London 2012 Olympics: Trafalgar Square countdown clock stops


If only it were a wind-up. The official Omega countdown clock for the London 2012 Olympics stopped on Tuesday at 500 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes, 56 seconds, less than a day after it had started amid snow flurries in Trafalgar Square.



By Jacquelin Magnay, Olympics Editor 3:36PM GMT 15 Mar 2011

The embarrassing technical fault, which was rectified several hours later, came as the celebrations to mark 500 days until the opening ceremony were in full swing. The associated opening of the official ticket website for the Games got under way without any of the feared significant computer crashes.

“We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue,” an Omega spokesperson said. “The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square.”

Officials from the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games tried to see the funny side of the situation, noting wryly that it did not give them any extra time to prepare.

The countdown clock to the Paralympics opening ceremony, on the reverse side of the Olympic clock, continued to operate perfectly throughout.

At the clock unveiling, Omega president Stephen Urqhart said that, as official timekeepers of the Olympics – and London will be the company’s 25th Games – “we have to get it right”.