Over half of applicants left ticketless
MORE than half of those sports fans who applied for Olympic tickets were left empty-handed after the opening ballot, it has emerged.
Around 1.8m people attempted to purchase the 6.6m tickets available to the general public but some 55 per cent missed out altogether.
London 2012 organisers were keen to stress that those who had no joy first time around would be given priority when the second ballot gets underway next month.
But there are no tickets remaining for the opening and closing ceremonies nor any of the athletics finals, featuring sprint king Usain Bolt.
A London 2012 spokesman said: “Those who were unsuccessful in the initial process will have priority in the next round and they will be contacted soon to inform them about next steps.
“There are still plenty of tickets available to see great Olympic sport across all price points.”
Brits will, however, have a window of opportunity to purchase tickets for the showpiece events on a first-come, first-served basis via Eventeam, official ticket reseller for France.
Eventeam marketing director Benoit Vincent said: “We have had a lot of interest from the UK. We can sell to anybody interested in Britain.”