Last chance for Olympic tickets comes this Saturday

VANCOUVER - If you haven't yet been able to acquire tickets to the 2010 Olympic Games, there's still hope the third time could be the charm this Saturday.

The third and final phase of ticket sales begins Saturday, Nov. 7 at 10 am at www.vancouver2010.com.

More than 100,000 tickets to all the events in Vancouver — including gold medal hockey, curling, opening and closing ceremonies and the nightly victory ceremony events — will be available to the Canadian public on a first-come, first served basis.

Paralympic tickets for high-demand events such as the opening ceremony, sledge hockey and alpine skiing will also be available.

This is also the last chance for spectators to buy tickets in time to receive collectable, full-colour, oversize tickets prominently displaying Vancouver 2010 pictograms, sport and venue illustrations. The special tickets will no longer be available after Nov. 20.

"This is the final major release of tickets to the Games and we expect demand will be high," Caley Denton, Vanoc's vice-president of ticketing and consumer marketing, said in a release.

"To get a jump start, we suggest first-time buyers register a ticketing account with us beforehand and have a look at the schedules to determine what events work best for you. For return customers who want to purchase additional tickets, please log into your account ahead of time to make sure your information is up-to-date."

This final phase of ticket sales also marks a major sale of tickets to the nightly victory ceremonies. Further details on those ceremonies, which will be held at BC Place, will be released on Thursday.

On Nov. 7, ticketbuyers visiting www.vancouver2010.com will be directed to a virtual waiting room, where they will be randomly selected to enter the Vancouver 2010 ticketing website. Once signed into their account, customers will be able to purchase up to four separate events, with a limit of either four or eight tickets per event. If a customer wants to order more than the limit of four events, they will need to start a new transaction.

The competition schedule, including the draws for hockey and curling for the Games, as well as ticket prices, are posted at www.vancouver2010.com.

Tickets to Whistler events will not be on sale during Phase 3 because the Olympic bus network — the transport system for spectators originating in Metro Vancouver —has reached maximum capacity in Whistler.