Record sales for the 2012 Paralympics
This year’s Paralympic Games will be the first to sell out of tickets in the event’s 52-year history. Four years after Paralympic athletes performed in half-empty stadiums in Beijing, organizers in London announced that a record 2.5 million people will watch 4,200 athletes from 165 nations compete, mostly in the same venues as the Olympic Games. Alongside traditional pursuits such as swimming and cycling, sports will include goalball, a ball game for visually impaired athletes, and bocce for wheelchair-bound competitors. The band Coldplay will perform at the opening ceremony on Aug. 29.
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