Craig Kinsley, a rookie US javelin thrower, was smiling from ear to ear as he joined the first athletes dumping their bags at the Olympic Village on Monday.
“I’ve just updated my Facebook status,” he said. “England, London, Olympic Village, heaven.”
He might have been forgiven for being less upbeat — Kinsley was one of dozens of athletes from the US and Australia teams granted unplanned tours of Westminster Abbey and Tower Bridge when their buses from London Heathrow airport got badly lost on their way to the village, but neither that nor the wind and rain sweeping the Olympic Park in east London was going to dim Kinsley’s enthusiasm.
Photo: Reuters
“This is my first international competition,” he said. “I might as well start big.”
The village welcomed its first athletes on Monday, and Swiss and Belgian competitors had already draped flags over their balconies. French and Guatemalan medal hopefuls milled around the shopping plaza, as athletes from an estimated 40 countries checked in.
However, getting there had been tough.
Volunteer drivers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK — along with satellite navigation systems that did not include the address of the Olympic Village — turned what was supposed to be a seamless journey along clear “Games lanes” into an exhausting schlep through London congestion.
“Loads of us have never been to London before. It’s great. We’re like tourists,” one Liverpudlian coach driver confessed.
Tom Pukstys, a coach with the US, described how he and 25 other members of the team who flew overnight to Heathrow from Chicago faced a four-hour drive across London when their Scottish driver got lost.
“I was watching the satnav and it was telling us to go one way, then another. It was the first time he [the driver] had made the trip. If you are going to competition and get lost that would be devastating, but that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Two-time world 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement tweeted: “Um, so we’ve been lost on the road for 4 hrs. Not a good first impression London. Athletes are sleepy, hungry and need to pee. Could we get to the Olympic Village please.”
The team’s spokesman, Patrick Sandusky, said there had been “some limited challenges for some of our athletes traveling from Heathrow to the Olympic Village,” but he commended the organization, saying “one bus trip doesn’t detract from that a bit.”
After a 23-hour flight, Australia’s sailing team had a scare when they briefly lost track of their sails at Heathrow, then they had to wait two hours for a bus. It took a further two hours to get to the Olympic Village, taking in Big Ben and Westminster Abbey as the driver got lost.
“The driver didn’t know where he was going and hadn’t been told how to use the satnav,” Australian official Damian Kelly said. “He was on his walkie-talkie, we were on the phone to the Olympic Village getting directions and some of us were trying to guide us in using Google. Look, these things happen. We’re just glad it happened now and not in the middle of competition.”
It was an embarrassing case of life imitating art.
The BBC TV satire on the Games organizers, Twenty Twelve, had included a story where an official bus driven by a Nottingham man who did not understand his satnav got lost. Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the real London organizing committee was keen to play down the problem.
“It is day one and we have only had one or two issues where journeys have taken longer than planned,” she said. “The vast majority of journeys have been fine.”
Scudding gray rain clouds and strong winds meant the village, which will house more than 11,000 athletes from 204 countries, struggled to feel as festive as it surely will, but spirits remained high.
US 400m champion, Tony McQuay, tweeted: “I don’t think I want to leave the UK sorry US lol but I’m loving how they build this village for us to stay in ... Wow!”
British athletes were rallied with a speech by Dame Kelly Holmes and soccer player Jack Butland, 19, tweeted: “Loving this experience already.”
Even Kerron Clement appeared to have cheered up.
The athlete tweeted later: “Eating at the Olympic Village. Love the variety of food choices, African, Caribbean, Halal cuisine, India and Asian and of course McDonalds.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care