Sebastian Coe is predicting massive demand when tickets go on sale to mark the 500-day countdown to next year's Olympics, another milestone in the multi-billion-dollar project that is changing the face of east London.
With a giant countdown clock being unveiled Monday night in Trafalgar Square, Coe's Olympic organizing team is prepared for a heavy crush when 6.6 million tickets are put up for sale online Tuesday for the 650 competition sessions across 26 sports.
''It's a big day emotionally,'' Coe said in an interview with The Associated Press. ''It's a big day in reality of course.''
Coe said the ticket launch marks the third biggest online retail site in history after eBay and Amazon. He said organizers have worked hard to prevent the system from crashing.
''I think there'll be a massive interest,'' said Coe, a two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion who heads the local organizing committee. ''We've done everything we can to stress-test the system. I'm not going to sit here and tell you there will be no glitches. I really hope not. This is not without its challenges.''
The tickets, ranging in price from $32 to $3,215, are being sold through a single official website.
Organizers stress the tickets are not being sold on a first-come, first-served basis. Customers can apply for tickets over a six-week period ending April 26. Any oversubscribed tickets will be distributed via a ballot or lottery system. Tickets will be allocated by June 24.
''You want Madonna, you want cup finals or Super Bowls, you go first-come first-served,'' Coe said. ''Here, you stand no greater statistical chance'' of acquiring tickets on the first day or last day.
More than 2.5 million people have already registered interest in buying tickets.
The online process at www.tickets.london2012.com is available for residents of the U.K. and 26 European countries, with Visa the only credit card accepted. Elsewhere, including in the United States, the sales are handled through national Olympic committees.
About 1 million tickets will go to non-European overseas buyers, with American fans representing one of the biggest blocs, Coe said.
Tickets for many sports start at $32, while the top seats for the men's 100-meter final will go for $1,200.
Coe said ticket sales are the organizing committee's ''single biggest financial dependency,'' projected to raise about $800 million in revenue.
Authorities have promised to crack down on any illegal or unauthorized sales.
''You do want to get tickets into the hands of the people who really want them,'' Coe said. ''You don't want them in the hands of people that see them as something that's tradable.''
Coe spoke shortly before the steel countdown clock began clicking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds to the opening ceremony on July 27, 2012. The clock - made by Olympic sponsor Omega - is 27 feet high, 16 feet long and weighs about 4 tons.
''It will be a daily and hourly reminder to everyone who visits Trafalgar Square ... that the greatest show on earth is soon coming to our country,'' Coe said.
The countdown comes with Olympic venues being completed on time and on budget. The public sector budget for construction of venues stands at $15 billion, with the bulk spent on regenerating a once disused industrial wasteland in east London into a vast complex of gleaming venues that will be turned into a public park and neighborhood after 2012.
''Some of these venues are going to come within our possession pretty soon, so we really have the Herculean job of turning them into working arenas for every client group,'' Coe said.
The ticket sales come weeks after officials finalized the takeover of the 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium after the games by West Ham football club, which beat out Premier League rival Tottenham after promising to retain the running track and keep the venue for athletics as well as football.
''I was very pleased,'' Coe said. ''For me this was never a shootout between two football clubs. This was actually about commitment I made very publicly. I take serious commitments I make publicly to deliver an Olympic legacy for that stadium. West Ham most closely met that commitment.''
On the negative side, an ugly financial dispute flared into the open last week between the British Olympic Association and Coe's organizing committee. The BOA submitted its case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, claiming it should receive a larger cut than originally promised from any surplus left after the games.
''It actually affects nothing,'' Coe said. ''It doesn't affect the ability of Team GB to perform.''
