How to Get Tickets to the Vancouver Olympics

Everybody wants to know where to get tickets for the Vancouver Olympics. Tickets to the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games were released and sold in phases. Every step of the ticket program was designed to be simple, fair and accessible for any person interested in attending the Games. The first tickets went on sale on October 3, 2008. Tickets were released in subsequent batches.

The Vancouver 2010 organization held back some of what they considered to be the best tickets and they are offering them through an online auction. These tickets are generally the best seats in the most popular events. For example, there are tickets to assorted hockey games and figure skating events. This is not how to get cheap tickets to the Vancouver Olympics. A set of 4 tickets to the medal gold medal match is now at a bid of close to $12,000.00

The non-auction prices are a lot more reasonable. Tickets for the Vancouver Olympics opening ceremonies range in price from $175-$1,100. The cost for tickets to attend the closing ceremonies ranges in price from $175-$775. Tickets to either the Mens or Ladies free skate are a steep $450. However, tickets to either the Mens or Ladies downhill competition are a more reasonable $150.

For those people without deep pockets there are some cheaper Olympic ticket events that might interest them. There are some reasonably priced Vancouver Olympic tickets. For the B quality seating every biathlon event is $25. The same goes for the cross-country skiing events. For the same caliber of seating the bobsleigh, luge and skeleton events run between $30-40 depending upon the event.

Tickets for the mens hockey gold medal match run between $350-$775 per seat but you can catch some mens preliminary hockey games for as low as $50. Tickets to the womens hockey events are much cheaper. Tickets to the early womens hockey matches are as low as $25. Tickets to the womens hockey gold medal match cost between $125-$325 per ticket.

It is also possible to buy tickets through a system called fan to fan. This system allows people to re-sell their tickets legitimately. Each purchaser is issued a new official ticket and the bar code on the original ticket becomes invalid. No ticket can be sold for less than the face value of the ticket.

In recognition of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Visa sponsorship Visa is the only credit card accepted.

It is also possible to buy tickets privately through websites like Craigslist and you will be certain to see some scalpers around the Olympic venues.

The answer to how to get tickets to the Vancouver Olympics is varied. It is still possible to get tickets to most events. If money is not a limiting factor then you can still get excellent tickets to the Vancouver Olympics.

Luge Events Suspended at Vancouver Olympic Games

Safety at the Vancouver Olympic luge track was a concern leading up to the February 12th fatal Luge accident involving twenty-one year old Georgian Nodar Kumaritashvili.

Before that training run, athletes were clocking course records and getting into dangerous high-speed crashes. It is thought that the Whistler course is the world's fastest and most dangerous.

Just prior to Kumaritashvili's fatal crash, Italy's Armin Zoeggeler, the defending Olympic champion, lost control of his sled in the first run of the day. Zoeggeler was able to walk away from the accident and appeared uninjured. However, on the day before a Romanian athlete named Violeta Stramaturaru had to be airlifted out after a crash.

The crashes came after Austrian Manuel Pfister clocked the fastest luge speed ever recorded. On February 11, he managed to clock 154 km/h which slightly tops 153.98 km/h, set at Whistler in 2009.

After learning that a Olympic luge athlete died after a fatal injury, Josef Benz, the chair of the International Luge Federation was pondering whether to cancel or postpone luge events out of a lack of track safety. As of early February 13th, no decision had been reached. Benz was a Swiss bobsledder who competed in two Winter Olympics, and won one gold.

The current Olympic course features several dangerous technical elements, including a massive 152-metre drop. The drop is the world's longest and is approximately equal to 48 stories. The 1,450-metre course includes 16 turns. One such turn is referred to as 50/50 because the athletes feel their chances of making it safely through the corner were the same as a coin flip.

Olympic champion Zoeggeler predicted that racers would top 155 km/h at the Vancouver Olympics. The International Luge Federation wants to impose speed limits on the next courses to be built out of a concern for athlete safety. They are suggesting that 155 km/hr will be the top limit allowable.

However, speed is not the only issue. Serious concerns have been raised about the pole Kumaritashvili hit. Why wasn't the pole padded. You can see from the pictures that the pole was in close proximity to the track and it was conceivable that an athlete might strike the pole. Maybe padding would not have saved his life, but it's a question which still needs to be answered.

Officials from other countries believe it was irresponsible for Canadian authorities to limit practice times to only 40 training runs. The Canadian athletes had access to more than 300 training runs. It would appear that there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.

[Update: The luge events will proceed on schedule. Less than 24 hours after the fatal crash, the track was reopened. The officials have decided to raise the wall that the former Olympic athlete careened over. In a joint statement, the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee and luge’s international governing body blamed the athlete, and not the track for the accident.

“It appears after a routine run, the athlete came late out of curve 15 and did not compensate properly to make correct entrance into curve 16,” the statement said. “This resulted in a late entrance into curve 16 and although the athlete worked to correct the problem he eventually lost control of the sled resulting in the tragic accident. The technical officials of the FIL were able to retrace the path of the athlete and concluded there was no indication that the accident was caused by deficiencies in the track.”]

The safety of all athletes is a paramount concern. The death of a luge athlete at the Vancouver Olympic Games has brought this to the attention of the world.

Death of Olympic Athlete at Whistler Sliding Centre

There has been a tragic death of an Olympic athlete at the Whistler Sliding Centre just days before the opening of the Vancouver Olympic Games. A luge athlete from the Republic of Georgia, Nodar Kumaritashvili, was killed in a crash while training on the Olympic track at the Whistler Sliding Center on February 12, 2010. His death was confirmed by an official at the track.

Kumaritashvili lost control of his sled near the end of his run. At the time he was moving at an estimated 88 miles an hour. The athlete was propelled over the track wall into a steel pole. The luge event can be terribly dangerous and lugers can reach incredibly fast speeds.

Training was immediately suspended on the track. Paramedics were at the athlete's side within minutes and emergency chest compressions were commenced. The athlete was air lifted to a trauma centre at Whistler.

Many competitors have already complained about the track. The athletes are saying the track is unsafe as it is too fast and too dangerous. There has yet been no official statement issued by the Vancouver Winter Olympics Committee.