By Rory Carroll
LOS ANGELES, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Los Angeles Olympic organizers brought together about 300 current and former Olympians and Paralympians at the LA Memorial Coliseum on Tuesday for a ceremonial
lighting of the stadium's Olympic cauldron, using the rare gathering of athletes to launch the public countdown to ticket sales for the 2028 Games.
Registration for LA28's ticket draw opens on Wednesday at 7:00 a.m. local time (1500 GMT), with fans able to sign up through March 18 for a chance to be assigned a time slot to buy tickets when sales begin in April.
The cauldron lighting event at the Coliseum - which hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984 and is due to stage the Opening Ceremony and track and field in 2028 - featured athletes spanning decades of competition and was billed by organizers as one of the largest assemblies of Olympic and Paralympic athletes outside competition.
"In just the last year, I've seen firsthand how Angelenos come together, how they rise to meet every challenge, and that spirit is unmatched," Hoover said at the event, alluding to the wildfires that devastated LA neighborhoods a year ago.
Hoover said 150,000 people have already signed up to volunteer at the Games, which organizers have billed as "athlete-centered" and accessible to all.
"That's 150,000 supporters saying I want to be a part of this, I want be a part of history, I want a be a part of LA28," he said.
"We know fans around the world are feeling the same way and are hungry for their chance to get into the stands to experience this once in a lifetime, once in a generation, event."
TICKETS STARTING AT $28
LA28 Chair and President Casey Wasserman told Reuters that ticket registration was a "major milestone" on the road to LA28.
Tickets will start at $28, with a target of at least one million tickets at that price point, and roughly a third of tickets will be under $100, he said.
Under LA28's process, registrants will be entered into a random draw for time slots to buy tickets. LA28 said time slots for Drop 1 will run from April 9-19, with email notifications sent March 31 to April 7. Tickets for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies will be included in Drop 1.
A local presale window will run April 2-6 for residents in select Southern California and Oklahoma counties, where canoe slalom and softball will be held. Paralympic tickets are due to go on sale in 2027.
On the sidelines of the event, LA28 Chief Athlete Officer and gold medal winning swimmer Janet Evans said the Olympics are a powerful way to unite people from around the globe.
"The Olympics is the greatest peacetime gathering in the world. We are lucky enough we get to bring it here to Los Angeles and experience that," she said.
Paralympic swimmer Jamal Hill said he was moved to see the cauldron flame burning bright in the LA sunshine.
"I didn't feel the physical warmth, but my heart fluttered a little bit," he said.
"The whole world is coming to LA28."
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Michael Perry)
