An extra around 1 million tickets for the London Olympic Games go on sale on Friday to previously unsuccessful applicants, with people who have missed out twice getting first priority.
“Tickets will be sold on a first come, first served basis, exclusively to the one million or so people who applied in previous rounds of Olympic ticket sales and were not successful,” Games organisers LOCOG said in a statement.
“First priority will be given to the 20,000 people who were unsuccessful in the initial Olympic ballot application and then again unsuccessful when they applied in the second chance sales.”
Those 20,000 fans will have exclusive access to the tickets for 31 hours from 11:00 am (1000GMT) on Friday, after which those who missed out in just the initial ballot will have five days’ exclusive access.
The tickets up for grabs include 47,000 for the highly sought-after athletics events, while around 5,000 tickets for the opening ceremony and 6,000 for the closing ceremony are also included. Other tickets include an additional 55,000 for football and 74,000 for volleyball.
In contrast, only 4,000 tickets are on sale for track cycling, an event which is extremely popular in Britain.
LOCOG confirmed that 70,000 tickets allowing spectators to watch the events on big screens within the Olympic Park would also be available, with more tickets of this type to go on sale closer to the Games’ opening on July 27.
Customers can apply online for a maximum of four tickets in one session only, while any unsold tickets will go back on general sale on May 23.
“We know thousands of sports fans were disappointed when they missed out in the initial sales period because of the massive demand for tickets,” said LOCOG chairman Sebastian Coe.
“We promised we would prioritise these fans when we released the contingency tickets, which is exactly what we are doing.”
Olympic venues opened to ‘babes in arms’
Babies will be allowed into London Olympic venues without a ticket if they are firmly fastened to an adult, organizers said on Tuesday in a climbdown after complaints from angry mothers.
Tickets for the Games first went on sale in March last year, since when some of those lucky enough to secure seats in the ballots have given birth.
The mumsnet.com website was flooded by indignant mothers earlier this year when they discovered they could not take their babies to the Games unless they bought a separate ticket. Most venue were sold out by then.
After complaints and suggestions that the policy might be in breach of sexual equality laws, organizers agreed to review the situation.
“Anyone who purchased a ticket…and did become pregnant, had a baby and wants to take the baby to the Games will be able to do so,” LOCOG chief executive Paul Deighton told a conference call about the latest ticketing arrangements.
“The baby of course will be under 12 months old and then will be let in if securely strapped to the parent or carer by way of a baby carrier, papoose or sling.”
LOCOG said their ‘babes in arms’ policy would apply to all venues with the exception of Wembley Stadium, Newcastle’s St James’ Park, Manchester’s Old Trafford and the North Greenwich Arena.
At those venues, existing licensing agreements meant that all spectators would require tickets regardless of age.