London 2012: Ticket applications ‘hit the roof’
Baku, April 26 (AZERTAC). Applications for London 2012 Olympics tickets have "hit the roof" as the deadline approaches, organizers said.
There are 6.6 million Olympics tickets and people have until 2359 BST to apply on the London 2012 website.
But London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said 50% of tickets for some major events could be available to the public after sponsors get their share.
Applications will be processed in May and June and those who have been successful will be notified by 24 June.
Before tickets went on sale on 15 March, more than 2.5 million people had signed up to the official website.
Standard prices range from £20 to £2,012 - the top price for the opening ceremony - and oversubscribed events will be decided by a random ballot.
But for more than 200 sessions, children under 16 pay the same number of pounds as their age, and those over 60 are charged £16.
Lord Coe said there was a "massive surge" in ticket applications over the weekend and those people applying on the last day stand as good a chance as those who applied earlier.
Asking people to try for the "less obvious" sport events, he conceded that about half of the tickets for big events would be available for ordinary people.
There are 650 sessions across 26 sports and 17 days to choose from and people will be limited to a maximum of 20 events each.
The most popular events, including the men`s 100m final, have a limit of four tickets per person.
UK applicants were advised only to use the official 2012 website, which includes a service to check whether other ticketing sites are legitimate.
London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton said: "Every day is different, but also in the last week we have been getting three or four times the applications above and beyond what was coming in for the previous five weeks - and the sky`s the limit based on the pattern that I am seeing at the moment."
Mr. Deighton said orders had been "pretty well-spread" across the sports.
Once the deadline for tickets passes, organizers will begin matching demand with sessions.
They need to raise 25% of their revenue from ticket sales.
Applications for tickets for the Paralympic Games open on 9 September.
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