Just a day after a grand unveiling in London's Trafalgar Square, the official Olympic countdown clock stopped working Tuesday.
The clock, made by official Olympic timekeeper Omega, was the main focus of the celebrations marking 500 days until London 2012 gets underway next July.
However, company officials admitted that, embarrassingly, the timepiece had stopped just 24 hours after going into operation.
A statement from Omega admitted the clock had stopped and they were looking for a solution to the problem, Sky Sports reported.
"We are obviously very disappointed that the clock has suffered this technical issue," said an Omega statement.
"The Omega London 2012 countdown clock was developed by our experts and fully tested ahead of the launch in Trafalgar Square.
"We are currently looking into why this happened and expect to have the clock functioning as normal as soon as possible."
The clock, which is 21ft 9in (6.4m) high, 16ft (4.8m) long and weighs about four tonnes (tons), took 10 people two days to assemble.
The clock was designed to reflect the look of the Games, according to Omega. The beams of light on the clock are inspired by London and its connection with the Meridian line in Greenwich, the home of time.
Meanwhile, some fans trying to buy tickets for the Olympics found their cards would not work when the website went live Tuesday, Sky News reported.
The only card members of the public can use on the site is Visa, which has a tie-up with the event.
However, some people with valid cards logged on and tried to buy tickets only to find the site could not process their orders.
Games organizers insisted it was not due to a technical problem, with a spokesman saying the site and ticketing guide clearly stated that in order to process an application, cards must not expire before August 2011.
This is because while people are applying now for tickets, they will be paying for them between May 10 and June 10 and will need their card to be valid during this period.
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