Vancouver (pps) About 500 days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, on February 12, 2010 the ticket-buying process has begun. According to information on the Vancouver 2010 website, altogether approximately 1.6 million tickets are available for the Olympic competitions from the opening ceremony until the closing ceremony on February 28. For the Paralympics, which will take place from March 12 to 21, 2010, about 250,000 tickets will be sold.

With 1,118 Canadian Dollars (approx. 750 Euros), the tickets to the opening ceremony and to the closing ceremony (530 Euros) are the most expensive ones. For the best seats at the women’s and men’s free skating events, up to 300 Euros have to be paid. The most expensive tickets for alpine skiing cost the equivalent of 100 Euros. According to information from the organizing committee, however, half of all Games tickets are priced at 100 Canadian Dollars (67 Euros) or less.