TRAFALGAR TRAILS - Ticket Prices

Of the over 30 events at the Summer Olympic Games, track and field has the largest venue and the most viewers.

As a result, the demand directly affects the price of a ticket to those events. Tickets to the athletics events cost from US$44 (approximately J$3,900) for 'nose bleed' seats for the preliminary long-distance races and can go up to as much as US$1,389 (approx J$121,000) for the premium seats for the final sprint races.

Since athletics is such a sought- after event, ticket availability may be limited or very competitive and believe it or not, there is more to the Olympics than track and field. Other events of interest to a Jamaican are aquatics, badminton, basketball, boxing, cycling, equestrian, football, gymnastics, shooting, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and lawn tennis.

Less than a month after the annual grand slam tournament, Wimbledon will reopen its lawns to the world's best for the 2012 Olympics. To all tennis fans out there, have you ever wanted to attend the Wimbledon tournaments and couldn't? Getting a ticket is very difficult because season tickets are bought out by the wealthy and passed down through the generations, limiting the number of tickets for the common man, not to mention the common man from an island far away. This would be a perfect opportunity to fulfil your dream of going to Wimbledon and seeing your favourite player up close and personal.

The tickets to tennis events start at US$65 (approximately J$5,700) and go up to US$481 (approximately J$42,000) for the finals in premium seats. Compared to the athletics tickets, this is less than half the price. The events run from July 28 to August 5 with five medal events and a total of 172 athletes participating. Although tennis is one of the more popular events, the first four days of preliminary rounds are not as popular as the semi-finals and finals, therefore making it less competitive to get tickets for those matches.

So why bother getting a preliminary round ticket? First of all, you can get a premium seat for only US$185 (about J$16,095) and secondly, you can see all the players in action where as if you have a finals ticket you will only see a handful of players, plus there may be an upset and a lower seeded player may knock out one of the stars and make history. The Wimbledon Championships is arguably the most coveted title in the world of tennis and I am sure all the players will be aiming for a showdown on Centre Court where the Olympic championship will be held.

Football matches start two days before the opening ceremony and run in pairs with one-day breaks in between until the day before the closing ceremony. With 504 players and only two medal events, the competition will offer all the drama and excitement that football fans have come to know and expect of major international tournaments.

Ticket prices range from US$44 to US$403 (approx J$3,900 to J$36,000). Aquatics events run from the day after opening ceremony until the very last day of the closing ceremony. There are 34 medal events and 950 participating athletes. The ticket prices for these events range from US$44 to US$890 (approx J$3,900 to J$78,000). Although not a mainstream sport in Jamaica, we have a few medal hopefuls who are worthy of your support. The cheapest event of interest to a Jamaican would be shooting. This tense and demanding sport is growing in popularity in Jamaica.

Although we don't have any athletes representing Jamaica this year, there are 390 athletes and 39 medal events. Premium seats for the finals are US$87(approx J$7,600).

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