Olympic Ticket Sales Defended

Feb. 10, 2014 4:36 a.m. ET

Russia’s Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov perform in the Figure Skating Team Ice Dance Free Dance at the Iceberg Skating Palace during the Sochi Winter Olympics on Sunday. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

SOCHI, Russia—Olympic organizers said that ticket sales were robust on Sunday but that attendance was “slightly lower” than the number of recorded transactions.
Aleksandra Kosterina, a spokeswoman for the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, said that 59,395 tickets were sold for Sunday’s events, representing about 90% of those available, but that not all who purchased them attended the games. The most popular events were luge and the final night of team figure skating, in which Russia earned its first gold medal of the games, which was “almost a complete sellout,” she said.

Questions regarding attendance at the Sochi Olympics have been persistent, given that the organizers haven’t been consistent in preparation for the games. Some events, like biathlon and figure skating, are popular with the home crowd, while open seats are easily visible at venues for hockey and other sports.
Ms. Kosterina didn’t directly address whether Sochi event volunteers were being asked to be seat-fillers, but said that off-shift workers are allowed to take seats.
“We invite some volunteers to join in if seats are available,” Ms. Kosterina said.
Organizers have said in recent days that they are encouraging local spectators to arrive earlier for events. Furthermore, congestion at centers where spectators pick up passes continues to be an issue that officials are working to streamline. Ms. Kosterina said they’re continuing to add more cashiers at centers, particularly at the Olympic Park train station, to expedite admission.
Also on Monday, Christophe Dubi, the sports director for the International Olympic Committee, addressed concerns that the addition of team events is a disadvantage to emerging nations in competitive sport whose talent pool is less robust. Traditional Winter Olympics medal powerhouses Russia, Canada, and the U.S. took the podium spots for the first ever Olympic team figure skating event on Sunday.
“We’re at an unprecedented level of universality, with 88 [national] Olympic committees participating,” Mr. Dubi said, who also spoke to the inclusion of new sports at these games, like slopestyle snowboarding. When planning the Olympic itinerary, he said, the committee seeks to offer a program that balances a showcase for top athletic talent and inclusion of nations across the medal table.
Write to Sara Germano at sara.germano@wsj.com

Here is the original post: Olympic Ticket Sales Defended