lake City, Athens, Turin, Beijing, Vancouver and London. "So far we've been fortunate in the Olympics but what happened in Boston tells us that we can not go easy, we have to continue and we have to plan for not just the possible but also the impossible," Heiberg said. "We are taking it exceptionally critically in Sochi, working very hard with the Russian authorities." The Russian Interior Ministry said Tuesday it's fully used the police power that will be in position throughout the Sochi Olympics and has conducted frequent checks of all locations to make sure they are protected. Alexander Konovalov, mind of the Institute of Strategic Assessment and Analysis, a completely independent think-tank, said international terror groups might be motivated by the carnage in Boston to plot from the Sochi Olympics. "The terrorists' method is to produce a feeling of panic and leave an impression that they'll attack any target, no matter how closely it is protected," Konovalov said. "The Olympics will make an extremely desirable objective for terrorists, providing the most publicity." Spain can also be hosting among the biggest global sports events of 2013 a' the entire world track and field championships in Moscow on Aug. 10-18. "Our security measures are tough as they are," said Mikhail Butov, secretary general of the Russian Athletics Federation. "But when it is clear what really occurred (in Boston), we shall draw our conclusions." Preserving the Olympics is just a enormous operation covering 17 days of competition in several outdoor and indoor venues. Not just are sports facilities at an increased risk, but therefore are the general public places where fans and spectators assemble. At the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta, a bomb exploded at Centennial Olympic Park, injuring over 100 and killing one person. "The stability isn't easy," Heiberg said. "Of course, it is possible to give protection but we do not wish to show the planet pictures of troops and police with guns and the like. It's all the the others to come." and the exact same for Rio Rio planners, who'll be hosting the very first Olympics in South Usa, said they're working together with the us government to "deliver safe activities in 2016." The town has won kudos for its attack on once-endemic drug violence in preparation for hosting the Planet Cup and Olympics. But protection is a large topic in Rio lately after an American girl was gang raped and beaten aboard a public transportation truck while her handcuffed French sweetheart looked on helplessly. In front of next year's World Cup, Brazil is hosting the Confederations Cup in June. The warm-up tournament offering nine clubs will be played in six cities around the world and is observed as a large test for coordinators in all areas. On Sunday, two fans were shot to death on their solution to a match supposed to test the facilities at a Global Cup arena in northeastern Brazil. Competing supporters were assumed in the deaths. The terror risk was considered high for last year's London Olympics, where general security costs rose above 1 billion lbs ($1.6 billion). London was hit by terrorism in 2005, when 52 individuals were killed in attacks by suicide bombers on the city's transportation system. London's massive protection procedure included thousands of police and military troops and deployment of warships, security plane, sniper-carrying planes, fighter jets and missile batteries on rooftops. Denis Oswald, who headed the IOC control commissions for the Athens and London Olympics, said the activities remain a potential target wherever they are held and the Boston problems don't drastically change the security planning for Sochi or Rio. "Each situation needs to be studied," Oswald said. "It could possibly be new methods or new methods set up. We only need to make sure these kinds of cases are covered by the protection program. We have to be never and 100 % aware neglect any possibility." ___ Connected Press writers Natiliya Vasilyeva, Vladimir Isachenkov and Yelena Yegorova in Moscow, and AP Activities Author Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo, Brazil, brought to this survey.
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