Organisers of the London 2012 Olympics were forced to defend the event's ticketing process again on Friday after an early morning deluge of applicants for the 2.3m tickets available to those who missed out in the first round caused the website to grind to a halt.
Overwhelming demand for the remaining tickets caused many of the 1.2 million people eligible to apply for them to take to the airwaves, the internet and Twitter to register their anger after they were confronted with messages telling them to try again later. But protests from those who had risen at 6am to try to get their hands on the tickets available, of which only 600,000 were not for the football tournament, subsided within an hour as their transactions began to go through more easily.
A spokeswoman for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) said transactions continued to be processed from 6am onwards but such was the demand that some were held back to avoid overloading the system.
By mid-afternoon, the only tickets remaining were for football, volleyball, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting. The 40,000 remaining athletics tickets were snapped up most rapidly in this phase of ticketing. The second chance sale offered tickets for 310 sessions, including 44 medal events.
{{/usCountry}}By mid-afternoon, the only tickets remaining were for football, volleyball, boxing, wrestling and weightlifting. The 40,000 remaining athletics tickets were snapped up most rapidly in this phase of ticketing. The second chance sale offered tickets for 310 sessions, including 44 medal events.
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