Omega’s London 2012 Countdown Clock Stops Working 499 Days Early

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Omega’s London 2012 Countdown Clock Stops Working 499 Days Early
2011-03-15 17:52:22.378 GMT


By Danielle Rossingh
March 15 (Bloomberg) -- A giant digital clock counting down to the London 2012 Olympics built on Trafalgar Square by Swiss luxury watch maker Omega has stopped working 499 days too early.
The steel countdown clock had been unveiled yesterday to mark 500 days before the opening ceremony on July 27 by London Mayor Boris Johnson, chairman of the London organizing committee Sebastian Coe and four British Olympic gold medalists.
Today, the 6.5 meter (21-foot) high clock stopped working at 500 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes, 56 seconds. Omega is the official timekeeper of the Games.
“We are obviously disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue,” Omega said in an e-mailed statement. The clock had been “fully tested” before being installed on the square in central London, it added.
Omega, which is owned by the world’s biggest watchmaker Swatch Group AG, said a team from Switzerland is on its way to try and fix the problem.
The clock wasn’t the only obstacle Games organizers had to deal with on the first day of 6.6 million tickets going on sale to the public. Sports fans with Visa credit cards that expire before the end of August found they were unable to process their applications for the public ballot.
Visa Inc., the world’s biggest electronic payments network, is a London 2012 sponsor and therefore the only card that can be used to buy tickets.
“Visa are looking into the possibility of taking the date forward so more people can apply,” organizing committee spokesman Adrian Bassett said in an interview.

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--Editor: Christopher Elser, Bob Bensch

To contact the reporter on this story:
Danielle Rossingh in London at +44-20-7073-3628 or drossingh@bloomberg.net