Fenlander fails to get over Olympic hurdle

I'm an Olympic flop ... I didn't even make the finals, let alone the podium.

The greatest show on earth in your own country. That really is something special, something I won't  witness again in my lifetime. With that in mind, I registered my interest in tickets long before they went on sale in the hope that we could make the 100-mile trip from the peaceful Fens to the hustle and bustle of Britain's Olympic Stadium in London.

Olympic Park: the hub of the Games

Like so many other people I know, I was unsuccessful with my applications when tickets were eventually put on sale. I lost heart and all faith in the process and felt that Joe Public was being shunned in favour of big business ... that is unless Joe happened to be well off [continued...].

But, alas, those people who were initially unsuccessful were given another chance due, in part, to a huge public outcry, and today was my big day. I duly logged in, full of hope, a few minutes after the website opened for business. Tickets for the opening ceremony were no longer available, but there was an opprtunity of attending the closing ceremony.

Not surprisingly, the £20 tickets had long gone, so what about two tickets at £150? Expensive, but this is special. After a 15-minute wait I was informed they were not available. Of course, I could try for tickets priced at £655 each, £995 or even £1,500. So if my wife and I wanted to go then we would have to fork out £3,000 [plus the cost of a carer to look after my mother-in-law while we were out]. 

I had three attempts - waiting for various lengths of time -  at trying to buy tickets for other events, including an athletics day on Sunday, August 5 which climaxes in the men's 100m final. I knew that it really was in vain, but hey, I gave it my best shot. I had no joy with the £125 tickets (£50 tickets were not available), so I had a choice of £295, £420 or £725. 

After a long discussion, my wife and I ruled those out on the grounds of cost. There are plenty of other things we could buy instead of two tickets at £295, £420 or £725 each.

Seb Coe, now Lord Coe, who is chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Organising Committee, said:

He's happy: but Lord Coe understands
that many people will be disappointed
                                     Inside the games

"When you have nearly two million people chasing over 23m tickets [the total number of applications for tickets], it is not obviously the opening paragraph of a happy ending. People are going to be disappointed, I understand that.

"We're working our way through this. There has never been a ticket in the history of sports tickets that has had this level of demand."

Sounds like an excuse, Seb. The phrase "times of austerity" has almost become a cliche, but money is tight, particularly for ordinary working-class folk. They have seen their wages frozen, food, fuel and energy prices rise, pensions cut and their working lives ridiculously extended through no fault of their own.

And now the public have the choice of either paying a small fortune to watch an Olympic event in person or staying at home to watch it on telly. In times of austerity.

I know what most people will be doing.
Oh, well, we can forget being trackside when Usain Bolt flies past. There's always the village gala to look forward to, anyway. I wonder if there will be sheep racing again this year? Should be able to get a seat on the playing fields for that.
PS: Fenman [@harrysrus] is now on Twitter.