Hamish and Andy not welcome in Olympic village after sneaky London 2012 incident
Radio, TV and podcast funny men Andy Lee and Hamish Blake probably already knew their chances of an Olympic berth were slim.
But they’re not even allowed in the Olympic village as guests after receiving a lifetime ban from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) some 12 years ago.
In an incident they were warned “not to talk about ever”, the comedy duo snuck into the London 2012 Olympic village before being sprung.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Lee broke his own taboo when speaking to Triple M.
“Hamish and I were given the honour of speaking to the (Australian) Olympians before it started,” he explained.
“There are a lot of applications and security you have to fill out to get into the Olympic village … and someone who filled out the forms put my birth date as that day’s date.”
The innocent error proved costly, with authorities refusing to overlook it when he tried to enter.
But a quickly devised cunning plan got him in.
“I won’t name who, but someone on the team said, ‘Hey, I can bring an outfit out. You look a little bit like one of the high jumpers’,” Lee went on.
“Suddenly I went through on someone else’s (pass) and we snuck in, which was obviously a huge breach of security at a time when they were trying to prove that security was tight.”
Having delivered the speech and begun enjoying the athletes’ company thereafter, the famous duo thought they had got away with it perfectly.
But it was just 90 minutes before Olympic security realised their slip.
“They dragged us and put us in separate rooms and there was a lot of interrogation,” Lee said.
“We were just tight-lipped, and then the head of security came in.”
Fortunately enough for the pair, the head of security was Australian.
“He went, ‘Hamish and Andy, what are you guys doing here?’ We explained, and he was more understanding,” Lee continued.
But that didn’t mean they got off scot-free.
“(But) we had to agree to be banned for life,” he said.
It all became just a funny story — except that the actual team was then punished by having some visitors’ passes restricted.
“That’s why I wasn’t really proud of what happened. I hate the fact that some people missed out,” Lee said.
Originally published on 7NEWS Sport