Paris 2024: 7.2 million tickets sold, 400,000 available next week

Some 400,000 tickets for the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games, including the opening and closing ceremonies, will be available on November 30, 2023, according to the organizers on Wednesday.

"[With the ticket sale taking place] just a few weeks before Christmas, this is a unique opportunity to place tickets under your Christmas tree," said Michael Aloisio, deputy general director of Paris 2024.

"I don't think any other organizing committee had sold that many tickets so fast," he added, referring to the 7.2 million tickets already sold, with the plan being to exceed 10 million. Meanwhile, some 2.8 million tickets are expected to be sold for the Paralympics Games.

The price for the opening ceremony, including a barge parade on the Seine River, will be 90-2,700 euros. As some have criticized the overpricing of tickets to the competitions, the organizers said that a third of the newly issued tickets would be "under 50 euros," except for the surfing events which are free.

Unlike the previous phases, there will be no draw in the new round of ticket sale. Every account registered on the Paris 2024 official website is allowed to purchase a maximum of 30 tickets.

"We're happy with the way it started," said Aloisio. "We need time for people to know who the athletes are and get into the groove."

Meanwhile, the Hellenic Olympic Committee announced on Wednesday that Greek Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos will be the first torchbearer for Paris 2024, and the relay will kick-start on April 16 right after the Olympic flame lighting ceremony at the ancient Olympia in western Greece — the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

(Cover: Olympic rings seen near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. /CFP)