Olympic tickets: Bradley Wiggins misses out – did you?
Gold medallist Bradley Wiggins has missed out on cycling tickets for his family at next year’s London Olympics as disappointed sports fans complain about a “complicated” and “confusing” system.
Sports fans are waiting to find out which Olympic tickets they have secured for London 2012, as many others complain they have missed out in what has been branded a “ridiculous” ballot system.
A spokesman for the Games said “most payments” had been taken out on Tuesday (31 May) night but money will still be collected up until the deadline on 10 June. Those who have been successful already still don’t know which events they have paid for.
Gold medal winning cyclist Bradley Wiggins, who has won six medals at previous Olympics, is among the ranks of the disappointed. Earlier he tweeted: “No Olympic tickets for the wife and kids to watch Team Pursuit, oh well sorry kids going to have to watch dad on the telly!”
Even Mayor of London Boris Johnson appears to have missed out. He told reporters he is “cheesed off”. Estimates suggest a total of 250,000 people have been left empty-handed.
No Olympic tickets for the wife and kids to watch Team Pursuit, oh well sorry kids going to have to watch dad on the telly! Bradley Wiggins
Olympic diving hopeful Tom Daley said he was keeping his fingers crossed that his family had won tickets to see him in action at next year’s Games.
The Plymouth 17-year-old, whose father Rob died on Friday tweeted: “Mum had the money taken from the bank for the Olympic tickets! But only 1/4 of what she wanted! I hope my family get tickets to watch me!!!!”
Meanwhile a man who bid £36,000 pounds in total has come away with tickets worth £11,000. Stephen Hunt, a debt expert, has been forced to borrow money to pay for his allocation.
Outstanding payments from successful applicants whose cards failed the first time around for a range of reasons are now being taken.
Have you got tickets? Have you lost out? Is it too late? Your Olympic ticket questions answered here.
These may be Visa cards that have been declined because they have been lost or stolen since the application was made. New Visa card details may need to be registered with Ticketmaster customer services team by a specified date so payment can be taken.
Your reaction on Facebook and Twitter:
Lubica Petrasova via Facebook: I didn't get any and I applied for £500. I am sure I won't apply again. Waste of time and money :))))
@ninamay on Twitter: Didn't get any tickets, but only applied for 3 events and the cheapest category. It's complicated but fair as it cuts out touts.
Steven Keddy via Facebook: The way they did the tickets was ridiculous.
@Steve_run via Twitter: Missed out, only applied for 1 event. Surprised didn't limit tickets to 1 event considering how over subscribed Disappointed
Rory Beaton via Facebook: I'm delighted...didn't apply for any, didn't get any. Result!
What next?
Organisers are contacting successful applicants whose Visa cards have failed in order to give them more time to move funds into their accounts to cover the total cost of their application by a specified date. In total, 1.8 million people have made 20 million requests for tickets – but only 6.6 million tickets are on sale in Britain.
This has resulted in over-subscriptions for more than 50 per cent of the 650 sessions, which has triggered computerised ballots.
A London 2012 spokesman said: “Applicants who have been unsuccessful and have got nothing in the first round will get priority in the second round. The reality is that many people will not be lucky the first time around but they will get priority for the second round.
“There have been 20 million applications for tickets and many events have been oversubscribed, so there will be some people who will not get any in the first round but they will get something in the second round.”
They will get details of how to apply when they are notified if they have been successful by 24 June.