Naughty swimmers to leave London early - Sportal.com.au
Australian swimmers Nick D'Arcy and Kenrick Monk will leave London immediately after their events at the Olympic Games are over.
Monk earlier this week posted a photo on Facebook of the duo posing with high-powered weapons in a US gun shop, with the pair later apologising for their actions.
Along with being sent home after their swimming events are completed, Monk and D'Arcy have been banned from using social media from July 16 to August 15, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) said on Saturday.
In a letter sent to both athletes, Chef de Mission Nick Green said: "Given this incident and our previous discussions concerning your conduct, I now have concerns regarding your lack of judgment.
"As a member of the 2012 Australian Olympic Team, and as I have reminded you on previous occasions, it is an honour and a privilege to be a member of an Australian Olympic Team.
"Australian Olympians are required to meet very high standards of conduct and we cannot risk the reputation of the team through non-compliance with the Team Membership Agreement."
If they are not required for the final session of the swimming program, the AOC plan for D'Arcy and Monk to leave London's Olympic Village on August 4.
Green insisted the decision to take the pair to the Games, which start on July 27, had nothing to do with whether they would be successful.
"This has nothing to do with medals," he said.
"It is all about upholding team values, in particular the high standards of behaviour set by those Olympians who came before you."
Swimming Australia, who ordered for the photos to be removed, are conducting their own investigation.
London in brief — CFL in London?; Jobless rate drops; Majors go purple - Metronews.ca
CFL coming to London in 2013?
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League, without a home venue for the 2013 season due to construction, may end up playing a few games out of the Forest City.
Nearby McMaster University recently declined to play host, opening the door for other potential sites.
London appears to be in the hunt to host not only one game, but perhaps a few and maybe the entire season.
Tiger-Cats president Bob Young told the Hamilton Spectator that London is the team’s “No. 1 conversation” at the moment.
Positive signs on job front
The local unemployment rate dropped for the sixth straight month in May.
London’s 8.3 per cent current jobless rate is one-tenth of a percentage point lower than in April.
Statistics Canada figures indicate the London-St.Thomas labour force grew by more than 2,000. But, the local economy managed to add 3,000 new jobs, which essentially evened the difference out.
Majors and Abused Women’s Centre team up
The London Majors and London Abused Women’s Centre have announced Thursday, July 5 will be known as Purple in the Park day.
In support of ending violence against women, the baseball squad will don purple jerseys for the regular season game at Labatt Memorial Park.
Tickets can be purchased through the Majors website or at the London Abused Women’s Centre (217 York St.).
Fans fury at Olympics ticket sales goes on - as organisers slammed for selling some for £2,012 EACH - Daily Mail
- Tickets still on sale for prestige events as fans are put off by sky-high prices
- Games organisers still have 550,000 tickets to shift
- Even Olympic hero Daley Thompson has been unable to get tickets
By Damien Gayle
|
Furious sports fans hit out at the London Olympics ticket sales process once again yesterday, as event bosses were slammed for trying to flog some for as much as 2,012.
Thousands were trying for their last chance to gain entrance to some of the most popular Olympic events as the latest tranche of tickets went on sale at 11am yesterday morning.
But almost as soon as the tickets went on sale, hundreds were already taking to Twitter to broadcast their frustration at the online buying process.
Wishful thinking? This artist's impression shows how the 2012 Games should look in full swing, but LOCOG was facing the prospect that some stadiums may not be full as the public tires of the ticket buying process
And the London Olympic organising committee (LOCOG) is also coming under pressure to explain its failure to shift 'prestige' tickets, on sale for prices ranging between 295 to 1,800.
The tickets that went on sale yesterday, 'AA' tickets for the opening ceremony cost 2,012, and the cheapest available for that event were 995. Many were still unsold by 5pm.
So far, 7million of the total 8.8million Olympic tickets have been shifted, and about half of the 2.45million Paralympic tickets, in a process that began last year.
Left out: Former decathlete Daley Thompson has been unable to get any tickets for the games at all
LOCOG still has about 550,000 tickets to sell with just weeks to go to the start of the Games on July 27.
A large chunk of them are so-called contingency tickets which had been held back while logistics such as TV camera positions were resolved.
The committee has a further 1.25million soccer tickets to shift - about half the original number.
Yesterday, as the latest tranche of tickets were made available at 11am, hundreds of people took to Twitter to vent their fury.
Even Olympics legend Daley Thompson told how he had failed to get any tickets and had 'wasted 45 minutes' on the London 2012 website.
Angry buyers told how they waited for the online system to tell them whether they had secured their chosen tickets only to be told that there were no more available.
Former Olympic gold medal winning decathlete Thompson Tweeted: 'I bet I’m not alone in being unable to get any tickets on 2012 website wasted 45mins and I want them so badly'
And Television and BBC radio presenter Sarah-Jane Crawford Tweeted: 'I’m trying to get some tickets for the Olympics but when I click ‘request tickets’ on the site, it just refreshes page and tells me nothing?'
And Twitter used Neil Robertson wrote: 'Appear to have more chance of winning lottery tonight than getting Olympics tickets!'
LBC presenter Anthony Davis said: 'I’m in the virtual queue for #Olympics tickets. 3 min wait to see if I’ve been successful. The official ticket website is a joke.
'Been trying to buy Olympic tickets for 35 mins. Nothing available for under 450 each apparently… gutted.'
Deborah Roback wrote: 'What a rubbish system, impossible to find available tickets for any event.' And furious fans also yesterday hit out at the expensive 'prestige tickets' on offer.
Paul Roberts, 40, from Essex, told The Sun: 'We were told it was going to be the Games for the people. But I didn’t realise they were talking about people with big wallets and cash to burn.'
Premium: Tickets to see athletes like Jessica Ennis compete in athletics events are among the most expensive available
London 2012 organisers say the high prices help to subsidise the cheap tickets on offer to the public. Company Prestige Ticketing was given about 80,000 Olympics and Paralympics tickets to sell.
A Prestige spokesman said: 'The income from these programmes provides a vital source of revenue that makes the Games more accessible.
'Tickets for the Opening Ceremony would not be available to the public at 20.12 if there were not tickets at 2,012 that subsidise the cheaper ones.'
Experts believe LOCOG has done a good job, having already sold more than 90 percent of its tickets (excluding the football). It is on target to raise the 500million needed towards its 2billion budget.
'They have a few hundred thousand tickets which millions of people would like to buy, then they have several millions of tickets that nobody wants to buy,' said Stefan Szymanski of the University of Michigan. 'And they have a commitment to make every event a sell-out.'
The lottery-style process adopted in the early rounds allowed it to get the best price for the tickets, he said.
'The problem is that the British public didn't seem to understand this,' he added.
Alternatives, such as an auction, would have raised more revenue, but would have been resented even more by a British public that had already forked out 9.3 pounds towards getting the Games ready.
0 Responses to "Naughty swimmers to leave London early - Sportal.com.au"
Post a Comment