Paris Paralympics still well short of 2.8 million ticket target

PARIS (AP):

WITH TWO months left before the start of the Paralympics in Paris, organisers revealed that one million tickets have been sold.

But that is only just above a third of the 2.8 million tickets available for the August 28 to September 8 Paralympic Games.

Organisers said there are 550,000 tickets on sale for 25 euros ($27) or less.

Lower-priced tickets cost 15 euros ($16) for events like wheelchair tennis at Roland Garros – the home of the French Open – and for blind football being played at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

The current highest-selling Paralympic events are for track and field (being held at the national stadium, Stade de France), for basketball (at the Bercy Arena), and to watch swimming (at La Défense Arena) and tennis.

Three para events have now sold out: triathlon at the pleasing-on-the eye Pont Alexandre III bridge; equestrian on the grounds of the resplendent Palace of Versailles, and shooting outside of Paris in Châteauroux.

An awareness campaign was launched with 100 days to go, featuring three Paralympic athletes, with each of them alone in an empty stadium.

The campaign slogan – “Il ne me manque rien, sauf vous” (I’m not missing anything, except you) – served as a rallying call to get more people to come and watch.

The Paralympics follow the July 26 to August 11 Paris Olympics.