Confused Fans Turned Away in Archery Debacle

So no one got to watch Im Dong-hyun set a new world record
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 27, 2012 9:52 AM CDT
Confused Fans Turned Away in Archery Debacle
South Korea's Im Dong-hyun collects his arrows during an individual ranking round at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 27, 2012, in London.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Legally blind archer Im Dong-hyun set a world record in the first official London-based Olympic event today, but the hundreds of people who turned up to watch didn't get to see it. The event was just an initial rankings round, intended to seed teams for the full competition, and it's traditionally closed to the public. But the round was listed in some spots as "unticketed," the same status given to cycling road races, which spectators can watch for free, the Telegraph explains.

"There are hundreds and hundreds of us here," said one would-be spectator. "We don't have a clue what's going on. The website is very unclear." While the London Olympics site clearly states that the event isn't open to the public, many other sites, including the Daily Mail, listed it as a free event. Others even sold illegal bogus tickets. Inside, spectators would have seen Im score 699 on 72 arrows, beating his own record by three points, the AP reports. "This is just the first round," Im said, "so I will not get too excited by it." (More Im Dong-hyun stories.)

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