British Fans Have Purchased Close To Half A Million Tickets For 2024 Olympics in Paris

Team GB is primed to have strong support at the 2024 Olympics in Paris this summer as Britain is currently the largest foreign buyer of tickets.

The Paris Olympics will start on 26th July and run until 11th August.

Out of the 7.6 million tickets already sold for the Paris Olympics, 480,000 have been snapped up by supporters from Britain. This puts the nation second behind France for the country with the most ticket purchases, with the United States and Germany following behind.

There is excitement for Team GB ahead of this summer's Olympics as Gracenote previously forecasted that they will collect 62 medals at the Paris Olympics. Medals are predicted across a variety of events including athletics, swimming, gymnastics, skateboarding and taekwondo.

Team GB athletes set to generate interest this summer include heptathlete, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who is seeking a first Olympic medal, after coming up short in the previous three Olympics. Sprinters Zharnel Hughes and Dina Asher-Smith are also set to attract intrigue as is three-time Olympic gold medallist swimmer, Adam Peaty.

Chief Executive of Paris 2024, Etienne Thabois, expressed delight at there being a strong presence from the British fans at this summer's Games.

He said: "We are very happy that Team GB is coming in force. And they will have great expectations. The British supporters are very close, it's less than three hours away."

Thabois attributes the excitement among British fans to the 2012 Summer Games in London. The Frenchman stated: "London 2012 is still in the memories of everyone. It was an inspiring Games for us, too. We are more than happy to see the Brits come in force to cheer for the athletes of the world in Paris. We are looking forward to welcoming them."

The 2012 Olympics captured a new audience within the British population as many were inspired by the success of Team GB athletes such as Sir Bradley Wiggins, Sir Mo Farah, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill, Greg Rutherford and Anthony Joshua.

Fans from 197 separate countries have bought tickets for the Paris Olympics, with many excited to attend the Games as the last edition in Tokyo had to take place without spectators due to the effects of COVID-19.

24 per cent of tickets are still remaining out of the 10 million which were listed for the Games this summer.

Majority of the tickets left unsold are for football matches, with over one million tickets still available to purchase. Partly to do with the low demand is that not all the participating teams have been confirmed for the tournament as qualification is not complete.

Also, most of the interest in football from fans this summer will be for the UEFA European Championships in Germany. This means fans will be more likely to spend money on tickets for that tournament as it is deemed more prestigious than football played at the Olympics.

Due to not qualifying, one team that will not be taking part in the football tournament at Paris 2024 is Team GB's women's side.

Had Team GB qualified, there may have been even more tickets purchased for the Games by Brits as the England national women's side has grown in popularity in recent years due to their on-field success. Many fans of the Lionesses may have made the trip to Paris to cheer on Team GB if they were competing.

Tickets still being available for the Games despite it being just six months away could also be down to the prices being too high for fans. Prices for First Category seats during evening sessions in the athletic events are close to £850 a ticket whilst Category A-D tickets range from approximately £72 to £590.

World Athletics President, Sebastien Coe, previously voiced his concerns over the ticket prices for athletics events at the Paris Games as he felt the costs would potentially price out genuine sports fans and leave empty seats in the stands at the Stade de France.

Elsewhere, police officers and security service members from Britain are set to work alongside their French counterparts to strengthen security at the Paris Olympics.

Security advice will be given to the French based on Britain's experiences with the 2012 London Olympics and other major occasions such as the coronation of King Charles and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.