Editorial: Don't let one glitch spoil the memories

Many will be distressed to learn how many tickets for the Olympics and the Paralympics remained unsold, especially given the number of would-be visitors who, despite truly Herculean efforts, were left disappointed. And it is right that this was a central line of questioning when Lords Coe and Deighton appeared before the London Assembly yesterday.

But it would be a pity if this tinge of dissatisfaction were allowed to cast a retrospective pall over all of London 2012. The vast majority of unsold tickets were for football, which was early on and always going to be a tough sell. Otherwise, as Lord Coe pointed out, London 2012 was the best-attended sporting event ever, with venues 99 per cent full. There are lessons to be learnt about arrangements for ticket sales by future hosts, but this summer deserves to be remembered for everything that went right, rather than the very few details that went wrong.