Record 8.6 Million Tickets Sold for Paris Olympics

Paris Games chief organizer Tony Estanguet at the Olympic village in Saint-Denis on Thursday © EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Paris Games chief organizer Tony Estanguet at the Olympic village in Saint-Denis on Thursday © EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
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Record 8.6 Million Tickets Sold for Paris Olympics

Paris Games chief organizer Tony Estanguet at the Olympic village in Saint-Denis on Thursday © EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP
Paris Games chief organizer Tony Estanguet at the Olympic village in Saint-Denis on Thursday © EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP

The Paris Olympics already has one gold medal in the bag before it begins with 8.6 million tickets sold -- a record for any Games.

"It's a record held by the 1996 Atlanta Games of 8.3 million tickets, and we've already passed that total now some time ago," the 2024 Games organizer Tony Estanguet told AFP on Thursday.

"We are at 8.6 million tickets for the Olympics, and over one million for the Paralympics," he reported.

Paris organizers forecast that total rising to 10 million for the July 26-August 11 sporting extravaganza, and 3.4 million for the Paralympics staged between August 28 and September 8.

"The good news is that in this final stretch we are making available a number of tickets for lots of sports," Estanguet said.

"There are lots of really good options at different prices both for the Olympics, Paralympics, and opening and closing ceremonies."

He added: "We are proud to have already beaten the record, but we can still do even better."



China’s Huang and Sheng Win First Gold of Paris Games at Air Rifle Mixed Team Event

 China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
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China’s Huang and Sheng Win First Gold of Paris Games at Air Rifle Mixed Team Event

 China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)
China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao pose on the podium after winning the gold of the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 27, 2024. (AFP)

China's Huang Yuting and Sheng Lihao won the first gold medal of the Paris Games on Saturday in the 10 meters air rifle mixed team event.

Keum Ji-hyeon and Park Ha-jun of South Korea claimed silver and Alexandra Le and Islam Satpayev of Kazakhstan were awarded bronze.

Three years after Yang Qian and Yang Haoran won the gold in Tokyo, compatriots Huang and Sheng made sure China retained it.

The reigning world champions topped the qualifying round ahead of their Korean rivals at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre.

The gold medal round was not really a cakewalk though despite them racing to a 14-8 lead after the first 11 shots.

Keum and Park staged a late comeback to reduce the gap at 14-12 but the Chinese pair prevailed 16-12 in the end.

Le and Satpayev gave Kazakhstan their first medal of the Paris Games with a 17-5 romp against the German pair of Anna Janssen and Maximilian Ulbrich.