Barnes' Olympic stunt gets team approval

Ireland pair John Joe Nevin and Darren O'Neill hailed team-mate Paddy Barnes' opening ceremony stunt after safely negotiating their respective first round bouts in the Olympic boxing competition at ExCel today.

Barnes, who does not have his first fight until next Saturday, saw his Twitter followers surge after bearing a hand-made sign reading "Open For Sponsors" followed by his social network username in front of an estimated one billion television viewers.