Aussie badminton stars hit by food poisoning

Australia's Olympic badminton preparations suffered a blow when three of the team were hit by a bout of food poisoning at their pre-Games training camp in England. Ross Smith, 27, Renuga Veeran, 26, and Glenn Warfe, 28, went down with the bug on Tuesday and missed two days of training in Derbyshire, where the Australian team are based for a week before the start of the Olympics later this month. Warfe took to Twitter to reveal his sickness, writing: "Food poisoning is not the best prep for OG. But already feeling better. Love lemonade icy poles!" Michael Tancred, from the Australian Olympic Committee, expects all three players to back in training within 24 hours. "We hope they'll be back in training tomorrow (Friday). The public health authority is investigating the cause of the food poisoning," he said. "The players are improving, they've eaten this morning (Thursday) and have taken part in some light exercise." Tancred confirmed that two other members of the team, Leanne Choo and Victoria Na, were not affected. A spokeswoman for South Derbyshire District Council, which is hosting the Olympic teams, said: "Our environmental health officers are investigating and we cannot yet say what is the nature of this illness." Players from the Canada badminton team are also training in Derbyshire ahead of the Olympics. The Australian and Canadian squads are due to take part in a match on Saturday where they will team up to compete with a GB All-Star side.