Losing out in ballot 'was like a dagger through the heart'

LINSEY Wooldridge applied for £500 worth of equestrian tickets in the ballot for three generations of her family, including her 76-year-old mother and 11-year-old niece, but got nothing.

Ms Wooldridge, inset, director of West End-based consultants AAR, said she is unlikely to apply for sports such as handball or hockey, for which she has no passion.

She said: "We were very disappointed as it will probably be the only chance my mum would get to see the Olympics. Only a minority of people I know got anything.

"I thought I was being clever by choosing a couple of different price brackets in Greenwich, which is a big park with lots of seats.

"I probably won't be applying in the second round, but I will look at the tickets that become available on June 24 and make my decision then.

"I understand that people want to be involved in the Games, but at the same time I gravitate towards the equestrian events. I think people will want to be a part of 2012, but also they want to see sports they are genuinely interested in."

Ms Wooldridge, who commutes from Billericay in Essex, added: "I get the train past the Olympic site so it was like a dagger though the heart when we lost out.

"The ticketing process left me with lots of queries and doubts."