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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 3:07 a.m., Thursday, July 24, 2008

Olympics: Final sale of Olympic tickets draws thousands

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

A Chinese man sleeps next to a garbage bin as he waits in line for Olympic tickets near the Olympic Green in Beijing, Thursday, July 24, 2008. Thousands waited on line Thursday on lawn chairs, under tents or on bamboo mats for the last batch of Olympic tickets that go on sale Friday morning.

ANDY WONG | Associated Press

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BEIJING — Xu Yonghe wants tickets to the Olympics, and he is willing to camp out in sweltering heat on a dusty path for 45 hours to get them.

The Beijing resident was at the head of a line of thousands waiting on lawn chairs, under tents or on bamboo mats for the last batch of Olympic tickets that go on sale Friday morning.

About 250,000 tickets will go on sale, left over after three previous rounds of domestic sales decided by a lottery system. Xu, with an umbrella to keep the sun off him, has been waiting since noon Wednesday.

About 10,000 people behind him also were waiting to buy tickets — priced from $15 to $117 — for soccer, baseball, gymnastics, diving and track and field events.

Those who weren't as patient could hire someone to wait in line for them. One migrant worker stood near the line peddling his services for $45, half his normal monthly salary, to anyone wanting to buy a ticket but not willing to spend a night.

About 6.8 million Olympic tickets have been available for domestic and foreign sales. The Olympics start Aug. 8.