Olympics tickets go on sale

Tickets to the London 2012 Olympic Games went on sale on Tuesday.

London 2012 chairman Lord Coe is confident of sell-outs and said organisers were in "good shape" to handle demand. With 499 days to go, he is convinced the technology is in place to avoid a computer meltdown.

"I think that people will view this as one of those life-changing moments and will want to be there," he said.

More than 2.5 million people have signed up to London 2012's ticket information website and around two million have said they want to watch the track and field competitions.

The 6.6 million tickets will range from £20 to £2,012 in price.

At the upper end of the scale, fans will pay £2,012 for the opening ceremony, up to £725 for the showpiece 100m athletics final and between £50 and £325 for the track cycling finals.

A ballot will decide who gets seats for the oversubscribed hot ticket events.

Describing the ticket purchasing process as "a marathon and not a sprint", Lord Coe advised sports fans there was no point in a first-day rush.

The system is not first-come first-served and the chances of getting a ticket will not be greater if you apply earlier rather than later during the six-week application period. This closes on April 26 at 11.59pm.

It is hoped the wide application window will help to ensure the system does not crash and make would-be buyers less vulnerable to bogus websites.