Losers from first round of Tokyo 2020 ticket lottery to get second chance

by Ryusei Takahashi

Staff Writer

Residents of Japan who didn’t win any Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games tickets during the first-round lottery in June will get a second chance to participate in another that begins Thursday.

Applications for this auxiliary lottery — unofficially referred to as “lottery 1.5” — will be accepted online starting from Thursday until 11:59 a.m. on Aug. 19. The results will be announced Sept. 11 and winners will be required to pay by the end of the day on Sept. 24.

The Tokyo Organising Committee decided last month to organize an additional ticket lottery due to “unprecedented interest.”

“Faced with unprecedented demand, Tokyo 2020 decided to organize an additional round of ticket sales as a second chance for those who applied to the first lottery but were unsuccessful,” a spokesperson for the Tokyo Organising Committee said.

Only those who registered for the first lottery in June and didn’t receive any tickets are eligible for the lottery. Those who are ineligible include those who were awarded tickets but didn’t buy any.

Out of the more than 7.5 million residents of Japan who registered for the first lottery, about 4.16 million didn’t receive any tickets.

While there will be more opportunities in the coming months for both residents and people living abroad, about 680,000 tickets will be available during this month’s lottery.

Since the tickets for this lottery are left over from the first one, options are limited. Out of the 33 sports to be featured in the 2020 Games, only tickets to 21 will be available. Also, individuals will only be able to choose one sport or session as their first and second choices. Not all sessions will be available for every sport, the spokesperson said. The number of tickets a person can apply for will be limited as well, with four tickets being the maximum for medal events and six for all other sessions.

In addition, ticket sales for residents scheduled for autumn this year — which had been announced to be first come, first served — will now be a ticket lottery, according to the spokesperson.

First-come, first-served ticket sales for everyone — including those not living in Japan — will be held in April.

In spring 2020, box offices will be available in Tokyo for all customers to buy tickets directly. The quantity and location of the booths have yet to be determined, the spokesperson said.

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