LONDON – With the London 2012 Olympic games less than a year away, a growing number of sportsmen and women fear they will be unable to afford London travel costs required to reach designated venues.
The London Underground and rail networks ticket prices seem set to disrupt the start of the games as athletes struggle to find the cheapest routes between each venue.
With some destinations requiring a combination of train, underground and bus to reach, winning gold has never been more important than it will be at London 2012 as medals could be melted down and sold to pay for the journey back to the Olympic village.
“You want how much?!”
The looming prospect of transport prices hikes in the new year in addition to generally high living costs could cause extra shock to athletes already unsure about how they will make it through the competition.
Ethiopian gold medal winner Kenenisa Bekele has already highlighted that the “disturbingly high” price of food in the capital is leading him to consider skipping lunch entirely.
International Olympic Committee chairman Jacques Rogge had initially told Olympic participants not to worry, “but that was before I found out the cost of a return journey from Heathrow Airport to Stratford and frankly I’m a little concerned myself.”
Mr Rogge has since advised all participants to “begin taking travel seriously and start saving up now,” and even suggested he may watch the 2012 games on the BBC “if London continue to take the piss with travel costs”.
Bar set too high
Faced with the prospect of being “taken for a ride”, several nations are now considering their involvement in the competition at all.
“Hey look, no doubt it’s an honour to represent you country at the greatest sporting event the world has ever known. We’re not denying that,” said US world relay champion Allyson Felix.
“But whether we’re willing to buy one of these all day travelcards for everyone on the team is not a decision we’ll be making lightly.”
So far, Zimbabwean gold medal winner Kirsty Leigh remains the only confirmed casualty – pulling out from the 2012 games citing “travel expenses” as the sole reason for missing out.
Despite hyperinflation destroying her home economy, the champion swimmer said she wasn’t worried about the price of the flight to London, “but what then? Have you seen what it costs to get an Oystercard into zone one?”
“Forget that. I’ll wait for Rio.”
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