IOC Backs Tweeting Athletes; Ticket Hopefuls Disappointed by Second Phase

IOC Supports Tweeting Athletes

The IOC has given its blessing to athletes using Twitter at the 2012 Games – but warned they could be thrown out if certain guidelines are breached.

Only "first-person, diary-type" entries are allowed under IOC rules. As with the Beijing and Vancouver Games, social media communications of a political, commercial or journalistic nature are forbidden.

The IOC said in a comment to ATR on Monday that it "actively encourages everyone to share their experience of the Olympic Games – whether on a social networking site or sharing photographs".

The statement added: "The social media guidelines that will apply in London will be similar to the ones used in Vancouver.

"The only difference lies in the fact that unlike in Vancouver where the rules were adapted to fit changed circumstances, the rules in force in London have been properly codified.

"For spectators the general rule is they can share text and photos as long as they do not do it for commercial gain. For athletes there are clearly slightly more stringent rules because we want to protect the special atmosphere of the Athletes' Village.

"We ask them not to post photographs of the competitions and not to post photos of others in the village and other Olympic venues without their permission.

"No video sharing is allowed. Apart from that we want people to share as much as possible their personal experience of the Games."

The IOC is encouraging participants to link their blogs or websites to Olympic.org or to London 2012's website.

Olympics Fans Left Disappointed After Second Sales

More than 15,000 people who thought they had bought Olympic tickets in the second round of sales on Friday are denied an opportunity to apply again in this phase.

Organizers confirmed Monday that around 10 percent of the 150,000 applications for around 850,000 tickets processed since Friday were unsuccessful. The ticketing system had creaked under the massive rush on the first day of the first-come, first-served sales window that ends July 3.

LOCOG said Ticketmaster's system was not live, meaning many people applied for tickets that appeared available but had in fact already sold out.

This leaves thousands of disappointed fans whose only hope is to try again for a fewer number of sports when 1.3 million tickets go on sale early next year.

"We know there is still some disappointment from those who were not successful in their requests, but we will continue to do everything we can to get them to the Games," said LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe.

"Over a million new tickets will be offered to the British public next year from contingency seats, once venues are tested and licensed, and we aim to get as many of these tickets as possible into the hands of customers who have missed out to date."

LOCOG said more than 130,000 additional people now have tickets to next year's Games following Friday's second round of sales. Around 60 percent of requests were submitted within the first two hours.

During that time 10 sports sold out, some within 15 minutes.

A total of 24 sports were on offer in the second round, 18 of which had sold out by Friday evening.

Boxing and weightlifting sold out Sunday. The only tickets now available are for football, volleyball and wrestling.

In the first ticketing sales phase, only 700,000 of the 1.9 million applicants were successful.

Olympic Rings for Tower Bridge

London's Tower Bridge will be dressed to impress as part of Olympic celebrations.

Mayor Boris Johnson announced Monday that the landmark would be home to a temporary installation of giant Olympic rings and the Paralympic agitos during the Games period.

This follows a deal struck between City Hall, City of London Corporation and London 2012 sustainability partners EDF Energy and GE to install the lighting system on Tower Bridge.

The flexible system would allow for evening lighting displays during the Olympics as well as the use of gold, silver and bronze lighting effects to indicate British medal successes.

Work on the project is set to begin by September and wrap up in the spring of 2012 subject to planning approval.

"I want London to sparkle with special moments during the Olympic and Paralympic Games and thanks to this funding deal, Tower Bridge is set to play a starring role in these once-in-a-lifetime celebrations," Johnson said.

Written by Mark Bisson