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Your support makes all the difference.Nearly one million tickets for the Olympic Games will go on sale this Friday, with 20,000 "lucky losers" who were unsuccessful in both previous ballots to be given first priority. The batch of tickets will include around 5,000 for the most sought-after event – the men's 100m final.
Applicants who had no luck in the first ballot last June – and who paid for tickets in the second ballot that month only to be told they had been unsuccessful again – will be first in line during an exclusive 31-hour sales window, which opens at 11am.
They can buy a maximum of four tickets to a single event before the process is opened up on Sunday to the remaining 1.2 million people who were unsuccessful in the initial ballot. By this point, organisers expect the remaining 47,000 tickets to all athletics events to be sold out, as well as the last few thousand for the opening and closing ceremonies.
In a marked change of tack from the initial ballot process, tickets for specific events will be staggered across several days and limited to four per applicant, so that fans can aim for events they particularly want to watch.
Organisers have also confirmed that they will sell at least 70,000 ground passes to the Olympic Park so that those without tickets can come into the park, soak up the atmosphere and watch the action on giant screens. They will cost £10 for adults or £5 for concessions.
A trip to the viewing platform of the ArcelorMittal Orbit, the giant, red rollercoaster sculpture from which the inside of the stadium can be seen, will cost £15 – but this is only accessible to those holding either an event or ground ticket. Tickets for the cycling road race at Box Hill in Surrey will also go on sale, priced at £15 or £5 for young people and seniors. Until recently it had been thought these events would be free to attend, like the marathon. There will also be £10 general admission tickets for the tennis at Wimbledon. Bowing to considerable public anger, Locog has said that babies under 12 months will be admitted free to all venues (with the exception of Wembley, Old Trafford, St James's Park and the North Greenwich Arena), having initially insisted that all babies would need their own ticket.
There are still 1.4 million tickets for the football tournaments left, with the opening match for Team GB women at Cardiff on 25 July – the first sporting action of the Games – having sold only 11,000 tickets so far.
A further 150,000 to 200,000 tickets will be made available nearer the time, when the final configurations and camera positions for the venues are confirmed.
Tickets for the Paralympic Games tickets go back on sale on 23 May, as will any remaining Olympics tickets to those who have not yet had any involvement in the ballot process to date.
Travel companies Thomas Cook and Prestige are still offering expensive corporate packages for the best events of the Games, including meals and hotel stays, charging four-figure sums for the privilege.
What you could see: The events with tickets
5,000 tickets to the 100m final (and almost certainly Usain Bolt) on 5 August.
49,000 tickets to the diving – Tom Daley should be in action on 30 July and 11 August.
4,000 tickets to the cycling where you could catch Sir Chris Hoy from 2-7 August.
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