A spectator sits next to a section of empty seats during the equestrian eventing dressage phase at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 29, 2012, in London. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (AP2012)
The competition is well underway at the 2012 London Olympics, but many of the athletes are competing in front of a less than capacity crowd and Olympic organizers are now investigating the cause of the empty seats.
Full rows of seats were left empty during the day one events at the Aquatics Center with Britain's Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt calling the open seats, "very disappointing." Hunt said the empty seats take away from the atmosphere.
To fix the problem, London organizers are launching a full investigation. In a statement to the Associated Press the organizing committee said it is checking to see, "who should have been sitting in the seats, and why they did not attend."
Hunt suspects the empty seats belonged to sponsors. This isn't the first issue with empty seats at the London Olympics, organizers gave away free tickets to the opening ceremony to ensure a capacity crowd.
For complete coverage of the London Games, visit our 2012 Summer Olympics hub.
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