Angry scenes broke out at Lord's today after hundreds of spectators were barred from watching the opening archery round.
Visitors from across the country arrived to see the ranking round in the belief that there was free admission for the first 6,500 people to turn up without tickets.
Would-be spectators said the event was advertised as free a year ago and claimed that advisers on Locog's online help system told them by instant message that they could see the event free, as did operators on the phone helpline.
Even cricket commentator Mike Atherton, arriving at the ground, was confused. He said: "I thought they had 6,500 tickets to sell. What do I know?"
Jean Archer, 79, from Fulham, said the episode was "a shambles".
She said: "They're claiming we've been looking at bogus websites — but I checked it with Locog. It's just appalling."
Mrs Archer, whose family is joining her this week from Australia, Sweden and the US for her 80th birthday, said the disappointment was the latest problem she had suffered with tickets for the Games.
She is still waiting for several tickets that were ordered through CoSport, including tomorrow's beach volleyball.
She said: "Yesterday, I was at their offices until midnight trying to sort it out. All my family are coming over because they know I'm sport mad and this would be a great way to celebrate, but we are still missing so many tickets."
Diane Jones, from Sheffield, came to London after reading about the event in magazines. She said: "I feel cheated. We've come all this way. It’s a joke. Why didn't they say people couldn't watch?"
Russell Miller, general manager of Lord's, said the event was not in the main arena and therefore "not licensed" to be open to the public.
He said: "We have always said it is a non-ticketed event. People have grasped that and thought it is a free day out."
A spokesman for Locog said the event was not free to the public but he was checking if it had ever been advertised as such.
