Golden Palace pathetic Olympic stunt

[caruso]

Posted elsewhere by Jetset, hasn't found it's way here for some reason so I'll belatedly rectify the omission:

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Olympics Games organisers ordered beefed-up security at all venues on Tuesday after an embarrassing breach involving a Canadian man who leapt into the pool during a synchronised diving event.

The order to step up security was launched after the 31-year-old, dressed in a tutu and clown shoes, mounted one of the boards and plunged into the water during the competition on Monday evening.

He stayed in the pool for several minutes before officials at the Aquatic Centre realised he was not supposed to be there and pulled him out.

Marton Simitsek, CEO of the Athens organising committee, told a press conference that the man "wanted to present a message to his wife by getting on television."

"He took off his shirt and he had a message on his chest," Simitsek said.

In fact the message carefully printed on the man's bare chest was the name of an online gambling website, which has launched similar stunts at a host of major sporting events.

Men and women representing the company have run on the field of play, sometimes half-dressed and sometimes nude, bearing the slogan at the 2002 European Cup football final in Glasgow, this year's Superbowl and the 2003 US Open Golf among other events.

The man was taken away by security staff and handed over to the police.

He will remain in custody to face trial in Athens on Wednesday for violating public order rules, a court official said.

Simitsek said that because of the prank, police would now be placed around all competition areas in every venue to prevent another 'invasion'.

But to play down the police presence the officers will be dressed in the bright multi-coloured shirts worn by volunteers.

"We want to keep the appearance of security low-key. Security people are there but we don't want venues to be packed with people in uniforms," said Simitsek.

As for the arrested husband, "this gentleman will go through the normal legal channels like everybody else, Greek or foreign," said Simitsek.

When told that the man had in fact been advertising, Games organisers said they had merely repeated what the man had told Greek police.

Athens is spending €1.2-billion on guarding the Games, making it the biggest security bill in Olympic history.

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Pathetic, but expected.

[sw2003]

Originally Posted by caruso

Pathetic, but expected.

The 1.3 billion euro was put in to guard against bombs, weapons, terrorists etc. or basically destruction on a large scale. It cannot prevent anyone from getting kicked in the butt, punched in the face, nor publicity stunt like that.

[snuf419]

1.3 billion?! how could it be possible to spend that much money on ...security!? the games don't even cost that much

[largeeyes]

By the way, he apparently was convicted and sentenced to 5 months in Greek Prison(there are so many jokes there.........). He appealed.

[snuf419]

Originally Posted by largeeyes

He appealed.

LMAO.......5 months in prison? Yikes.
Hope them fellow prisoners won't give him the ancient Greek massage.

[jpm]

Seems like he will get justice in the end...


Sorry, had to be said!

[caruso]

"Surprise Streak, Surprise Gold For The Greeks

ATHENS, GREECE, AUGUST 17, 2004 - There was an unexpected twist to yesterday's Olympic Men's Synchronized 3M Springboard Finals when a streaker climbed the diving platform dressed in a tutu, clown shoes, and a tattoo of Internet casino GoldenPalace.com. He threw his arms into the air repeatedly to try to rile up the crowd then belly-flopped into the pool where he attempted to amuse the crowd by trying to imitate a synchronized swimming routine.

After the incident, blunders by the American, Russian, and Chinese teams led to Nikolaos Siranidis and Thomas Bimis of Greece winning the gold medal. The three countries were ahead of the Greeks in the event before their miscues in the last round.

The streaker turned out to be Ron Bensimhon, the same man that appeared at the World Figure Skating Championships in Germany this past March. According to Bensimhon's lawyer, the tutu-clad streaker loved the rush he received from the skating event, and decided the Olympics would be the ultimate stage for him, providing even more notoriety, fame, and adrenaline-fueled excitement.

A devoted fan of the casino, Bensimhon had "GoldenPalace.com" tattooed on his torso to prove that he could accomplish this feat, perhaps in the hopes that he can be useful to the site for future events.

Regardless of Bensimhon's motives, his performance may well have allowed Greek fans everywhere to celebrate the first win of a coveted gold medal."

I doubt he did it for less than 25K.

[jpm]

Originally Posted by caruso

A devoted fan of the casino, Bensimhon had "GoldenPalace.com" tattooed on his torso to prove that he could accomplish this feat, perhaps in the hopes that he can be useful to the site for future events.

He's a bigger idiot than I thought.

[jetset]

Originally Posted by jpm

Seems like he will get justice in the end...


Sorry, had to be said!

LMAO - brilliant, JPM!

This clown really deserves heavy punishment imo for disrupting what is probably the most prestigious sporting event in the world for which athletes train for years to achieve excellence. Many of the reports speak of the competitors being rattled by this disruption, and that's really a shame on this selfish fool...and for the people who encouraged/sponsored him.

And he is totally unrepentant and self-centred - look at what he had to sday about this (Casinomeister News will have this up on the news pages later this morning):


Greek justice is swift it appears, for 72 hours later his sentencing was announced as five months in jail or Euro 3 000 in fines. And according to CTV news, he walked away a free man after filing an appeal and paying a fine of Euro 2 000, which is just over Cdn $3,200. And under the Greek legal system, it could take two years for a court to rule on his appeal.

Bensimhon seemed concerned more with his personal agenda than with the distraction his antics had caused to the world's top athletes.

"I wanted everybody to know who I am," the Montreal native told CTV Newsnet.

"My name is Ron Bensimhon and I will be coming out with a record soon and Golden Palace is sponsoring my new record and I wanted everybody to see me. And what better event than the Olympics? Everybody will see me and I hope they will buy the record when it comes out."

"I thought it was something funny. I just jumped in a pool and that's it. I don't see what the big deal is."

I truly believe that GP has gone way too far this time.

[Casinomeister]

I'm really tempted to place Golden Palace in the "Not Recommended" section at the moment. I feel that this old, old joke has just gone too far. Yeah sure it was funny when the streaker first flashed his but at some soccer match, and the second time was a little bit funny (but predictable), but I personally feel that this ad campaign (ad naseum) has gone too far.

Like it has been already mentioned, these atheletes train their entire lives for this moment - and it's stolen from them by this self-serving marketing campaign. And it also makes a mockery of the Olympic security when everyone is on edge right now. This clown would probably think it would be funny yelling fire in a crowded theater.

If GP had any common sense, they would have condemned this action. But it looks like they're standing back bemused - no such thing as bad publicity as they say.