Billed as the first London-based event of these Olympics, the ranking round is traditionally held on the day of the opening ceremony and is used to seed male and female archers for the knockout rounds, which begin tomorrow. The event was listed as ‘unticketed’, meaning that it was not open to the public.
However, by the time the competition began at 9am, dozens of spectators had arrived at the cricket ground in north-west London in the hope of entry. The confusion appears to have sprung from a lack of clarity in pre-event literature, as well as wrong information distributed by a number of websites not affiliated to the Olympics. Read all about it here
The website of the London Olympics made it clear that spectators would not be allowed into the event. Elsewhere, however, the ranking round was listed as ‘unticketed’, giving it the same status as the cycling road races, at which spectators are welcome to turn up and watch for free.
On Thursday, Archery GB issued a statement reiterating that the event was closed to the public, in response to reports that bogus websites were attempting to sell tickets for 85 euros.
more