WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2014 SPORTS Sochi still scrambling to sell Olympic tickets LONDON: What if they held an Olympics and popular events being hockey, biathlon, figure skat- before the games. Tickets have been sold on Sochi’s “We experienced demand at expected levels,” nobody came? The situation isn’t that bleak, of ing, freestyle and snowboard,” the organizing com- official website on a first-come, first-served basis. spokesman Michael Kontos said, without giving fig- course, for the Sochi Games. Yet, with less than three mittee said in a statement to the AP. “With 70 per- Box offices are now open in Moscow and Sochi. The ures. Flights to Sochi are expensive, and most inter- weeks to go until the opening ceremony, hundreds cent of tickets already sold and another ticketing cheapest tickets go for 500 rubles ($15), the most national travelers have to go through Moscow, with of thousands of tickets remain unsold, raising the office opening shortly, we are expecting strong last- expensive for 40,000 rubles ($1,200). More than half direct flights to Sochi only available from Germany prospect of empty seats and a lack of atmosphere at minute ticket sales and do not envisage having of all tickets cost less than 5,000 rubles ($150). The and Turkey. Western travelers must navigate the Russia’s first Winter Olympics. empty seats.” Sochi officials have refused to divulge average monthly salary in Russia is 30,000 rubles time-consuming visa process and requirement to There are signs that many foreign fans are staying how many tickets in total were put up for sale, say- ($890). The one and only authorized ticket office in obtain a “spectator pass” along with their tickets. away, turned off by terrorist threats, expensive ing the figure would only be released after the Sochi was busy on a recent afternoon, with three This requires providing passport details that allow flights and hotels, long travel distances, a shortage games. dozen people lining up at what once was a waiting authorities to screen all visitors. of tourist attractions in the area, and the hassle of However, according to IOC marketing documents room at the city’s railway station. Many, however, “What we are hearing is that the bureaucratic obtaining visas and spectator passes. seen by the AP, Sochi had a total of 1.1 million tickets complained that all the cheap tickets were already complexity, with spectator passes and visa and so “Some people are scared it costs too much and on offer. That would mean about 300,000 tickets gone. “Prices leave much to be desired, but what can on, is what scares off fans, more than worries about other people are scared because of security,” senior remained available. you can do?” said Sochi resident Yana Ivolovskaya, security,” Austrian Olympic Committee spokesman International Olympic Committee member Gerhard By comparison, 1.54 million tickets were available who bought two tickets for bobsled for 2,000 rubles Wolfgang Eichler said. Heiberg of Norway told The Associated Press. “From for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and 97 ($60). “We’re not going to get another Olympics in Jan Serenander, managing director of Jet Set my country, I know that several people and compa- percent (1.49 million) were sold. For the 2012 Sochi so I thought I should go.” Sports in Norway, cited a lack of tourist attractions in nies are not going for these two reasons. Of course, Summer Games in London, organizers sold 97 per- Fans outside Russia buy tickets from authorized the Black Sea resort. “When Sochi was announced there will be Norwegians there but not as many as cent (8.2 million) of their 8.5 million tickets. dealers appointed by their national Olympic com- no one had even heard of the place,” he said. “They we are used to.” Sochi organizers announced last Heiberg, who chairs the IOC marketing commis- mittees. Attracting foreign visitors has been a chal- had to get out their atlases.” week that 70 percent of tickets have been sold for sion, said the Russians have cut down by 50 percent lenge amid all the headlines about Russia’s law ban- Die-hard winter sports fans, however, will not be the games, which run from Feb. 7-23 and represent a on the number of spectators originally planned for ning gay “propaganda,” human rights issues and - discouraged. Orange-clad speedskating fans from symbol of pride and prestige for Russia and the mountain events for security reasons. particularly - the risk of terrorism. the Netherlands are always among the most visible President Vladimir Putin. So what about the remain- “That means there will be less people and proba- Back-to-back suicide bombings killed 34 people spectators at any Winter Games. ing 30 percent? bly less enthusiasm than we had, for instance, in last month in Volgograd, about 400 miles (640 kilo- “I expect it to be orange,” Jeroen de Roever, man- “We are keeping a special quota for those who Lillehammer,” he said. “I hope the Russians will fill not meters) from Sochi. On Sunday, an Islamic militant ager of official Duch ticket seller ATPI, said of Sochi’s come for the games, so that they can indeed buy only their indoor stadiums but there will be enough group in Russia’s North Caucasus claimed responsi- speedskating venue. “We have been sold out for tickets for the competitions,” organizing committee people in the stadiums for the Nordic events.” bility for the bombings and posted a video threaten- quite a while.” Associated Press writers Nataliya chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said. Chernyshenko said Heiberg organized the 1994 Lillehammer Winter ing to strike the Sochi Games. Vasilyeva in Sochi, Eric Willemsen in Vienna, Matti about 213,000 spectators are expected at the Olympics, which stood out for the colorful atmos- CoSport, the official ticket reseller in the United Huuhtanen in Helsinki, Mike Corder in The Hague games, with about 75 percent likely to be Russians. phere generated by passionate Norwegian fans. States and six other countries, said the Sochi Games and Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt contributed to this “Tickets are being snapped up fast with the most Sochi’s ticket sales began in February 2013, a year generated “good demand” for tickets and packages. report. —AP Shiffrin, Ligety lead US ski charge at Olympics PARIS: Teen sensation Mikaela Shiffrin and Ted Ligety will lead the US medal charge at the Sochi Olympics, where Aksel Lund Svindal will also seek to cement his status as one of the sport’s best ever male skiers. Ligety was the star of last year’s World Ski Championships, claiming three gold medals in the giant slalom, super-G and super-combined, while Shiffrin became the youngest American, at 17, to win world gold when she scooped the slalom crown. Their display made up for the absence of teammate and media darling Lindsey Vonn, who sustained a season-ending knee injury in a hor- rific crash during the opening women’s super-G. The reigning women’s Olympic downhill champion tried to make a comeback this season, Alex Ovechkin but rightly called it a day and opted for further surgery when she realised her knee was not sta- ble enough for the world of competitive skiing. Ovechkin seeks Organisers, though of course wishing her sporting prowess was on show, will no doubt be breathing a huge sigh of relief that the paparazzi belated success roadshow that accompanies Vonn and boyfriend Tiger Woods will be absent from the Russian MOSCOW: For all the riches Alex dropped on the team’s collective shoul- hills. In Vonn’s absence, the women’s speed events evidently become a much more open Ovechkin has accumulated during a glit- ders. Once international ice hockey’s Ted Ligety in action in this file photo tering ice hockey career, a gold medal undisputed super power, Russia’s domi- competition, with German Maria Hoefl-Riesch currently atop the World Cup standings in down- and a coveted silver bowl remain firmly nance faded following the breakup of were buoyed by medal-winning performances ning one week makes it impossible to win the hill, with Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, Swiss beyond the Russian sniper’s grasp. the Soviet Union. by veteran duo Bode Miller and Julia Mancuso. next week. pair Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden and Lara Miller, now 36 and a five-time Olympic “As a ski racer, shit happens so you better With a trophy case laden with individ- Winners of six-of-seven Olympic titles Gut, Austrian Anna Fenninger and Slovenia’s Tina medallist, is the most decorated American skier grab the opportunities you get and don’t be ual honours, including three Hart tro- from the 1964 Innsbruck Games to Maze all well in contention. in history and although his season’s form has picky about what weekend it is because there’s phies as the NHL’s most valuable player, Calgary in 1988, the last traces of Russia’s All-rounder Hoefl-Riesch, possibly in her last been patchy it has been improving, and only a just too much stuff that’s out of your control, and a $124 million contract with the hockey empire were seen at the 1992 competitive season, will look to add to the fool would write off his chances of adding to his whatever you can get, you grab it.” Washington Capitals, Ovechkin would Albertville Winter Games when a “Unified slalom and super-combined golds she won in medal tally in what will be his fifth Winter The men’s slalom also promises to be a real seem to have plenty to be pleased about.