Chris Hoy’s father urges Olympics to give families golden ticket

THERE has been further criticism of ticketing arrangements for this summer’s London Olympics after Sir Chris Hoy’s father said he was in danger of missing out on seeing his son compete.

David Hoy, whose son has won four cycling gold medals, including three at the last Games in Beijing, said not enough was being done for families desperate to see relatives perform.

Every British athlete has been given the opportunity to buy two tickets for each session in which they compete. But Mr Hoy said that had left his son with the difficult decision over whether his tickets should go to his parents, wife or sister.

He said: “I don’t think athletes’ families have been taken into consideration.

“It’s not rocket science. It just needs somebody to sit down and think about the families who have got the athletes to this level. Just a little bit of payback would be very welcome.”

Many events at the Games, including cycling, have been oversubscribed.

Mr Hoy said that, with the final round of ticket sales due to take place in a few weeks’ time, the organisers should hold back some of them for families.

He said his message to the London 2012 Organising Committee (Locog) was simple: “Please consider how you would feel if your son or daughter had worked for ten or 12 years and slaved, trained really hard, got to this level, and then you were told ‘Really sorry, you’re going to have to sit and watch it at home’.

“Just imagine how you’d feel and do something about it, please.”

He also complained about a policy, which is under review, of charging babies the full price for a seat at the Games. Sir Chris Hoy’s niece is four months old.

He said: “It’s crazy. She’ll just sleep on someone’s shoulder, so there will just be an empty seat which could go to somebody desperate to see the Olympic racing.”

Mr Hoy and his wife, as well as Sir Chris’s wife, are in Melbourne watching the cyclist compete at the Track Cycling World Championships.

The family regularly travel from their home in Edinburgh in support of their son, and were among the crowd when Sir Chris rode to victory in Beijing.

The ticketing system for the Games has proved controversial, with complaints about an alleged lack of transparency over the price of tickets for events which were supposed to be “affordable”.

Mr Hoy’s comments follow criticism of how ticketing was handled for members of the public last year. Money was taken from successful applicants’ bank accounts weeks before they found out what events they would be going to see, with high-profile figures including London mayor Boris Johnson failing to get any tickets in the first round of sales.

There were more than one million requested tickets for the men’s 100m final – 62 for every ticket sold.

Last week, it emerged the world 400m hurdles champion Dai Greene and Olympic rowing gold medallist Zac Purchase had both bought tickets for their finals from strangers who had contacted them on Twitter.

A spokesman Locog said a guarantee that competitors would receive two tickets for relatives had not been in place at previous Games. He said: “Locog is guaranteeing all athletes up to two tickets for family and friends for every session they compete in, and this hasn’t always been the case for previous Games. Athletes’ families typically can also get tickets from governing bodies and their national Olympic committees. Sponsor Procter & Gamble is also helping Team GB athletes’ families with tickets.”