Federations Applaud "Unprecedented" Olympic Crowds; Pistorius Advances

Federations Applaud Best Ever Olympic Crowds

Association of Summer Olympic International Federations director Andrew Ryan tells Around the Rings that attendance figures for the 26 Olympic sports is "unprecedented."

Ryan gave a report to the London 2012 coordination commission Saturday morning that involved IOC president Jacques Rogge, Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli and LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton, among others.

"The crowds are the best they [federation presidents] have seen at a Games," Ryan told ATR, echoing his message to the coordination commission meeting.

"It’s unprecedented to have such full stadia and enthusiasm.

"They have been especially vocal about British athletes but also all other athletes… they are appreciating that these are the best athletes in the world."

From the start of Games competition seven days ago, LOCOG has come under fire for the swathes of empty seats visible at some venues.

Ryan dismissed the critics, saying that ASOIF had always been confident that LOCOG would deliver full stadia.

He described the number of empty seats seen at a number of venues, which LOCOG has tried to resolve through recycling accredited seats, as "relatively trivial". He put their no-shows down to federation officials and athletes having a mixture of commitments to fulfill that meant they couldn’t spend hours watching events.

Patrick Baumann, secretary general of the International Basketball Federation, backed up Ryan’s positive comments about attendances at this morning’s joint IOC/LOCOG briefing.

He said LOCOG had "over-delivered" on what initially sounded like an unrealistic promise of full arenas.

On his visits to other venues, Baumann said he hadn’t seen "huge blocks of empty seats" but only small numbers of seats in accredited Olympic family areas, which he said was normal due to their other commitments at various times during the Games.

A total of 4.4 million spectators have attended events at the London Olympics, as of Friday night, LOCOG spokeswoman Jackie Brock-Doyle told the news conference.

Ahead of "Super Saturday" – when 25 golds are up for grabs – 221,000 people visited the Olympic Park on Friday.

Pistorius Advances; Champion DNF, No 100m Surprises

"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius advanced to the semi-finals of the men’s 400m sprint.

On Saturday, Pistorius, the first double-amputee to compete at the Olympics, cruised to a qualifying time, earning a spot in Sunday’s semi-final.

Pistorius proved so popular with reporters that he was conducting interviews nearly 45 minutes after his run.

The defending Olympic champion, LaShawn Merritt of the U.S., was not as lucky. Merritt injured his left hamstring and limped off the track, visibly in pain about halfway in to his 400m heat.

In the men’s 100m finals, all the big names advanced to the semi-finals without obvious signs of difficulty.

Former 100m world champion Kim Collins was scratched from his heat for breaking team rules to visit his wife. He also announced he would no longer represent St. Kitts and Nevis. Collins served as the flagbearer for St. Kitts and Nevis.

"This can't be right. Olympic number 5 and no Kim Collins," he tweeted.

"For those who saw me run in Mexico. That's the last time I represent my country.

"Even men in prison get their wives to visit.

"6 athletes and 9 officials. That ain't enough to make some people happy. Omg."

One notable result –Ryan Bailey of the U.S. ran the fastest heat at 9.88 seconds. He set an Olympic record for a first round 100m heat and would have won gold medals in most previous Games.

Written by Mark Bisson and Ed Hula III.

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