Global computer glitches not expected to cause any major problems with ticket sales
Tony Estanguet, President of the Olympic Organizing Committee has confirmed that 8,6 million tickets had already been sold as of Thursday 18th July, with two weeks before the start of the Paris Olympics due to start on 26th July.
The 8.6 million tickets surpassed the previous record of 8,3 million, sold for the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Estanguet commented “We have been above this score for some time now. We are at 8.6 on the Olympic game event, plus over one million on the Paralympic games,”.
There is no official ranking or reliable data on the number of tickets sold at previous Olympic Games, “only the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has these figures in its possession and it is also them that notified us,” he said.
Record could reach over 10 million sales
Despite computer issues with a world-wide computer melt-down on Friday 19th July, which has slowed air traffic and some of the Olympic game operations, such as issuing of official security accreditations and uniforms, there is no reports of ticket sales being affected so far, although banking services have been widely affected. As such ticket sales should remain unaffected. The organizers of the Paris Games expect to sell 10 million tickets for the main games, which will run from July 26 to August 11, and an additional 2.8 million for the Paralympic Games to run from August 28 – September 8.
According to him, “The good news is also that we are putting a certain number of tickets back on sale in this final stretch for many sports,” continued Estanguet. “There are very good opportunities (for ticket purchases) at different prices for the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games, and the opening and closing ceremonies,”. Tony, himself an Olympian who won triple gold medals in single canoe slalom concluded that “We are proud to have already broken the record, but we can still go higher.”
