London 2012 test event tickets now on sale

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has announced that tickets for some of its first test events this summer are on sale to the public from today, Thursday 26 May 2011. The events that LOCOG is organising are branded the 'London Prepares' series, and include the first competitive sports to take place on the Olympic Park. The ticketed events are:

- Mountain Bike - 31 July 2011, Hadleigh Farm, Essex

- Beach Volleyball - 9-14 August 2011, Horse Guards Parade

- Basketball - 16-21 August 2011, Basketball Arena, Olympic Park

- BMX - 19-20 August 2011, BMX Track, Olympic Park

For images of these four events click herehttp://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?nav=pr151744769>

Tickets go on sale at 10am on 26 May 2011 at www.ticketmaster.co.uk/londonpreparesserieshttp://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/londonpreparesseries> priced between £5 and £35 using Visa (debit, credit and prepaid) cards only. Applications can also be made on the telephone by calling 0844 248 5079. Tickets are sold on a first come, first served basis.

The Hadleigh Farm Mountain Bike International will bring some of the world's best men and women's mountain bikers to the new, purpose-built course at Hadleigh Farm in Essex on 31 July 2011. The Visa FIVB Beach Volleyball International will be an intercontinental women's exhibition event featuring 24 teams between 9 and 14 August 2011. A total of 54 matches will be played across the six days of competition, with tickets available for two sessions each day. The London International Basketball Invitational will see six top men's teams from around the world come to London to compete in the new Basketball Arena on the Olympic Park - Great Britain, Australia, China, Croatia, France and Serbia. The third round of the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup Series at the BMX Track in the Olympic Park will take place on 19 and 20 August 2011 and will see 130 men and 40 women riders from all over the world compete for the first time on the Olympic Park. This event will receive funding from UK Sport's World Class Events programme which invests National Lottery funding to help stage international events.

LOCOG Chair Sebastian Coe commented, 'These events provide us with vital opportunities to test our venues, but also test our staff, our technologies and planning assumptions. They will also provide people with a fantastic opportunity to see some world class sport in these venues ahead of the Games - a snapshot of what is to come next year.

These events are a huge stepping stone for us, helping us to prepare for and iron out any creases ahead of the greatest show on earth next year.'

LOCOG has confirmed that 250 tickets for these events will be donated to schools in the six host boroughs, through the Get Set network, its education programme. Tickets will also be donated to a selection of Host Borough 'Young Leaders', through the official London 2012 Young Leaders programme, sponsored by BP.

Between now and 2012, LOCOG will run a number of test events at all of its venues. There will be different types of events including ticketed international invitation events run by LOCOG, non-ticketed events and existing events at which LOCOG will have a presence. The testing programme will focus on testing the sporting field of play; results, timing and scoring systems; how LOCOG teams work together and how people move around venues.

A full list of test events is available via this linkhttp://mm.gettyimages.com/mm/nicePath/locog?object=a152001420>

For more information, contact:the London 2012 Press Office on +44 (0)203 2012 100

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