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

London 2012 volunteer selection programme arrives in the North East

Selection for London 2012 volunteers started in the North East today as the sixth regional Games Maker selection event opened its doors.

London 2012 Board Member Jonathan Edwards and former GB Swimmer Chris Cook join Games Maker applicants at the launch of the selection event

The Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle will welcome an estimated 3,000 applicants between now and 3 June.
They will be able to explore an exhibition about the Games and meet LOCOG staff before a 30-minute interview.
The interviews are the second stage in the process to be a London 2012 volunteer. In September 2010 the public were invited to apply to become part of the London 2012 Games Maker programme, with over 250,000 people signing up.

London 2012 Board Member Jonathan Edwards said: ‘London 2012 volunteers will be the face of the Games – every role counts, from collecting tickets to welcoming athletes at the airport. It’s vital we find the right people for these roles, and we are delighted to bring the search to the North East today.

'Games-time volunteers are vital to the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games; from the athletes to organisers, from the media to the public, we all rely on the volunteers to deliver successful sporting events. The Games Makers will help make London 2012 the greatest show on earth.’

A further three selection events will take place around the UK before the end of August 2011. The next selection event is scheduled to take place at Cardiff's Coal Exchange between 7 – 18 June. An interview centre at London’s ExCel Centre opened on 1 February 2011 and will remain active until March 2012.

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Posted in: 2012 London Olympics,London 2012 Volunteer,London 2012 Volunteer Selection Programme

London 2012 announces Brands Hatch as Paralympic Road Cycling venue

Brands Hatch, near Sevenoaks in Kent, will host the Paralympic Road Cycling events, incorporating the Road Race and Time Trial, from 5-8 September 2012.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe, Paralympic gold medallist Rachel Morris and Jonathan Palmer, Chief Executive of MotorSport Vision, celebrate the announcement at Brands Hatch

The riders will race round a course that passes through the county of Kent and the district of Sevenoaks in Kent. The former F1 Grand Prix circuit at Brands Hatch will be the base for approximately half of the course including the start and finish. The remaining race will take place on local roads nearby.

This announcement marks the final venue to be confirmed for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and pays homage to Brands Hatch’s cycling routes, as it first developed in the 1920s as a grass track cycle racing venue.
The course was chosen after extensive consultation with the relevant local authorities and stakeholders to find a route that will provide an outstanding experience for both athletes and spectators. It will also allow LOCOG to use much of the existing venue infrastructure at Brands Hatch and is within approximately one hour’s travel time of the Athletes’ Village on the Olympic Park.
Requirements for the Paralympic Road Cycling course are very precise – the course has to be suitable and challenging for a wide variety of disability groups. The requirements are based on a loop course of 7-10km, which is completed a different number of times based on the event distance.

Approximately 25 per cent of the course is uphill sections of not more than six per cent gradient and the route includes some challenging bends or technical sections, while the road width is adequate to allow for bunch sprints in the finish straight.
During the London 2012 Paralympic Games there will be 32 Road Cycling events for men and women with a range of disabilities including visual impairments, cerebral palsy and amputations competing on bicycles, tricycles, tandems and hand cycles.
The events will be ticketed in large part, but part of the route will be free for spectators to line the route providing a fantastic way of watching high profile action. Tickets will cost £10 and there will also be Special Price tickets available (£5 for young people aged 16 and under and seniors aged 60 and over) as well as Group Organiser tickets for large groups which will see them receive additional tickets at no extra cost.

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

Wimbledon Way project launched for Olympics 2012 tennis

A project to turn the route from Wimbledon station to the All England Club into a walking tourist attraction would bring the community together and give the borough a lasting Olympic legacy, it has been claimed.

The chief executive of Merton Chamber of Commerce, (MCoC) Diana Sterck, made the comments as she launched the Wimbledon Way proposal at the home the All England Club, but warned there was “only a year to do it”.

She said visitors would be guided along a marked route – which goes from the station to Wimbledon High Street and in to Church Lane – with “interpretation boards” along the way providing them with history, news and other information as they walk through three different zones.

Ms Sterck said the project – part of which must be completed in time for next year’s Olympics – would “bring the community together to embrace our heritage, the arts and the town’s connection with tennis”.

She said: “With an estimated 500,000 visitors to London, south London should benefit by providing a strong offer in relation to its accommodation, attractions and history and heritage.”

One of the zones, Victory Walk, would celebrate tennis events and personalities, she said adding the route could be dotted with public art installations and used year-round for events.

MCoC has secured some project funding from Young’s brewery, which has three pubs along the route – the Alexandra, Dog and Fox and the Fire Stables – and the Wimbledon Village Business Association.

It is also in the process of submitting a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for extra cash.

The Wimbledon Society and Wimbledon Film have also agreed to provide content and the group said it had support from the council and politicians.

Ms Sterck said: “With the support of Merton Council I know we can establish the Wimbledon Way as a permanent feature in SW19 and achieve the Olympic legacy for Wimbledon and south-west London.”

For further information visit wimbledongoingforgold.co.uk.

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

39 Olympic Logos From 1924 to 2012

Living in Vancouver, Canada, I’ve been seeing the logo of the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympic Games more and more around the city as the date draws closer.

I thought it would be interesting to take a look at how the design trends in Olympic logos have evolved over the years.

Noticeably, the logos seem to have changed from a monochromatic trend to a more multicolor approach in recent years.

Logo design seems to have been streamlined to simpler and cleaner shapes. This article features every logo from the summer and winter Olympic games from 1924 to 2012.

Paris – Summer 1924

Lake Placid – Winter 1932

Los Angeles – Summer 1932

Garmisch-Partenkirchen – Winter 1936

Berlin – Summer 1936

St. Moritz – Winter 1948

London – Summer 1948

Oslo – Winter 1952

Helsinki – Summer 1952

Cortina d’Ampezzo – Winter 1956

Melbourne / Stockholm – Summer 1956

Squaw Valley – Winter 1960

Rome – Summer 1960

Innsbruck – Winter 1964

Tokyo – Summer 1964

Grenoble – Winter 1968

Mexico – Summer 1968

Sapporo – Winter 1972

Munich – Summer 1972

Innsbruck – Winter 1976

Montreal – Summer 1976

Lake Placid – Winter 1980

Moscow – Summer 1980

Sarajevo – Winter 1984

Los Angeles – Summer 1984

Calgary – Winter 1988

Seoul – Summer 1988

Albertville – Winter 1992

Barcelona – Summer 1992

Lillehammer – Winter 1994

Atlanta – Summer 1996

Nagano – Winter 1998

Sydney – Summer 2000

Salt Lake City – Winter 2002

Athens – Summer 2004

Turin – Winter 2006

Beijing – Summer 2008

Vancouver – Winter 2010

London – Summer 2012

Which is your favorite logo and what do you think of the logos of the upcoming Vancouver and London games?

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

London 2012: Paralympic prices to be revealed

The prices for next year's London 2012 Paralympic tickets are due to be announced later.

Two million tickets for 20 sports will go on sale from 9 to 30 September.

More than 4,200 athletes from about 150 countries are expected to participate at the Games from 29 August to 9 September 2012.

The announcement follows Olympic ticket sales, which saw about 1.8 million people apply for 6.6 million tickets.

Those tickets were hugely over-subscribed, organisers said, with the total demand topping 20 million tickets.

Adult prices for the Olympics ranged from £20 to £2,012 for the best ticket for the opening ceremony, with some concessions available.

The Paralympic games will be staged in many of the Olympic venues, including the Olympic stadium (athletics), aquatics centre (swimming) and velodrome (cycling), as well as the likes of Eton Dorney (rowing), Weymouth (sailing) and Greenwich Park (equestrian para-dressage).

The Olympic Park will also stage the five-a-side and seven-a-side football at the Olympic hockey centre and goalball at the Olympic handball arena, as well as wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball at the Olympic basketball arena, although some basketball will also be held at the North Greenwich Arena.

The ExCel exhibition centre in the Docklands will host boccia, judo, sitting volleyball, wheelchair fencing, table tennis and powerlifting. The wheelchair tennis events will be staged at Eton Manor while the archery and shooting will both be held at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is expected to announce how tickets will be allocated on Wednesday.

For the Olympic Games, there has been criticism of the prices, the ballot system and the fact that money is taken from accounts before applicants know which events they have secured.

Applicants were originally told to make sure they had enough money in their accounts from 10 May to 10 June.

But organisers now say people will not be billed until next Monday at the earliest while they carry out ballots for oversubscribed events.

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Posted in: 2012 Paralympic,Paralympic 2012,Paralympic Olympics,Paralympic Tickets