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J'cans bitter over scarcity of affordable Olympic tickets
BY DANIA BOGLE Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
THE cost of tickets allocated to Jamaica for the athletics competition of the 2012 London Olympics has left a bitter taste in the mouths of individuals whose Olympic dreams have been dashed after they found the prices to be out of reach.
Track and field supporter Olive McNaughton told the Observer that she hoped to attend the Games' athletics competition in the English capital from August 3-11.
However, her requests for D and E category tickets went unmet when she was told by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) that they had only been allocated the more expensive AA-C category tickets.
The official ticket sales website www.tickets.london2012.com indicates that tickets for the men's 100m final on August 5 would range from £725 (J$100,412.5) for the most expensive AA seats, to £125(J$17,312.5) in the C category.
"We want to support our athletes and we can't because the prices are ridiculous," McNaughton said. "True track supporters want to go every day, not just one day. Several persons have said their Olympic dream has died. They wanted tickets and it's just frustration."
Observer checks reveal that the trip to the Olympics will carry a hefty price tag at an exchange rate of J$142 to £1 . The estimated cost for a single individual to travel to London for two weeks to watch the athletics competition, while sitting in the cheapest seats at the Olympic Stadium, would be just over half-a-million Jamaican dollars -- approximately $503,284.
That includes airfare of $108,248; a hotel in nearby Greenwich for two weeks at £1,240 or J$176,080; tickets for nine days of competition watching the morning and afternoon sessions in D Class or E class seats -- $80,940; ground transportation on the London Underground to and from the East London-based Olympic Stadium at £4 each way -- $10,224; per diem of £50 per day -- $99,400, and miscellaneous expenses approximating $28,400.
JOA vice-president Don Anderson, said McNaughton, was one of at least four persons who had expressed consternation at the turn of events.
Earlier this year, Anderson told the Observer that the association had been allotted between 1,600 and 1,700 track and field tickets, mainly in the B and C categories, while the demand by Jamaicans had been at least that many.
"The ticket requests generally across the board for track and field have been five times what the availability is," he said yesterday.
"Something is wrong with that," McNaughton said. "You can't be using our athletes as the promo and then we can't get tickets. The IOC must allocate something differently; it is not just some little nation out there."
"I spent a week in Atlanta (1996) right behind the finish line when Deon (Hemmings) won and what they are charging for one ticket is what I spent for a week in Atlanta," she fumed.
However, Anderson said it was not that simple. "The bottom line is that there are 200+ Olympic committees around the world and they're going to be treating everything in an equitable manner."
"We can't expect to get tickets in proportion to our dominance in the thing. Then everybody else in the world would complain."
He added that he had requested a meeting with his authorised ticket re-seller to see if there was some way to address the matter.
"The situation is of concern enough that we have said to him last week that 'we need to talk to you. When can you come to Jamaica so that we can sit down and see if we can solve this problem?," Anderson noted.
The 2012 London Olympics are considered special to Jamaicans. It will mark the first time the Games return to the English capital since the first Jamaicans participated at the Olympics in 1948. In addition, 2012 will mark the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence from Great Britain.
There is also much hype surrounding Jamaica's track and field athletes and whether or not they will be able to repeat their record 11-medal haul from Beijing in 2008.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1RDshguMv
J'cans bitter over scarcity of affordable Olympic tickets
BY DANIA BOGLE Observer staff reporter
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
THE cost of tickets allocated to Jamaica for the athletics competition of the 2012 London Olympics has left a bitter taste in the mouths of individuals whose Olympic dreams have been dashed after they found the prices to be out of reach.
Track and field supporter Olive McNaughton told the Observer that she hoped to attend the Games' athletics competition in the English capital from August 3-11.
However, her requests for D and E category tickets went unmet when she was told by the Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) that they had only been allocated the more expensive AA-C category tickets.
The official ticket sales website www.tickets.london2012.com indicates that tickets for the men's 100m final on August 5 would range from £725 (J$100,412.5) for the most expensive AA seats, to £125(J$17,312.5) in the C category.
"We want to support our athletes and we can't because the prices are ridiculous," McNaughton said. "True track supporters want to go every day, not just one day. Several persons have said their Olympic dream has died. They wanted tickets and it's just frustration."
Observer checks reveal that the trip to the Olympics will carry a hefty price tag at an exchange rate of J$142 to £1 . The estimated cost for a single individual to travel to London for two weeks to watch the athletics competition, while sitting in the cheapest seats at the Olympic Stadium, would be just over half-a-million Jamaican dollars -- approximately $503,284.
That includes airfare of $108,248; a hotel in nearby Greenwich for two weeks at £1,240 or J$176,080; tickets for nine days of competition watching the morning and afternoon sessions in D Class or E class seats -- $80,940; ground transportation on the London Underground to and from the East London-based Olympic Stadium at £4 each way -- $10,224; per diem of £50 per day -- $99,400, and miscellaneous expenses approximating $28,400.
JOA vice-president Don Anderson, said McNaughton, was one of at least four persons who had expressed consternation at the turn of events.
Earlier this year, Anderson told the Observer that the association had been allotted between 1,600 and 1,700 track and field tickets, mainly in the B and C categories, while the demand by Jamaicans had been at least that many.
"The ticket requests generally across the board for track and field have been five times what the availability is," he said yesterday.
"Something is wrong with that," McNaughton said. "You can't be using our athletes as the promo and then we can't get tickets. The IOC must allocate something differently; it is not just some little nation out there."
"I spent a week in Atlanta (1996) right behind the finish line when Deon (Hemmings) won and what they are charging for one ticket is what I spent for a week in Atlanta," she fumed.
However, Anderson said it was not that simple. "The bottom line is that there are 200+ Olympic committees around the world and they're going to be treating everything in an equitable manner."
"We can't expect to get tickets in proportion to our dominance in the thing. Then everybody else in the world would complain."
He added that he had requested a meeting with his authorised ticket re-seller to see if there was some way to address the matter.
"The situation is of concern enough that we have said to him last week that 'we need to talk to you. When can you come to Jamaica so that we can sit down and see if we can solve this problem?," Anderson noted.
The 2012 London Olympics are considered special to Jamaicans. It will mark the first time the Games return to the English capital since the first Jamaicans participated at the Olympics in 1948. In addition, 2012 will mark the 50th anniversary of Jamaica's independence from Great Britain.
There is also much hype surrounding Jamaica's track and field athletes and whether or not they will be able to repeat their record 11-medal haul from Beijing in 2008.
Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport...#ixzz1RDshguMv
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