EYES ON LONDON (Morning Edition)

(AP) LONDON, England:

Too much talking
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says social media users helped cause problems for traditional broadcasters during the first big event of the London Olympics.

Television viewers watching the men's cycling on Saturday got little information about the riders' location and timings on the 250-kilometer (155-mile) road course. Broadcasters, whose commentators were also deprived of information, blamed the Olympics Broadcasting Service for the glitch with GPS signals.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams says the OBS service was jammed by "hundreds of thousands" of people sending texts, pictures and updates to social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

Empty seats
Troops, teachers and students are getting free tickets to fill prime seats that were empty at some Olympic venues on the first full day of competition.

Organizing chief Sebastian Coe answered widespread criticism Sunday by predicting that seats left unused, largely by Olympic and sports officials, will not be an issue as the games proceed.

"It is obvious, some of those seats are not being used in the early rounds," he said at a briefing.

He declined to blame Olympic sponsors, whom he had earlier promised to "name and shame" if they did not use their allocations.

Sponsors, including Coca-Cola and Visa, defended their use of allotted tickets — 8 percent of the 8.8 million available tickets.

Footballers’ dream
Like their male counterparts, British female footballers grew up dreaming of World Cups, not Olympics golds. But with two victories in front of the largest crowds of their lives — and a spot in the quarterfinals assured — that may be changing.

"Throughout all my career it's always been the World Cup," said British coach Hope Powell, who first played for England at the age of 16.

The last time the men appeared was in 1960.

Out of step
One woman stood out during India's walk through Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony.

That's because she wasn't supposed to be there.

Friday night's party crasher was not wearing the yellow and white dress that every other Indian woman was wearing in the group, yet still managed to situate herself next to flag bearer Sushil Kumar at the front of the line as they walked around the stadium.

Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London organizers, says he plans to meet with the Indian delegation to discuss what happened.

Vatican Olympic spirit
The official Vatican newspaper ran a glowing review of Friday's opening ceremony and published an op-ed piece by the British ambassador to the Holy See.

The subject: his family connection to Eric Liddell, one of the most memorable Olympians of all time.

Liddell was famously depicted in the 1981 film "Chariots of Fire."

He was a Scottish missionary who pulled out of the 100 heat at the 1924 Olympics because it took place on a Sunday.

He went on to win gold in the 400.

sports@gleanerjm.com