Winter Olympics - Skater misses race after turning phone off

Eurosport - Fri, 26 Feb 12:28:00 2010

A speed skater missed his shot at gold at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver because he had his mobile phone switched off.

Eisschnelllauf Beckert Vancouver 2010 - 0

Germany's Patrick Beckert was fourth on the list of replacement entrants for the men's 1,000-metre competition, held at the Richmond Olympic Oval.

After twice gold medallist Enrico Fabris withdrew from Wednesday's race an hour before it was due to start, organisers could not get in contact with any of the three racers ahead of Beckert on the list.

Once German officials became aware that their man was next in the pecking order, they mounted a frantic search party after several calls to the 19-year-old's phone went unanswered. Even Beckert's sister Stephanie, racing in the women's 3,000m, was enlisted in the hunt.

By the time Beckert returned one of the many missed calls, there were only 17 minutes to go until the race began, making it impossible for him to reach the Oval from the Olympic village in time.

Helge Jasch, manager of the German speed skating team, is reported to have taken the blame for the blunder for not insisting that Beckert attended the race in the slim hope of a spot opening up for him.

Follow the Winter Olympics 24/7 on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin 521) and Eurosport HD (Sky 412). British Eurosport channels are streamed online via the Eurosport Player.

Eurosport

Comment 74 - 93 of 93

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  1. who cares hes german anyway!!! german are quite silly­ rsx

    From stellinavs, on Fri 12 Mar 9:16

  2. Hi, i'm sorry about my previous comment if you are­ the skater(!!!!!) but if you're not PLEASE rate my­ comment!!!! Seriously, i deserve it!!!!! See you­ gals!!! V x

    From stellinavs, on Fri 12 Mar 9:14

  3. DOES ANYONE,ANYONE THINK IIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!! AM­ RIGHT??!!???

    From Rosanna, on Mon 8 Mar 10:16

  4. hello!!!!!!!! are you OK!!!!!!!!

    From Rosanna, on Mon 8 Mar 10:14

  5. why did you turn your phone of anyway!!!!!??????!!­ (silly!!!!)

    From Rosanna, on Mon 8 Mar 10:14

  6. Who cares???? He isn't even British!!! LOL!!!!! :-D

    From stellinavs, on Sun 7 Mar 3:44

  7. The main problem with the coverage of the winter­ olympics is that if it is not foot ball rugby or­ cricket the media ar not interested in it . unless­ someone gets killed . This is why most of our­ contestants are @#$% at it . means lack of training­ facilities and lack of potential top sports­ persons.
    Ice hockey fan

    From denis, on Sun 28 Feb 3:56

  8. Presumably he will be reimbursing whichever sports body­ paid for his trip to Canada as he wasn't available­ for the purpose of his visit. There were probably lots­ of other hopefuls who would have relished this­ opportunity. Looks like the old adage of a free lunch­ doesn't apply here.

    From Paul, on Sun 28 Feb 3:47

  9. Craig, do you realise how much money Britain is going­ to make once the olympics is here and has been? tourism­ is going to be immense, it is so good for the­ representing countries economy and with the economy as­ it is we should be grateful.

    Shame about the race, he­ should have kept his phone on!

    From kat_1986wales, on Sun 28 Feb 3:00

  10. How can u miss that like and y did he have his phine­ turned off he should have never leave da place

    From Neil McCartney, on Sun 28 Feb 2:53

  11. Aw well never mind maybe 17 mins to go he should have­ got a skate on and got there.
    Can you get his mobile­ number published so we can all call him
    hehe !
    Maybe­ he should check out Ebay sure there will be a gold­ medal on there somewhere
    When are we going to realise­ that adults playing games with the state the world is­ in is madness
    Maybe the whole of the UK should turn­ all their mobile phones off so we miss the bloody thing­ and stop wasting millions of pounds when it comes to­ the UK

    From Craig, on Sun 28 Feb 2:41
  12. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    ice hockey- the most exiting game in the world-specialy­ the womens- so our tv spend hours on the rediculously­ stupid a boring curling- and claire balding self­ promotion of course

    From karl.tosner, on Sun 28 Feb 1:58

  13. More likely - whats the point of a mobile­ phone??
    They'll never catch on!

    From Ian Dovey, on Sun 28 Feb 1:53

  14. Serve himself right What's the point in having a­ mobile phone when you have it switched off thats what i­ always say.......

    From M, on Sun 28 Feb 1:48

  15. it strikes me as odd how football can be shown in­ 'normal hours' of tv scheduling yet the games­ that are played in the Olympics are not taped and shown­ for those that are interested in the coverage other­ than the overplayed and boring sports.
    Perhaps when we­ host the Olympics we can actually see it all.

    From zombie nurse, on Sun 28 Feb 0:59
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    oh no!!! perhaps this is the end of the world!!!!!

    From NJ, on Sun 28 Feb 0:46

  17. What a non story

    From nigel, on Sun 28 Feb 0:20

  18. with it being a team event you'd have thought he­ would have been there anyway to support his team just­ shows how even at this level there is no team spirit

    From teachu2drive, on Sun 28 Feb 0:17

  19. Thats ridiculous unbelievable in fact

    From darran.shaw1, on Sun 28 Feb 0:16
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    This article just goes further to emphasis on how much­ technology has made us humans distant in our­ interpersonnal relationships. seriously where was this­ athlete, in a foreign country i suppose should have­ been hanging out with members of his team or would at­ least have let his sister know of his whereabouts. But­ what does he do he switches of his phone and everybody­ else thinks they can contact him when they want because­ he's got a phone. where is the human race­ heading.........

    From pst, on Sat 27 Feb 22:47
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