The unlinkable SCMP has the scoop of the century...amongst the sports trying to join the Olympic circus is one played around the world:

The organisers of a Japanese hide-and-seek competition that has become increasingly "professional" since it was first staged five years ago are calling for the event to become an official Olympic sport.

The event was first held in 2000 and was designed to attract tourists to Mikata, where they would search for residents. "We decided to hold a second competition for `professional' teams - four hiders and one seeker - and because it is so popular we now think that it should become an Olympic sport," Mr Taniguchi said.

The town has set up the official Japan Hide and Seek Association and is lobbying to have the sport included in the 2012 Olympics. Held in a patch of woodland measuring 500 metres by 100 metres, seekers earn one point for the first opponent they discover, continuing up to four points for the fourth member of the other team. Hiders, on the other hand, lose points for their team when they are located.

"To be successful, the competitors have to be able to run very fast to start with and then be able to keep very still when they find a hiding place," said Fumio Kiyama, one of the organisers. "That might sound easy, but there are lots of mosquitoes out there and it was very hot." But the competitors - perhaps with an eye on the gold medal at a future Olympics - tend to be very tight-lipped about their tactics, Mr Taniguchi said.