Tickets for this summer's two-day Anniversary Games athletics event at London's Olympic Stadium "sold out in 75 minutes amid complaints that the website could not cope with demand," according to Owen Gibson of the London GUARDIAN. On the day that the public accounts committee queried whether the enthusiasm generated by the Games was in danger of "fizzling out," the "stampede for tickets suggested that the public at least wanted to recapture the feeling of watching the likes of Mo Farah, Jessica Ennis and Usain Bolt in action." The 65,000 tickets for each day of competition on July 26-27 "were made available to those who had pre-registered through the British Athletics website." Organizers insisted that the website "had not crashed but had slowed to a crawl amid huge demand for tickets that is likely to have left many would-be purchasers disappointed." The event is "likely to be the only time that the stadium is filled to capacity this summer," after the London Legacy Development Corp. admitted this week that it was "unlikely to hold any pop concerts there before closing it for almost three years for redevelopment" (GUARDIAN, 4/19).
TIMING IS KEY: REUTERS' Keith Weir reported those who missed out on tickets "can still buy seats" for July 28 when Paralympic athletes will be competing. A UK Athletics spokesperson said that these "were also selling well." The timing of the London meeting "is also helpful in attracting top athletes because it's the last major meeting before the world championships in Moscow in August" (REUTERS, 4/19).
