“These folks [Locog] are saying yes, it’s our fault, it should have said ‘open
to the public’,” he said. “But there are hundreds and hundreds of us here.
There’s nothing we can do. We don’t have a clue what’s going on. The website
was very unclear.

“Everybody you see her in shorts, and a lot of others, are in the same
position as me. They were expecting to be able walk in and sit down. With
this and the Korean thing, before the Games even start, it’s not the best
start.”

Another would-be spectator, Charles Fox, had come from Kingston-upon-Thames
after seeing the event advertised as non-ticketed in an official Locog
ticketing brochure. “It’s a bit of a shame,” he said. “I wanted to come to
Lord’s, and they’ve just turned us away. I don’t see why they can’t just let
us in.”

Vanessa Bellamy, the venue manager at Lord’s, said: “This has always been a
non-ticketed event but it seems some people believed they could come down on
the day. This was never the case but we believe some illegal websites may
have suggested this was the case.”

A number of websites – still extant – had listed the ranking round as a free
event, including the online version of the Daily Mail and a student
money-saving website called ‘Save The Student’.

An official Locog statement read: “Tickets have not been advertised or sold by
Locog for the Archery ranking event which starts today at Lords Cricket
Ground. We have always made it clear that the preliminary rounds are not
open for spectators.

“There are a number of unofficial websites claiming to sell tickets, we
therefore advise people to be extremely cautious and vigilant when
attempting to buy tickets and only purchase from an official source.”