LONDON 2012: Credit to Locog for quick u-turn on shooting ticket decision

ALL credit to London 2012. When they make a bad decision they, unlike so many other sporting organisations, don't dig their heels in but simply execute a precision u-turn and move relentlessly on.

DECISION: Children eligible for free tickets as part of London 2012 Ticketshare scheme will now be able to attend Olympic shooting events (Getty Images)

Chief executive Paul Deighton has a reputation for resolving thorny issues quickly in a highly pressured environment and so it proved again.

After initially banning schoolchildren from receiving tickets to shooting events via their Ticketshare initiative, organising committee Locog have now reversed their decision.

British shooting officials, leading athletes, such as Peter Wilson, and the British Olympic Association had all rightly expressed surprise that Locog had prevented the sport from joining their scheme, which aims to distribute 125,000 seats to a range of causes, from schoolchildren to armed services.

They claimed an opportunity to educate children about responsible gun ownership and shooting as a sport had been lost.

Locog have previous for quick thinking in similar situations. Extending their volunteering programme to under-18s after protests at their original exclusion and dumping top weightlifting official Sevdalin Marinov after my colleagues at Sportsbeat pointed out his previous doping conviction.

© Sportsbeat 2011

MORE COLUMNS BY SPORTSBEAT'S JAMES TONEY

LONDON 2012: It's official, beach volleyball will be the hottest ticket at Olympics

LONDON 2012: In the Olympic countdown, now it's one year to gone

Proud Yorkshireman Brownlee waves white rose not white flag

Okoye or Morse will miss out on Daegu in preference to athlete banned from Olympics