London Stadium’s lax security allows father to stroll into World Championships unchecked 

Questions have been raised about London Stadium’s security after a father walked in without a ticket to watch the World Athletics Championships from a front-row seat.

Richard Levene and his seven-year-old daughter caught the 200m men’s and women’s final and semi-final, along with the long jump and triple jump finals for free.

The Category A, front-row seats that the pair found themselves in on Thursday, August 10 cost £95 (€104/$123) each.

Levene claims that he and his daughter were shopping at Westfield and, after seeing crowds gathering at the venue, decided to see how close to the stadium they could get.

After the dad found himself strolling past ticket and bag checks and into the stadium, Levene has raised questions about the lax security at the arena.

He said, according to the Daily Mail newspaper: “With what’s going on in the world, I want people to know how atrocious it is that I could walk into a world class sporting event without any check.

“I could have had anything on me. I was gobsmacked that no one even asked to see my tickets.

“There were two free seats in the front row – nobody is going to turn down that opportunity. I was sitting within four or five yards of all the international athletes.”

Levene claims that he had not intended to sneak in, but after his daughter asked what was going on with the crowds, he “just wanted to see how close to the stadium he could get.”

He added: “There were two queues you could walk through and no one stopped me as we walked through. There were a couple of guards searching bags but they didn’t stop me to ask for my tickets.

“The next thing I know I’m sitting in the stadium watching the events.

“After the terrible Manchester bombings at the Ariana Grande concert, this kind of event should have much more strict security to ensure there is not another terrorist tragedy.”

Image: Simon Q