| London Olympic organisers were left red-faced on Tuesday when a huge clock in Trafalgar Square marking the countdown to the 2012 Games stopped just hours after being unveiled at a glitzy ceremony。
The steel digital clock measuring 6.5 metres tall and five metres long froze with 500 days, 7 hours, 6 minutes and 56 seconds to go before the start of the Games。
It had been unveiled on Monday by London Olympic organising committee (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe and four British Olympic gold medallists, coinciding with 6.6 million Games tickets going on sale。
"We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue," a spokesman for Swiss watchmakers Omega said in a statement。
However, a LOCOG spokeswoman laughed off the malfunction, adding "it is not our clock."
Trafalgar Square is where Londoners gathered in 2005 to hear their city announced as winning bidders。
Omega said the clock, with its unique design for 2012, had been developed by experts and fully tested ahead of its launch。
"We are currently looking into why this happened and expect to have the clock functioning as normal as soon as possible," a spokesman added。
The clock's design draws heavily on the geometric lines of the 2012 logo and Greenwich Mean Time, organisers said。
Omega will also provide the timepieces for the Games, as they have done since 1932.
英国伦敦本周二举办了隆重的2012年奥运倒计时钟揭幕仪式，而仅在数小时后，矗立在特拉法加广场的巨型倒计时钟意外停摆。伦敦奥组委官员可谓颜面尽失。
这座数字显示式时钟由钢材料制成，高6.5米，宽5米，突然停在了奥运倒计时第500天7小时6分56秒。
本周一，伦敦奥组委主席塞巴斯蒂安•科和四位英国奥运冠军共同为倒计时钟揭幕。660万张奥运会门票也开始发售。
倒计时钟制造商、瑞士欧米茄公司的发言人发表声明称：“倒计时钟停摆，我们感到很失望。”
但伦敦奥组委的一位女发言人却对这个故障一笑置之，补充说：“它不是我们的钟表。”
2005年，伦敦市民正是聚集在特拉法加广场，听到了伦敦申办奥运成功的喜讯。
欧米茄公司称，这座倒计时钟由专家研发，专为2012年伦敦奥运设计，在揭幕前已进行全面检测。
一位发言人补充说：“我们正在调查故障原因，希望它能尽快正常工作。”
伦敦奥组委官员称，倒计时钟的外观汲取了2012年伦敦奥运会徽以及本初子午线标志的特征。
欧米茄公司还将为伦敦奥运提供计时器。自1932年起该公司就为多届奥运会提供计时器。
2011年03月18日 16:22 中国日报网-英语点津 |
