Coe and Johnson Reiterate Free 2012 Tickets for Kids Scheme

Mayor of London Boris Johnson and LOCOG chairman Sebastien Coe have again highlighted a scheme offering free tickets to schoolchildren on the day that some successful applicants in the Games ballot saw the first debits from their bank accounts, May 16.

A total of 125,000 tickets will be distributed to schools in the capital that had signed up to the ‘Get Set’ programme by December 16 while a further 50,000 tickets would be available to schools outside London.

In an interview with Reuters, London Mayor Boris Johnson said that two-thirds of the tickets available would be for Olympic events, but the opening and closing ceremonies were excluded from the programme.

Johnson stated: “We thought one in eight was the right number. You don’t want to give away too many free tickets otherwise you devalue them. But there will be an opportunity, we think, for kids to get into events if they are under-subscribed and if the (Olympic) Park needs filling up on the day.”

Johnson also claimed that more tickets could be given away for free to ensure packed out venues for all the events at next years Games, adding: “You remember in Beijing they had a problem with stadiums and venues that looked a bit empty, we’re obviously thinking of ways to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Lord Coe said: “Usain Bolt will run in London on 10 or 11 occasions and two of those occasions will be finals. They (schoolchildren) will get a chance to see a good chunk of those events.”