London Olympic organizers face a growing backlash from hundreds of thousands of sports fans who woke up on Wednesday to find they were ticketless, despite some bidding thousands of pounds for tickets.
Even London Mayor Boris Johnson failed to secure any tickets from his personal application, but said it proved that the process was fair.
“I am proud to be British. No other country or culture in the world would have a situation where the mayor of the host city goes into a ballot for tickets for his family and gets rejected,” he said.
However, others were crying foul. The controversial ballot, held after 20 million people applied for the 6 million tickets, was criticized for effectively favoring wealthier buyers who could afford to make multiple bids.
Among those left empty-handed were Frances Jauch, a primary school teacher. She applied for tickets to the hockey qualifiers and gymnastics, while her boyfriend applied for badminton and table tennis — a total of US$260 worth of tickets.
“I thought we were quite a safe bet with hockey and table tennis. We went for two US$32 tickets, as we didn’t want to risk overspending and we don’t live in London,” said Jauch, 27, from Cheltenham, England. “I am really disappointed not to have been given a single ticket, particularly when some people have received tickets to multiple events. Also, the hockey is undersubscribed, so I can’t understand why I wasn’t even lucky enough to get one [ticket].”
Jauch, a former county-level hockey player, added: “If [London Organising Committee chairman] Lord [Sebastian] Coe’s aim was to bring sport and the Olympics to as many people as possible and to inspire them to take part in sport, then he has failed dismally. I am a primary teacher in a school in a disadvantaged area and few, if any, of these children will have access to the Games.”
However, one man picked up almost US$18,000 worth of tickets after bidding on a total of US$59,000. Stephen Hunt, an insolvency practitioner, said he had surpassed his credit limit and initially did not have the available funds to pay for the tickets, but has since increased his card’s credit limit so he can go ahead.
“I’d rather scrimp and save for a bit extra rather than be disappointed and I’ve seen so many people who have bid a relatively normal amount of money and not been successful,” he told BBC Radio.
American rugby sevens star Ilona Maher is to join 15-a-side club Bristol next month in a bid to play in next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup, the English club announced on Monday. Maher, 28, helped the US to a bronze medal at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris and is the seven-a-side sport’s most popular player on social media. “This is a huge coup to be able to bring Ilona Maher to Bristol Bears on a short-term deal,” Bristol head coach Dave Ward said. “She is one of the biggest names in women’s sport, let alone rugby, and we believe she will
US skier Mikaela Shiffrin said she sustained an abrasion on her left hip and that something “stabbed” her when she crashed during her second run of an Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom race on Saturday, doing a flip and sliding into the protective fencing. Shiffrin stayed down on the edge of the course for quite some time as the ski patrol attended to her. She was taken off the hill on a sled and waved to the cheering crowd before going to a clinic for evaluation. “Not really too much cause for concern at this point, I just
HISTORIC VICTORY: Botafogo are the last of the four big Rio clubs to win the Copa Libertadores and they earned a spot in next year’s FIFA Club World Cup Botafogo on Saturday overcame playing with 10 men to win their first Copa Libertadores title after beating fellow Brazilian side Atletico Mineiro 3-1 in the final at Estadio Monumental. After just 30 seconds, midfielder Gregore, one of Botafogo’s best players, hit the head of Fausto Vera with his foot and was given a straight red card. “It was so hard to have one less so early in a final. It was an unfortunate move,” Botafogo defender Alexander Barboza said. “But Gregore deserves this title as much as we do. We made history and that won’t ever be erased.” Winger Luiz
LeBron James is in quite the shooting slump — especially from long distance, highlighted by his zero-for-four effort from three-point range for the Los Angeles Lakers in their 109-80 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday. That return stretched the nearly-40-year-old’s skid to zero-for-19 from deep over his past four games. James’ birthday is on Dec. 30. After going four-for-16 from the floor overall with six of his team’s 20 turnovers for a season-low 10 points against the Timberwolves, James was asked to reflect on the Lakers reaching the quarter mark of their 2024-2025 schedule under rookie coach J.J. Redick at 12-9. “I
RSS