Badminton Backlash; Pin Traders Evicted; Security Expert on Games So Far

(ATR) Pin traders have been evicted from the Olympic Village, a veteran of the hobby tells Around the Rings.

Leonard Braun, a Californian who has collected pins since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, was disappointed when he was told to leave the Village after coming in as guest of one of the National Olympic Committees.

"Unlike any other Olympics I’ve been to, the people here in the [Olympic] Village won’t allow non-credentialed people to do any trading at all," he says. "Everybody that’s tried has been evicted and not allowed to come back. Usually they kind of encourage (trading)."

When Braun and other pin traders first got inside the gates as NOC guests, he says "the rules were kind of unsettled.

Everybody had a different interpretation, but finally they decided absolutely no trading and anybody they saw trading was asked to leave and not come back."

A LOCOG spokesperson tells ATR:"There are official pin traders who are accredited to operate in the residential area of the Olympic Village. To maintain an organized and helpful process, pin traders who are not authorized to operate in this area will be asked to leave."

Other pin traders declined to discuss the situation on the record. But Braun, who is now trading outside the Stratford International station and inside Olympic Park, was disappointed enough to talk to ATR.

"I’ve never seen another Olympic Village that was like this," he says. "A lady from management told me that one of the reasons is that Coke has put a lot of pressure on them to not allow pin trading. They have a pin trading center in the Village, but I haven’t been there because it’s in a residential area so I couldn’t get to it."

ATR understands that the official pin traders are part of the One Planet Centre in the Village's residential zone (opposite the Globe). Longtime Olympic sponsor Coca-Cola was a partner in creating the One Planet Centre and has also been heavily involved in pin-trading activities.

Coca-Cola was not available for immediate comment.

Sport Security Expert on Games So Far

International Center for Sport Security executive director Helmut Spahn tells Around the Ringsthat LOCOG and other authorities "should not rest on their laurels" a week into the London 2012 Olympics.

"While we have seen some minor issues arise - which is normal over the course of an international major event on this scale - overall, the security for these Games has passed without major incident,"says Spahn, formerly chief security officer for the German Football Association and head of security for Germany’s 2006 FIFA World Cup.

"With many popular and ‘spectator-heavy events’ – like athletics and track cycling - due to begin over the next few days, in addition to the culmination of the swimming event, the next 48 – 72 hours will be a important period for all staff involved with securing the Olympic Park and other Olympic venues," he cautions.

Badminton Backlash in China

Social network sites in China are showing a mixed reaction towards disgraced badminton pair of Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli.

Yu has quit the sport amid demands for her to apologize for the farcical performance against their South Korean rivalsearlier this week.

The Chinese were one of four pairs expelled from the Olympic women’s doubles competition Wednesday by the Badminton World Federation for tanking - not putting their best efforts forward and for actions detrimental to the sport.

Yu, 26, and gold medalist in Beijing, took to Weibo, a Chinese microblogging version of Twitter, to say: "This is my last competition. Goodbye Badminton World Federation, goodbye my beloved badminton.

"You have heartlessly shattered our dreams… It's that simple, not complicated at all. But this is unforgivable."

But there has been a strong reaction against the pair’s actions on the same site.

One angry poster, Tanwei Eason, wrote: "I sympathized with the badminton player at first but after I watch the video of that match – what are you guys doing? You should improve your acting skills. These players didn’t respect the audience at all."

Another, Liang Fashi, asked: "How do you treat 600 audience fairly? How do you treat this responsibly? It is the same as making fake products."

In contrast, others are refusing to attack the women and instead blaming the system and the chief coach Li Yongbo for allowing this situation to happen.

The Xinhua state news agency is reporting that Beijing has ordered the players to apologize.

Reported by Karen Rosen, Ed Hula and Matt Horn

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