Watch London Olympics 2012 Live Streaming Online Summer Olympics July 27 From NBC

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The time the world has been waiting for this summer has nearly arrived, as the London Olympics Opening Ceremony 2012 schedule begins at 9 p.m. London time (3 p.m. Central Time) on Friday. U.S. viewers who want to see the event live are out of luck — they’ll have to wait until NBC’s tape-delayed coverage airs Friday evening.

The good news, however, is that NBC is live streaming the rest of the Olympics. Those who want to see events on live stream can visit here to watch live streaming online at www.nbcolympics.com.

 

“We are live streaming every sporting event, all 32 sports and 302 medals,” said Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, according to the Wall Street Journal. “It was never our intent to live stream the Opening Ceremony or Closing Ceremony.”

But there’s a trick to watching the live stream online: It’s free, but you will need to sign up before you can watch the feed. To do so, it will require having an account with a TV provider that includes MSNBC and CNBC. You will need a user ID and password to log on.

As for watching the opening ceremony, NBC will kick off coverage at 6:30 p.m. Central Time Friday. IOC executive director Gilbert Felli has said the opening ceremony should last no more than three hours.

Those who want live glimpses of the opening ceremonies before NBC’s tape-delayed coverage will have to turn to Twitter’s page that will pull in tweets from athletes, their families and fans during the opening ceremony. The Twitter page will be live during the opening ceremony, according to the Wall Street Journal, with photos and reactions from inside London’s Olympic Stadium.

The ceremony will have a cast and crew of 10,000. It will be held at the 80,000-capacity stadium in east London and be watched by a global television audience expected at 1 billion.

Already, speculation abounds as to what mega-celebrities will appear at the opening ceremonies.

What’s known is that British director Danny Boyle, known for such classic films such as “Trainspotting” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” will join fellow acclaimed director Stephen Daldry to oversee the opening ceremonies.

The ceremonies have been named “Isle of Wonder,” inspired by William Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest.” The world’s largest harmonically tuned bell will sound to start the festivities. Among the rumors are that former Beatle Paul McCartney will be on hand to close at the ceremonies, while others suggest that Muhammad Ali will be at the opening ceremony.

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Coins,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Stadium,London 2012 Tickets

London 2012 Olympics: officials to be questioned by Parliament over collapse of stadium deal

The news came on the day that the West Ham deal collapsed, leaving a black hole of £100 million that may have to be funded by the taxpayer.

Andrew Altman, chief executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company responsible for negotiations with West Ham, is among the officials who will be called before the influential Public Accounts Committee on Dec 14.

Details of the inquiry can be disclosed as it emerged that the collapse of West Ham’s deal to take over the Olympic Stadium has left a shortfall in the public funding package.

Margaret Hodge MP, the committee’s chairman, said the cost of reconfiguring the stadium was certain to be raised by MPs. She said that the officials in charge “appear to be oblivious to the constraints that the rest of the public sector are experiencing.”

Dennis Hone, chief executive of the Olympic Development Authority, Paul Deighton, chief executive of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, and Jonathan Stephens, the most senior civil servant at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, will also be questioned.

Newham and the Government blamed “legal paralysis” caused by Tottenham and Leyton Orient, who have demanded a judicial review scheduled to be heard next Tuesday.

Newham were also facing an anonymous complaint to the European Commission, arguing that their loan constituted illegal state aid.

There was also the possibility that Newham-West Ham could lose the case if it went to a full hearing. Leyton Orient were increasingly confident about the strength of their case.

The hearing will come after the National Audit Office, the public spending watchdog, publishes a value-for-money review of the Olympics in the next few weeks.

The OPLC confirmed on Tuesday that it had ended negotiations with West Ham and funding partner Newham Council because legal challenges meant they could no longer guarantee to have the stadium open for the start of the 2014-15 football season.

The OPLC said it would issue new tender documents for a 60,000-seat stadium retaining the running track by early next month and is seeking expression of interest by January. The intention is for the stadium to remain in public ownership with the successful bidder paying an annual rent of around £2 million.

Under the new proposal, however, the cost of converting the stadium from its 85,000 Olympic capacity to a 60,000-seat arena with the facilities required by a Premier League football club will fall to the taxpayer.

Sports minister Hugh Robertson said on Tuesday that the cost was estimated at £95 million.

Some £35 million of that has already been allocated by the OPLC to a conversion fund, but the remaining £60million is likely to be met from public funds unless a tenant can be persuaded to contribute.

Estimates on Tuesday night suggested the costs could exceed £100 million.

The OPLC and Government would hope to recover the investment in rent over the lifetime of the stadium. They will also hope to attract other sports and concert promoters to show an interest.

Robertson suggested that Newham might be persuaded to provide £40 million to the conversion costs as under the initial deal with West Ham, but conceded that there was no requirement for them to do so.

West Ham immediately said they would bid to move to the stadium. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said the new tenants would “almost certainly be West Ham”. This drew an angry response and the threat of further legal action from Leyton Orient, who are also intent on bidding for the stadium, which is less than a mile from Brisbane Road.

“It appears from the mayor’s comments that he has not grasped the reality of an impartial tender process unless he knows something that we don’t,” club chairman Barry Hearn said.

“One would have thought that if there have been any lessons from this debacle of a bid process that they have not been learnt. We will be watching carefully.”

Chelsea and QPR, both exploring new stadium options, last night said they were not interested. Tottenham will examine the tender documents but if the track is non-negotiable they will concentrate on securing additional public sector funding for their new ground in Haringey.

Leyton Orient will go to the High Court on Thursday seeking to recover their full costs.

Andrew Boff, Olympic spokesman for the Conservative Group on the London Assembly, branded the collapse “a catastrophe” and blamed London 2012 chairman Lord Coe for insisting the running track be kept.

The announcement was welcomed by Johnson and UK Athletics, who believe the commitment to retain the track will enhance their bid for the 2017 World Athletics Championships.

What the OPLC decision means for the key players in stadium drama

UK ATHLETICS
The decision represents a welcome boost to UKA, as it guarantees the retention of a running track – crucial for London’s bid to host the 2017 World Championships. Athletics is the major beneficiary without contributing any funding.

What they say: UKA chairman Ed Warner: "The legacy company has acted swiftly and smartly. They’re going to get a positive result.”

OLYMPIC PARK LEGACY COMPANY
A serious embarrassment. They had been confident the deal with West Ham would survive legal challenges. They will now have to spend up to £100 million of public money on transforming the stadium.

What they say: Sports Minister Hugh Robertson: "This is not a white elephant. The action we have taken today is about removing uncertainty.”

WEST HAM
West Ham appear to remain the OPLC’s preferred bidder for the £2 million-a-year tenancy. This new scenario could be a better deal for the club, who could not have afforded to move into the stadium without the £40 million of state aid promised by Newham Council. That money was under threat if Tottenham and Leyton Orient had won their High Court case against the West Ham-Newham bid.

What they say: Karren Brady, vice-chairman: "Our bid is the only one that will secure the sporting and community legacy promise.”

TOTTENHAM
The club welcomed the decision and will look at the OPLC’s tenancy terms. But if a running track is non-negotiable, they have already stated they are not interested. Instead they will focus on securing public funding for a new stadium in Haringey.

What they say: Club statement: "The bid we put forward was a realistic solution.”

LEYTON ORIENT
A major victory for the League One club in the short term. The decision does not banish their big fear – West Ham moving in – but they will now bid to become the stadium’s tenant.

What they say: Chairman Barry Hearn: "If it’s not us moving in, we will continue to object.”

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Stadium,London 2012 Tickets

London ready for 2012 “Great” Olympic Games - UK High Commissioner declares

With a little less than a year to go for the 2012 London Olympics, the UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Peter Jones, has declared London ready and good to go for the world’s most glamorous sporting event.

According to him, the infrastructure for the event are all ready for use, a sharp contrast to previous events in which host cities raced against time to complete the stadia on time for the competition.

"We are on track. The good news is that most of the stadiums and the sporting venues are already available. As you probably know, for international sporting events, that’s kind of unusual. Normally there is a rush towards the end. But we got ours completed with a year to go,” Jones stated.

He was speaking to Myjoyonline.com during the second inter-Embassy competition held at the El-wak Sports Stadium over the week-end.

Describing the London Olympics as the “Great Games” he said the 2012 edition “is going to be one of the best games ever.”

Whilst assuring that Great Britain will put up a spirited performance in the competition, the honour for individual athletes to participate in such an event was for him more crucial than the league table.

Peter Jones said London and indeed the UK will look forward to 2012 with great expectation largely because apart from the Olympics, the Queen will be celebrating her 60th Anniversary on the throne, a magnificent feat worth celebrating.

“It is going to be a terrific year. We are going to have the whole world looking at us,” he intimated.

Healthy competition

The UK football team against the US

As if by design, it was the turn of the UK High Commission in Ghana to organize this year’s edition of the inter-Embassy competition and they did so with panache.

The USA, Japan, Spanish, Chinese, India, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Embassies and High Commission competed in various games, including five-aside football, table tennis, athletics, volley ball, basket ball, chess, Tug of peace and scrabble.

For embassy officials, who often, have been offering visas or ‘bouncing’ others, it was a rare opportunity to flex their muscles in a healthy competitive atmosphere.

The host Embassy won gold in the table tennis – men division with their women winning silver in the female division. Their female again won gold in the football tournament.

The Spanish Embassy showed why Spain and Barcelona are the current World and European Club champions by winning the male football competition.

The US dominated the Basketball competition by winning gold in both the male and female divisions. The US men again won gold in both the Volley ball and Tug of Peace events.

Denmark (men) won the chess competition, with Japan (men) winning 100 meters event. The Indian women picked silver in the women 100m event.

Canada won gold in the 4×100 male and female event.

The games were also to afford embassy officials and employees the opportunity to get to familiarize with each other.

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Coins,London 2012 Olympic Games,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

London 2012 Paralympic Games tickets now on sale

In the UK and within the EU, people can apply for tickets online between 9am on 9 September and 6pm on 26 September 2011.

Approximately two million tickets will go on sale to the public between now and Games time, with 1.5 million being available in this first phase.

A third of tickets are priced at £5, half of tickets priced at £10 or less and three quarters of tickets are £20 or less. As with Olympic Games tickets, the system is not first come, first served and there is no advantage to applying earlier in the process.

Tickets for oversubscribed sessions will be allocated via a ballot. Payment will be taken by 31 October 2011 with notification of whether applications have been successful sent by 18 November 2011.
Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG), commented: 'The Paralympic Games are coming home in 2012 and I’m confident that the whole country will get behind them. People will have the chance to see sport like never before, with world class athletes who challenge the notion of 'disability'; it’s a huge opportunity for Paralympic sport to become part of the nation’s consciousness and finally, it will be a moment of extraordinary pride.'

Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee, said: 'Those who buy tickets for London 2012 will see sport like never before, featuring incredible athletes participating in incredible sport. These Games are an opportunity to drive societal change and create a legacy for this country that was first started in 1948 at Stoke Mandeville.'

Different types of tickets

In total there will be over 300 sessions across the 20 Paralympic sports at 20 venues. Day passes will be available exclusively for the Paralympic Games, enabling spectators to see a range of sports taking place in the Olympic Park, ExCeL or The Royal Artillery Barracks on that day on a general admission basis.

A Group Organiser scheme has also been created which will see large groups receive additional tickets at no extra charge.

Truly accessible Games

LOCOG is also committed to making sure that the London 2012 Games will be the most accessible possible and that everyone has the opportunity to be involved. A variety of schemes have been announced including the ‘Ticketcare’ scheme, which will enable any successful ticket applicant with high dependency care needs to apply for an additional ticket for their carer or Personal Assistant.

Tickets for the London 2012 Paralympic Games are now on sale around the world.

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Games,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Stadium,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

How to apply for tickets for the Paralympic Games

Many of us were caught out by the huge demand for tickets for next year’s London Olympics events. The good news is that from today, you can apply for tickets to the London 2012 Paralympic Games. This takes place immediately after the main Olympics in the same venues, so you’ll be able to enjoy the excitement of this once-in-a-lifetime event at the same iconic London 2012 arenas and Olympic venues.

Applications for tickets to the Paralympic Games 2012 are open from today until 6pm on 26 September. Tickets will be allocated on a lottery basis. Successful applications will be notified and payment taken by 31 October.

To apply, you need to create a London 2012 Ticketing account at http://www.tickets.london2012.com/.com. In order to be able to apply via the UK ticketing service you need to be at least 16 years of age and have a valid Visa card with which to pay for your tickets. The Visa card must be valid until at least 31 October 2011 so payments can be processed. You also need to be resident in the UK or one of the designated European Union countries listed at http://www.tickets.london2012.com/eligibility_p2.html

Anyone resident elsewhere needs to apply for tickets through the National Olympic Committee website of the country where they live.

Assuming you are eligible to apply for tickets via the London 2012 Tickets website, press the ‘Click to get started’. Read through the details of eligibility before pressing the Apply Now lozenge. Note that you’ll be able to choose between a general access day pass or for seats to a specific Paralympic Games event. Tickets for some events also include day pass access to the Olympic site.

Fill out the registration information requested and submit your application. A temporary password will be generated. Once you’ve received this by email, use it to log in to the site and change the password to something more memorable. The current status of your applications will be shown.

Click on 'Apply for London 2012 Paralympics tickets now'. You’ll now see a dropdown list of venues, sports and dates. Decide the events or venues for which you’d like to apply for tickets and click Search to find further details and pricing.

Select a date and session that suits, then scroll down to specify the number of tickets you’d like and the price band. Click Select to add them to your account. You can add further ticket applications now or at a later date, but you will only be able to submit one application using your London 2012 Ticketing account. Paper applications are also accepted, but instead not in addition to the online application. You can apply for Paralympics Games tickets at any point from today until 6pm on 26 September. As with applications for the main London 2012 Olympics tickets, applications for oversubscribed events will be subject to a ballot (lottery).

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets,Paralympic 2012,Paralympic Olympics,Paralympic Tickets

London 2012 Olympics: Power and the glory spurring on Aaron Cook

Aaron Cook believes he can go from watching Power Rangers as a youngster to taking his place on the Olympic podium, despite splitting from the British squad set-up.

The British mat-ador: Aaron Cook has plenty of confidence in his new training set-up (Pic: PA)

The 20-year-old competed at his first Games in 2008 but lost out in controversial circumstances to Zhu Guo of China for a bronze medal.

That has only increased his  determination to go and win gold in London next year. But, as Cook reveals, his rise to sporting success stems from an unlikely source.

The Dorchester-born athlete watched Power Rangers as a child, leading his parents to take him to a local taekwondo club which was opening in his home town.

‘It could easily have been karate or judo, it just so happened to be that the taekwondo guy put a flyer through our letterbox,’ admits Cook after appearing as a life-size Power Ranger at the Westfield shopping centre in West London.

‘But that programme is the reason why I got into the sport – I just wanted to do what they did, be an “action man”. It’s amazing that they’ve done this for me now because I’m a big fan.

‘To be dressed as one for them was amazing! It’s pretty cool to be known as the Power Ranger of taekwondo now – maybe they can get me a job when I’ve finished competing!’

Behind all the fun, though, there is a tough challenge ahead of Cook, who last month quit the British squad set-up to go it alone ahead of the Olympics.

The single-minded youngster,  now based in Manchester, made the decision following an earlier-than-expected exit from the world championships in South Korea.

Having crashed out in round two, Cook considered his options going into the biggest year of his life and opted to train with his own coach at the gym he has in his back garden.

Cook said: ‘I’m still on track, I’m still good enough, I’m just doing my own thing. This way I’ll get better sparring partners and do more competitions.

‘I’ve always wanted to have my own team, as boxers do, and I feel I can go and win the gold medal in London but sometimes you have to do things the hard way.

‘We parted on good terms but their way does not work for everyone.’

He added: ‘It was a tremendous disappointment at the worlds but I had to go back to the drawing board after that and it’s now about qualifying for London.

‘It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but I have to keep my head down and focus now.

‘I’m training on my own at home at times and that can be lonely.

‘But I have friends all over the world I can go and train with and spar with, and that is what I plan  to do.

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 Olympic,2012 olympic travel packages,2012 olympics travel packages,London 2012,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

Calum chosen as BT storyteller for London 2012 Olympic Games

DUMFRIESSHIRE’S Calum Graham has secured a dream ticket to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The council sports development officer with leisure and sport Annandale and Eskdale has beaten thousands of hopefuls to become a coveted BT Olympic storyteller.

BT is a partner for the London 2012 Olympic Games and the communications giant launched a competition to find members of the public to help chronicle the story of the Olympic and Paralympic Games from one-year-to-go right through to Games-time.

It means the 38-year-year-old, who lives in Canonbie, will have to submit stories, tweets, photos, film clips and blogs for publication on a dedicated website from July 27 this year, to help mark one year to go to the London 2012 Olympic Games.

And Calum says it will be a “labour of love!”

On July 14 he is being flown to London on all all-expenses paid trip which includes a champagne dinner with the British Olympics Team and Lord Seb Coe, chairman of the London 2012 organising committee.

He will get a tour of the Olympic Park and Village and ride on the athletes javelin train, as well as being briefed on his amazing year ahead.

Calum said: “I am absolutely thrilled. Hundreds of thousands of people applied to be a BT storyteller and I can’t believe I have been chosen.

“I have a lot of friends who applied for tickets to see some of the events and were unable to get them. Now I am going to be right there in the thick of action and reporting on it. And it is not going to cost me a penny. Fantastic!”

Only 15 people have been selected as BT Olympic storytellers and Calum is one of two from Scotland.

He said: “I’ll learn more on July 14 but I know that I will have to attend a number of cultural and sports events in the run up to the Games. Then I get to report on three sports events at the Olympics and Paralympics and the opening ceremonies. I have chosen track and field, swimming and the Velodrome cycling so I am hoping that they are what I get to cover. I am really looking forward to meeting the Olympians and seeing them in action – particularly Chris Hoy.

“There will be celebrities as well as athletes at next week’s event and there are a number of celebrity fellow storytellers including Duran Duran duo Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes.”

Calum has been involved in sports development in the region since 1992 and founded the award-winning Annandale and Eskdale Sports and Leisure Trust which has seen hundreds of children try their hand at sports led by top coaches.

Some of the youngsters in the sports academy are now representing Scotland and national and international level.

And he says he hopes to share his experiences of the Olympics and Paralympics with children in Annandale and Eskdale.

He is a former striker with Carlisle United FC and among his best footballing moments was playing against a Manchester United team that included Ryan Giggs, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, and Gary Neville. Until he was forced out of the game with a knee injury, he also played against Roy Keane and Stuart Pearce.

He said: “If pushed I would say my favourite sport is football but get the most satisfaction now of giving children the opportunity to try almost every sport known. In particular taking a full bus to Dunbar for a day’s surfing with the Scottish Surfing Champion at the end of the month.”

The London 2012 Olympic games run from July 27 to August 12 next year and Paralympic Games from August 29 to September 9.

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

Hoy taking little steps towards London 2012

Triple Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy has revealed he breaks his training schedule down into manageable chunks so as not to get overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead of him.

Hoy will defend three gold medals at London 2012, and with the difference between glory and failure often just a fraction of a second, the Scot knows the importance of every single session.

"You cannot afford to look at the bigger picture," Hoy told the Telegraph. "If you think, 'this is the first of 10 of the day and then I've got to do it again tomorrow and then for the rest of the week and then there's eight weeks in this block and then 12 months until the Olympics', it all gets very daunting.

"You have to look at it like a hurdles race, just looking at what's directly in front of you.

"Say doing a 500m on the track, you can't even think about the second lap on the track. You are thinking of the first second as you snap out the gate and make your first move. You just have to stay in the immediate future. Everything is a little stepping stone.

"You just have to remember that every single session counts. The margin of victory is so small. One thousandth of a second won me my first world title in 2002. When you win like that it's great but when you lose you go back and think of all the little things that might have got you that extra thousandth of a second."

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

More London 2012 Olympic tickets go on sale

Existing ticket holders for the London 2012 Olympic Games are being offered a second chance to more seats for a limited number of events.

Those who won tickets in the initial first round ballot can buy tickets for football, volleyball and freestyle wrestling from today.

While football makes up the majority of the offering, with 1.5 million tickets on sale, there are also 40,000 volleyball and 8,000 wrestling places available.

Tickets will be on offer until July 17th, with 700,000 potential buyers being sent emails from today.

In total more than 3.5 million Olympic tickets have now been sold, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) confirmed.

The available tickets for football, volleyball and freestyle wrestling cover 58 sessions and 130 price categories. All other sports have no availability.

A full list of available sessions and price categories have been published on the official 2012 website.

City.Mobi

Also in Europe today, City.Mobi is celebrating the success of its new guide to London.

City.Mobi offers the most comprehensive mobile travel guides available, with over 800 cities in 200 countries listed. Each is developed by the City.Mobi team to combine into a single global travel directory.

However, each city retains its own mobile identity via a dedicated domain. Already on offer are Brussels.Mobi, Paris.Mobi, Sanfrancisco.Mobi and Sydney.Mobi.

London.Mobi is the latest in this illustrious line up, offering click to call functionality – which means no scribbling down telephone numbers.

Most entries are also linked to websites where users can quickly access more detailed information if needed.

Other key features include information on accommodation, restaurants, attractions, entertainment, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

City.Mobi guides include user reviews and traveller utilities such as a translation guide, currency converter, news and local weather guide.

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets,London Olympic 2012,London Olympics 2012,London Olympics 2012 Tickets,London Olympics Tickets

Olympics-London 2012 still has 1.5 million soccer seats to fill

Some 1.5 million Olympic soccer tickets remained unsold on Sunday after the end of the first phase of London 2012's 'second-chance' offering in Britain.

Organisers said the only tickets still available were for men's and women's soccer matches, volleyball and freestyle wrestling.

The soccer tickets were always going to be the hardest to shift, with 1.7 million of them available before the second round of sales kicked off on June 24.

Fans wanting to sample the London 2012 atmosphere have snapped up tickets to anything in the Olympic Park itself but many of the soccer matches are being held in stadiums hundreds of kilometres from the capital.

While Britain intends to enter a united team for the first time since 1960, the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish associations have opposed their players taking part.

Organisers said tickets remained for matches in Coventry, Cardiff, Glasgow, Newcastle and Manchester as well as London's Wembley Stadium.

The second-chance offering allowed more than a million fans who failed to land tickets in an initial ballot in March and April to try again on a first-come, first-served basis.

More than 750,000 tickets had been sold to nearly 150,000 successful applicants in that second phase, organisers said. More than 3.5 million tickets have been sold in total in Britain.

The next phase starting on July 8 and ending on July 17 will give a second chance to the 700,000 applicants who managed to buy at least some tickets in the ballot.

Apart from the soccer, there will be some 40,000 tickets still up for grabs for sessions of the men's and women's volleyball at the cavernous Earls Court arena and 8,000 seats for the wrestling.

A quarter of the two-billion-pound ($3.2-billion) operating budget for the staging of the Games is expected to come from ticket sales, including those to corporate sponsors.

Of the total 6.6 million tickets earmarked for the British public, more than a million have been withheld for contingency reasons and will go on sale next year once venues have been tested and licensed. ($1 = 0.626 British Pounds)

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Tickets,Olympics London 2012

London 2012 declare second ballot a success after 750,000 tickets sold

London 2012 revealed today that more than 750,000 Olympic tickets have been sold to nearly 150,000 successful applicants in the "second chance" sales round which closed at 6pm today.

The start of the second of ticket sales, which began on June 24 on a first-come, first-served basis, was open exclusively to applicants who did not receive any tickets in the first round sale which took place earlier this year between March 15 and April 26.

The exclusive second round sale was open for ten-day window but has now ended.

The next phase will see ticket sales open to the 700,000 applicants who were successful in all or part of their ticket applications in the first round sale.

It will open on July 8 at 6am and close on July 17 at 6pm but only football, volleyball and freestyle wrestling tickets remain with all other sports sold out.

"We now have at least 150,000 more successful applicants - and they and their friends and families are now going to the Games," said London 2012 commercial director Chris Townsend.

"Our goal is to get as many members of the British public to the Games as possible and we have sold over 750,000 tickets to people who were unsuccessful in the first round." In total, more than 3.5 million Olympic tickets have now been sold and around 850,000 successful applications have been made for tickets with less than two million tickets remaining.

Around 1.5 million football tickets remain for men's and women's matches at Wembley Stadium, City of Coventry Stadium, Millenium Stadium, Hampden Park, St James Park and Old Trafford. Meanwhile there are around 40,000 volleyball tickets are available for men's and women's volleyball sessions at Earls Court and around 8,000 freestyle wrestling tickets are available for sessions at the ExCel Arena.

Over 130 price categories across 58 sessions are still available with a full list of available sessions and price categories will be published this week on www.tickets.london2012.com.

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

London Olympics 2012: Over 20 million people apply for tickets

Organisers have also revealed that 1.8m people submitted requests for the 6.6m available public tickets, whose six-week sale window closed in the early hours of this morning. And 95 percent of these applications come from the United Kingdom.

They report that applications were received for every session, every sport and across every price point. Track cycling, rhythmic gymnastics, triathlon, modern pentathlon, equestrian cross country and both ceremonies have become London 2012’s first sell out events.

The majority of sessions in swimming have also sold out while tennis, despite being staged just a few weeks after Wimbledon, is another hot ticket.

Indeed organisers Locog claim that the opening ceremony, which will be produced by Oscar winning director Danny Boyle, could have sold out ten times over.

"We are thrilled with the response right across the board, in all sports and all sessions," said London 2012 chairman Seb Coe.

"Certain events have seen massive demand – for example the opening ceremony, which is more than ten times oversubscribed, so there will understandably be disappointment and we will find a way to go back to those people with other tickets. 

"What is most encouraging is that the majority of applications are for multiple tickets and for several sports, which shows that friends and family are planning to go to the Games together."

However, some fans are furious that issues with the London 2012 website in the final hour of the ticket sale prevented them from applying.

Initial problems struck at around 10:30pm and lasted for approximately 20 minutes as the midnight deadline drew ever closer - prompting Locog to extend the sale by one hour.

London 2012 will now check applications before running computerised ballots for those sessions which are oversubscribed.

Money will be debited from accounts and credit cards from May 10th, although they may not get formal confirmation of which events they have been successful in buying tickets for until June.

Despite the success of the sale, London 2012 still expect to have £100 million worth of unsold tickets to sell, mainly for preliminary sessions of less popular sports and the UK wide football competition, which will be staged in Cardiff, Coventry, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, in addition to London's Wembley Stadium.

Organisers believe those tickets won't really start to sell until teams are confirmed and draws are made next year - while there remains an issue over whether the Great Britain football team will be fully representative or just comprised of players from England.

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Stadium,London 2012 Tickets,London 2012 Volunteer

London 2012 Olympics: Men scoop 100m final tickets

Two Londoners will be the envy of many 2012 Olympics fans after both got the only tickets they applied for - seats at the men's 100m final.

Tim Fuell, 36, from Hillingdon, will be watching the 2012 Games' showpiece event with his wife and twin daughters.

Anant Bhadreshwara, 23, a graphics designer from Harrow, north-west London, also got lucky.

More than a million people tried for tickets to the event, which Usain Bolt is favourite to win.

The pair, who do not know each other, live about six miles apart.

Many people who submitted requests in the first round of applications have received only a small number of tickets and some will receive none.

Those who successfully applied for multiple events will be told by 24 June which tickets they have been allocated.

Mr Fuell said he was looking forward to experiencing the atmosphere at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London, as well as the chance to witness the likes of Bolt run.

"I was not really confident that I would get the tickets," he said.

"There is probably more chance of being struck twice by lightning in the same day."

An "overwhelmed" Mr Bhadreshwara also got tickets to the final, despite applying for that event only.

He said: "My enthusiasm for the 100m only really grew after I saw Usain Bolt in the media. It'll be great to see him live."

Mr Bhadreshwara got the cheapest tickets available - which still work out at just under £5 a second for the 100m dash.

The current world record for the 100m, set by reigning Olympic champion Bolt, is 9.58 seconds.

Prices for 100m final tickets ranged between £50 and £725.

About 40,000 tickets were made available for the final at the Olympic Stadium on 5 August next year.

Mr Fuell, who also managed to get the cheapest tickets, said he had no plans to sell them.

"I have had people suggest I should cash in on them but it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said.

Source
BBC NEWS LONDON

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Posted in: London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Online,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

Anger mounts over London Olympics ticketing

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe has defended criticism over corporate ticket allocation after tour operators including Thomas Cook began selling Olympics tickets at significantly inflated prices.

Lord Coe said people must not be “coy or naive” about the funding provided by businesses that have been given tickets, and that corporate allocations accounted for only 8 percent of the total number of tickets available.

He said: “The corporates are responsible for about 8 percent of the tickets, the high end ticket packages are actually only 1 percent of tickets.”

Thomas Cook was allocated 300,000 tickets in return for a rumoured £20 million sponsorship deal of the games. The tour operator has now started selling packages ranging from £99 to £6,499.

A £99 package with the company ensures entry to see the volleyball at Earl’s Court plus a one-night stay in the two-star Ibis London Heathrow.

This rises to £3,299 for a deal that includes the entry to the blue riband 100m final and £6,499 for a three-day stay at the five-star Hyatt Regency Churchill Hotel and includes the closing ceremony.

But Coe argues that corporate funding is an essential part of hosting the games.

He told the BBC: “The corporates in large part pay for the Games, we shouldn’t be coy or naive about that. Twenty five per cent of the operating budget for the staging of the Games comes from ticket sales, and the corporates are probably collectively contributing about £1.5 billion to what we’re actually doing.”

He said organisers were obliged to give one million tickets to overseas federations, including football governing body Fifa.

He said: “A percentage of those tickets go to international federations and governing bodies. Fifa is an international federation. We are obliged to do that.”

The international allocation is not “out of perspective”, he said, and 75% of tickets will go to members of the public.

“We wanted to make sure people from all over the country could come,” he said. “If you’re coming down from the north-east or Scotland, it’s difficult to come down just for the day. So we wanted to make sure there were packages available with a hotel.”

More than half of the 1.8million who applied for tickets in the first round were left empty-handed as popular sports and cheaper tickets were heavily oversubscribed.

A second ballot will be held but more than 6 million of the 6.6 million tickets on sale directly to the public were included in the first round.

Details of the second round will be announced on or before June 24, and will be based on a first come basis.

Among the most popular one-night packages are athletics, gymnastics, volleyball, and water polo.

A quarter of all Olympic tickets – 2.2 million – have been reserved for the media, sponsors and various officials.

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 olympic travel packages,2012 Olympics,London 2012,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets,sport tourism

Vijay Kumar seventh Indian shooter to qualify for London Olympics

Source: The Hindu

Vijay Kumar was at his firing best at the crunch as he clinched the silver medal and the Olympic quota place in the 25-metre rapid fire pistol event in the shooting World Cup in Fort Benning, US, on Saturday.

The 25-year-old Himachal lad, a Subedar with the army, lost the final shoot-off 1-4 in a dramatic anti-climax to Christian Reitz of Germany, after having caught up with him with a perfect round in the last series.

With the new format for the rapid fire event, nullifying the qualification scores for the six shooters, Vijay Kumar with 584 was on par with Olympic bronze medallist Ding Feng of China who had topped with a score of 589.

Nerve-wracking performance

After the bottom three shooters were eliminated after the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds of 4-second series, Vijay found himself tied with the Chinese with 24 points. It was a nerve-wracking performance, as Vijay beat the Chinese 5-3 in the second shoot-off after the two had tied 4-4 in the first shoot-off, to ensure the Olympic quota place.

The best was yet to come, as Vijay unleashed a perfect 5 to match the eventual gold medallist who shot 4 in the eighth and last series of the final. However, in the shoot-off Vijay could muster one point to four by the German who also secured the Olympic quota.

Incidentally, in the final any shot that is 9.7 or above is considered as one, and the rest is treated as zero. In the 4-second series, a shooter fires at five targets in one motion within four seconds.

Second silver

It was the second silver in a World Cup for the six-time National champion, as Vijay had won a similar medal in Beijing in 2009.

In fact, he had made the World Cup final that season and finished fourth in the competition meant for the top-10 performers of the season.

After a string of below par scores in the last two World Cups in Sydney and Changwon when he shot 572 and 543, it was an impressive performance by Vijay, coached by Pavel Smirnov hired by the army, to have come up with a career-best score in qualification and an authoritative performance in the final.

Quite interestingly, Vijay, the triple gold-medallist in the Commonwealth Games at home, had failed to win a medal in rapid fire pistol in the Asian Games in Guangzhou last year, but pocketed individual bronze medals in the air pistol and centre-fire pistol events.

Vijay became the seventh Indian shooter, after Gagan Narang, Hariom Singh, Sanjeev Rajput, Ronjan Sodhi, Annuraj Singh and Rahi Sarnobat to clinch an Olympic quota for the London 2012 Games.

The results:

Men's 25m rapid fire pistol: 1. Christian Reitz (Ger) 29 (4) 584; 2. Vijay Kumar 29 (1) 584; 3. Ding Feng (Chn) 24 (589); 9. Pemba Tamang 580; 29. Gurpreet Singh 571. MQS: Mahendra Singh 554.

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Posted in: London 2012 Tickets,London 2012 Volunteer,London Olympics,Rapid Fire Pistol

London 2012 announces Paralympic Games ticket prices

The London 2012 Organising Committee (LOCOG) today published its prices for Paralympic Games tickets, with more than half of the two million tickets available priced at £10 or less. More than 95 per cent of the tickets will be priced at £50 or less, with 75 per cent at £20 or less. Tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies start at £20.12, with a top price of £500 for the Opening Ceremony.

The Paralympic Games takes place between 29 August and 9 September 2012, with 20 sports taking place at 19 venues. Tickets go on sale on the London 2012 ticketing website from 9 September 2011, with applications accepted until 30 September.

Ticketing initiatives
A number of ticketing initiatives have been designed to make the Games as accessible as possible for all spectators.

'Group Organiser' tickets are available in sessions with a ticket limit of 20 or more, and will allow groups who apply for 20 tickets or more per session to receive additional tickets at no extra charge. A Group Organiser applying for 20 tickets would receive two extra tickets at no extra charge, an application of 30 tickets would receive 33 tickets, and so on up to a Group Organiser applying for 50 tickets receiving a total of 55 tickets.

Special day passes have also been developed which will enable ticket holders to see a range of sports in the Olympic Park or at ExCeL on that day on a general admission basis.

Tickets for spectators who will be under 16 or over 60 on 29 August 2012 will start from just £5, while a London Travelcard is included within the price of tickets for the day of the event.

LOCOG CEO Paul Deighton commented: 'The Paralympic Games will light up London with quite simply brilliant sport next year.

'The UK is the spiritual home of the Paralympic movement and with superb medal prospects for ParalympicsGB, we believe that the British public will come out in their thousands to watch.

'We have created a fair pricing structure, which we hope will encourage people to come along and create fantastic atmospheres at our venues.'

Wheelchair spaces will be available in all price categories for every Paralympic sport, and the price of these tickets will include a companion seat next to it. Applicants who are deaf or have a hearing impairment, visually impaired people or people with limited mobility can indicate additional requirements.

The London 2012 ‘Ticketcare’ scheme will also feature, whereby any successful ticket applicant with high dependency care needs can apply for an additional ticket for their carer or PA.

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympic,2012 London Olympics,2012 olympics travel packages,London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympic Games,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,London 2012 Tickets

One in eight London schoolchildren to get free Games tickets

London 2012 Chair Seb Coe and Mayor of London Boris Johnson have sent out a rallying cry to schools to ensure they do not miss out on tickets to London 2012.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe and Mayor of London Boris Johnson meet pupils from The Compton School in Barnet to promote the Ticketshare scheme.

A total of 125,000 tickets are available to London schoolchildren through the Ticketshare scheme, which means one in eight will receive tickets to the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

A further 50,000 tickets will be distributed to schools across the UK, while 25,000 tickets will also be distributed by the British Olympic Association, British Paralympic Association, Sport England and Tickets for Troops.

The Ticketshare initiative is part of the London 2012 Get Set network, the official London 2012 education programme for schools and colleges across the UK.
Tickets are donated through a levy placed on London 2012 hospitality packages sold by Prestige Hospitality.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe commented: 'Schools and colleges across London and the UK have a golden opportunity to give some of their pupils the chance of a lifetime – tickets to see the greatest show on earth. More than 18,000 schools have taken the first step towards claiming their tickets by registering with Get Set.

'Now is the time for them to go one step further and apply to join the Get Set network and claim their Ticketshare tickets. I am hugely grateful both to Prestige Ticketing and to the Mayor of London who is fully supportive of the scheme to ensure tickets for London schoolchildren.’

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said, ‘I can think of none more deserving to have a ringside seat at the world’s greatest sporting event than the next generation of Londoners. So there’s not a moment to waste to ensure your school gets its tickets and embraces the spirit and excitement of the London Games during the build up to 2012.'

Over 3,000 schools are part of the London 2012 Get Set network currently and have already been guaranteed an allocation of tickets.

In order to be eligible to receive their allocation of tickets, schools must submit an application to join the Get Set programme by 16 December 2011.

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Posted in: London 2012 Tickets,London Olympic 2012,London Olympic Games,London Olympics,London Olympics 2011 Volunteer,London Olympics 2012,London Olympics 2012 Tickets