Tickets for the London 2012 Olympics have gone on sale, 500 days ahead of the event.
Some 6.6 million tickets are available from the London 2012 website over a six-week period and organisers say all applications will be treated equally.Prices range from £20 to £2,012 and oversubscribed events will be decided by a ballot.
On Monday a giant clock counting down the days until the start of the Games was unveiled in Trafalgar Square.
Lord Coe, the chairman of London 2012, said: "If you look at the way we have put the price points together I think we've done that in a really smart way. I think those prices are affordable.
"Yes, the big ticket events are always going to be the big ticket events, but there are plenty of opportunities to see the big stars at the lower price points."
Lord Coe said he was confident the Games would be a sellout.
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Ballot system “Start Quote
End Quote James Pearce BBC Sports CorrespondentOlympic ticketing is always controversial. It's just not possible to keep everybody happy.”
Organisers said they were confident they had done everything they could to avoid the website crashing as people log on for the first time to buy tickets.
The main factor is the establishment of a 42-day sales process which means each application between now and 26 April will be treated in exactly the same way.People can apply using a paper form obtainable from branches of Lloyds TSB in England, Bank of Scotland in Scotland or libraries in Northern Ireland between 15 March and 25 April 2011.
Sean and Jacqueline Burke, from Southwell, Nottinghamshire, reported some problems using the website.
Mr Burke told BBC News: "We have managed to book tennis and athletics and one of the cycling events but we have had one or two problems with the website crashing. Logistically it's quite tricky at the moment."
Half a billion pounds is forecast to be raised from ticket sales.
Several events will be free, such as the marathon, and 2.5 million tickets will be available for £20 and under. Others start at between £30 and £50.Children under 17 will be able to "pay-your-age" to see some of the early heats, while the over-60s can watch for £16 at the same events.
Some 75% - or 6.6 million - of the 8.8 million tickets are available to the general public via the application process.
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London 2012 organisers are hoping to avoid their website crashing by making tickets available during a six week window rather than on a first come, first serve basis.
Ticketing websites often struggle to cope with the first rush on a major event, and sometimes crash.
"Why don't they plan for this?" is the usual cry. In most cases they could, but it all comes down to money.
If companies designed their systems to comfortably cope with occasional massive spikes in traffic, they would be over-specified for the rest of the time.
Imagine a department store that invested in 20m-wide doors just to cope with the January sales.
However, new technology could help deal with the busy periods, without causing costs to skyrocket.
Cloud computing allows companies to hire 'virtual' server capacity from specialist data centres.
There is clearly a lot of prestige associated with an event like the Olympics, and getting it right would be a feather in the cap for London 2012.
One thing buyers should be wary of is turning elsewhere if the main website does go down.
There will be plenty of bogus retailers out there, waiting to get hold of their credit card details.
Ticket website resilience
Ticketing websites often struggle to cope with the first rush on a major event, and sometimes crash.
"Why don't they plan for this?" is the usual cry. In most cases they could, but it all comes down to money.
If companies designed their systems to comfortably cope with occasional massive spikes in traffic, they would be over-specified for the rest of the time.
Imagine a department store that invested in 20m-wide doors just to cope with the January sales.
However, new technology could help deal with the busy periods, without causing costs to skyrocket.
Cloud computing allows companies to hire 'virtual' server capacity from specialist data centres.
There is clearly a lot of prestige associated with an event like the Olympics, and getting it right would be a feather in the cap for London 2012.
One thing buyers should be wary of is turning elsewhere if the main website does go down.
There will be plenty of bogus retailers out there, waiting to get hold of their credit card details.
Of the remaining 2.2 million tickets, roughly half will be issued to National Olympic Committees (NOC) of each country, and half will be split between sponsors, the IOC, guests and hospitality partners.
People from some European countries can apply through the London 2012 website but residents of other countries can apply through their National Olympic Committee or appointed authorised ticket reseller. Games organisers have faced calls from the London Assembly for a record of all tickets reserved for officials, politicians and VIPs to be published.
A further two million tickets for the Paralympic Games go on sale on 9 September.
There has been some criticism of the ticket-buying process as all online tickets can be only paid for with a Visa card.
Olympics organisers Locog say this is in recognition of Visa's sponsorship of the Games, but critics say it is unfair.
Visa Europe has said people who do not have a Visa debit or credit card and do not wish to get one can obtain a Visa prepaid card to purchase Olympic tickets.
Concerns have also been raised about payments made on Visa debit cards.
Locog says payment will be taken between 10 May and 10 June and people will be told by 24 June which events they have tickets for.
This could mean money going out of bank accounts before the buyer knows which tickets they are getting.
Touting clampdown Lord Coe said: "In fairness we wouldn't have had a game without sponsors. This is not unusual. At major sporting events credit card companies do sponsor events.
"Remember you can go into any Lloyds Bank and get an application form. You can pay by postal order or by cheque."
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• System is not first-come-first-served. A ballot will operate for over-subscribed events
• Applications close on 26 April
• People can apply online or using a paper form from Lloyds TSB, the Bank of Scotland in Scotland and libraries in Northern Ireland
• Tickets for 649 sport sessions go on sale across 39 Olympic disciplines
• Prices for many sports start at £20
• Some seats at the coveted 100m final cost £725
• Events like the marathon and cycling road race are free along most of the route
Buying tickets
• Ticket application process opens in the early hours of 15 March• System is not first-come-first-served. A ballot will operate for over-subscribed events
• Applications close on 26 April
• People can apply online or using a paper form from Lloyds TSB, the Bank of Scotland in Scotland and libraries in Northern Ireland
• Tickets for 649 sport sessions go on sale across 39 Olympic disciplines
• Prices for many sports start at £20
• Some seats at the coveted 100m final cost £725
• Events like the marathon and cycling road race are free along most of the route
Efforts are being stepped up to curb ticket touting, with the government planning to raise the maximum penalty from £5,000 to £20,000.
Earlier, a 6.5m (21ft) clock started counting down at 1930 GMT on Monday, in the square that was the scene of great celebrations in 2005 when London won the bid to host the Games.Champion rowers Pete Reed and Andy Hodge and sailors Iain Percy and Andrew Simpson pulled the covers off the clock, as Lord Coe, London Mayor Boris Johnson and world champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis looked on.
Clad in brushed stainless steel panelling, it is two-sided with one side counting down to the Olympics and the other to the Paralympics.
Ennis, who is aiming for her first Olympic gold at London 2012, said: "We all know that having a home Olympics is unique but the countdown clock is just bringing it all to light. It is all so exciting."
Lord Coe, winner of two Olympic golds, added: "Athletes' careers are based on timing and I hope that this milestone moment excites and inspires them to compete at the highest level in 2012."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12741934
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