London Latest - Gold Medal Returned; Small Children Concerns for Marathon

(ATR) The International Paralympic Committee says Maria Pomazan of the Ukraine returned her wrongly awarded gold medal.

Pomazan initially won gold last Friday in the women’s combined F35/36 class discus event but did not attend the second ceremony the next day when the medals were to be properly awarded, following a scoring mix-up.

Spokesman Craig Spence says the IPC has received her medal.

"The medal, I’m pleased to say, was returned to the IPC yesterday evening," he said. "We’d like to thank the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee for their cooperation in returning that medal, and that issue is now concluded."

"Small Children" Warning for Marathon

Transport for London's managing director of surface transport Leon Daniels warns families to think twice about bringing "small children" to Sunday’s marathon. The free-to-all event will snake through London’s streets.

"I’m asking people to consider carefully about bringing small children to an event whereby they may have to wait in a crowd in the sunshine for some time," he said at Friday’s joint IPC/LOCOG briefing. "I’m just asking people to think carefully and not be surprised if they have long waits in a crowd."

He added that the Olympics featured the busies single days for key parts of London’s public transport system including the Underground, the Emirates Air Line and the Docklands Light Rail, saying a comprehensive report with exact statistics will come following the Games.

LOCOG spokesperson Jackie Brock-Doyle said total ticketed attendance for Thursday was 215,000.

Ticketed Olympic Park visitors totaled 166,000, and the ExCeL Centre had 25,000 spectators.

Reported in London by Ed Hula III

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