PARIS, Aug 28 — Paris 2024 has sold just over two million tickets for the Paralympics, the organisers said hours before the opening ceremony today, adding they were confident it would be a sold-out extravaganza.
“Over two million tickets have already been sold for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, including one million in just one month,” Paris 2024 said in a statement.
Organisers said yesterday some 500,000 tickets were still up for grabs, which, if sold, would put Paris just short of the record 2.7 million sold for the London 2012 Games, where 97 per cent tickets were purchased.
At Beijing 2008, 1.82 million tickets were sold and organisers distributed 1.62 million to schools, according to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) figures.
Some 2.1 million tickets were sold for the Rio 2016 Paralympics.
Paris 2024, however, is confident Paralympics will be sold out, which would be a first.
“We know we will continue to sell tickets over the next few days, probably until the end of the Games,” Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said.
“It was the case at the Olympics, we sold tickets until the very last day, even the last hour, and that’s been very exciting for us to see that fans were excited until the end and really wanted to take the last opportunities.”
“Today, the number of tickets sold will certainly surpass Rio numbers,” IPC spokesman Craig Spence said.
More than a month after the opening ceremony of the Olympics on the Seine, the Paralympic opening event will also take place outside a stadium, this time on the Champs-Elysees and Place de la Concorde, later today.
— Reuters
