Olympic tickets go on sale March 15

LONDON - Tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games will go on sale March 15, chairman of the organizing committee Sebastian Coe announced Saturday.

Fans will have six weeks - from March 15 to April 26 - to apply to purchase the 6.6 million public tickets. They can apply at any time in that period because it is not a first-come, first-served process. Any oversubscribed events will be allocated by ballot after the deadline.

“On 15 March, the application process opens to be part of the greatest show on earth,” said Coe, a former middle-distance champion who won Olympic gold twice for Britain in the 1500 meters.

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the world’s greatest athletes going for gold in the U.K. - a chance for people to see their favorite sport and perhaps try a new one.” Coe added.

Tickets for the London Paralympics will go on sale on Sept. 9 after prices are announced in May, he added.

Two million people so far have registered interest in buying tickets for the Olympics, which are priced from 20 pounds ($32) to as much as 725 pounds for the showpiece 100-meter athletic final.

AFP