4 million apply for tickets for Paris Olympics in lottery

PARIS: Four million applications were received for an online lottery where winners get to buy tickets for next year’s Paris Olympics, the local organizing committee said Friday. They hope to sell 1.3 million tickets for the 2024 Games as a result of the latest draw. Applications ended Thursday evening and winners will know early next month if they have been successful.

They can start buying from May 11 and have a 48-hour timeslot to do so. They’ll be told 48 hours beforehand when their slot is. Figures on which countries the 4 million lottery applications came from, and whether more men or women applied, were not available.

The five countries who bought the most tickets, and other statistics, will be made known after the sale has finished in June. By then, organizers expect that about half of the 10 million tickets for the Paris Games will have been sold. A total of 3.2 million tickets were sold from the first phase of sales, featuring packages, with the top buyers coming from Britain and the United States.

Phase 1 ended on March 15, which is also when online applications for the lottery and the second phase of single-ticket sales began. The Paris Games, which run from July 26-Aug. 11, 2024, will feature 32 sports and 48 disciplines across 37 sites.

Tickets will be available in five categories according to price range, with a maximum of six for any event, including the opening ceremony. PRICE RANGES To watch the opening ceremony, which will feature thousands of Olympic athletes on boats cruising along the River Seine, spectators will pay from 90 euros ($99) to 2,700 euros ($2,960) — the most expensive ticket of all. The cheapest tickets for all other events start at only 24 euros ($26), and 4 million of the 10 million