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Armitstead loses 'lucky' Oakleys and sparks a police hunt

Twitter machine goes into action to recover or replace her sunnies for the time trial

Lizzie Armitstead's lucky glasses woes appear to be over, after Twitter followers tried en masse to help her find her Oakleys that she'd lost at some point on the day of her Olympic road race.

Surrey Police tweeted yesterday: "Lost: 1 pair lucky Oakley Sunglasses. Owner: @L_ArmiTstead. If found, pls hand them in. She'd like them back for the #TimeTrial on Weds..."

Almost instantly, the retweets were into the thousands, and P&O ferries even offered a free new pair:

They tweeted: "@SurreyPolice @L_ArmiTstead What design are the glasses? P&O Ferries stock them on board ships. Happy to send a new pair by courier."

Clearly the nation was in some distress, as hopes are pinned on Armitstead to repeat her silver medal performance - or even go for gold - in tomorrow's time trial event.

Hope is not lost, though. Lizzie tweeted last night:

"Thanks everyone for looking for my glasses! Word spreads quick haha! I am lucky enough to have a sponsored set on the way, can't name names!"

Now obviously she's not all that worried about them being 'lucky', but more to the point, we've been speculating on what brand they are.

We've come to the conclusion that, as Oakley aren't an Olympic sponsor, she might be prevented from mentioning them under IOC rules, so it's probably a like-for-like replacement. But if anyone's got any insider info, do let us know!

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9 comments

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TheSpaniard | 11 years ago
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I prefer my Rudy Project glasses with photochromic lenses - get darker or lighter depending on the amount of light around so no need to toss them when the sun goes in.

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baggies2354 | 11 years ago
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Hydrophobic lens is nothing to do with darkness it is a smudge free coating that causes liquids to bead and run off the lens. If you have to remove glaases because it is too dark then you are wearing a lens that filters out too high a percentage of light for the conditions, Oakleys can filter out up to 91% of light in their darkest lens. That is why the Radarlock and Jawbones (now Racing Jackets) are so popular because you can change to a lighter filter in a matter of seconds if it does get dark.

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davemhart | 11 years ago
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The big O may not be Olympic sponsors but the are LOCOG sponsors.

http://uk.oakley.com/products/6895/25910

But none the less great PR

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aslongasicycle | 11 years ago
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Oakley are PR overlords. They would have milked this for all they could, if not instigated it. The fact that those lenses are supposed to be hydrophobic and she was unable to see out of them in the dark has been forgotten in the process!
Clever little fishies!

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Simon_MacMichael | 11 years ago
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I remember during last year's Vuelta, they were going through a village when there was almost a chute and someone's glasses got knocked off.

One of the riders following not only spotted them, but in skills reminiscent of Cossack horsemanship actually managed to lean down and scoop them up while travelling at around 40kph.

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dave atkinson | 11 years ago
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imagine how many 'lost glasses' tweets you'd have to wade through then. plus there'd be no time gaps  4

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Bob's Bikes | 11 years ago
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I can't help but think why can't the police react like that when an ordinary person reports lost (or worse stolen) property  39

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Timbo13 replied to Bob's Bikes | 11 years ago
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FATBEGGARONABIKE wrote:

I can't help but think why can't the police react like that when an ordinary person reports lost (or worse stolen) property  39

Yup, not seen the same level of commitment from GMP re my Dolan Mythos that was nicked last week, despite the clear CCTV footage of the thief. Would have been nice for them to tweet his photo around.

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fennesz | 11 years ago
0 likes

great spot of PR

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