OLYMPICS organisers brought in the soldiers as they scrambled to subdue a backlash over dispiriting images beamed across the world of half-empty stands at London 2012.
Soldiers were drafted in to fill empty seats at a number of Olympic venues, including the Aquatics Centre and gymnastics arena after prime blocks went unused.
Sponsors not taking up their allocation of seats were blamed for most of the no-shows but international media and competitors' families were also accused of not attending.
Please enable cookies in your browser to display the rest of this article.