TICKET prices for the 2012 London Olympics have been released and the top charge has been set at over £2,000.
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If that figure for a top seat at the opening ceremony isn’t eye-watering enough, even ordinary prices are set to claim a large chunk of our wallets, as organisers have gone back on their original plan for half the tickets the tickets to be priced at under £30.
Another plan to have some tickets priced at £15 has also been abandoned, but there will be some at the £20; mark and 90% will come in at under £100.
Among the expensive 10% of tickets are the premium athletics events, where, for instance, a seat to watch Usain Bolt in action in the 100m will be yours for £750.
A further bone of contention is that a quarter of the ten million tickets available will go to corporate sponsors and Olympic administrators.
In a late bid for the Let-Them-Eat-Cake award for 2010, Olympics CEO Chief Paul Deighton argued that people who couldn’t afford high stadium prices should just watch events from the streets.
“There are also events out on the streets of London which are free so there are all sorts of different offerings to suit all different capabilities to pay,” he said.
To be fair, the organisers are keen to get people involved and many prices, especially for the less glamorous events, will be chosen so that they draw the crowds.
“We will not get away with empty stadiums in London,” said Sebastian Coe, chair of the organising committee.
In a related initiative, Boris Johnson today announced a free-ticket bonanza for kids. 125,000 tickets for Olympics and Paralympics will be made available for London’s school children in the 10-18 age-group, about one in eight of the capital’s school children.
“I am confident that this will be a tremendous success and hope it becomes a blueprint for future host cities to engage their young people in the wonderful opportunities that the Games offer when they roll into town,” said Johnson.
Tickets go on sale in March 2011. You can register your interest in tickets on this section of the official site.
