There are just 100 days to go until the start of the 2011 European Athletics Indoor Championships in the French capital Paris next March but the organisers have already notched up their first success story.
Over half the tickets for the three-day event, which will be held at the Palais Omnisport Paris-Bercy between March 4-6 - 51% to be exact - have already been sold.
The local organisers commented that, “the latest performances by the French Athletics Team are doubtless behind this very encouraging trend.”
France was second in the medal table at the 2010 European Athletics Championships in Barcelona this summer with 18 medals, eight of them of the golden variety.
European champions like pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, multi-events star Romain Barras and the 2010 European Athlete of the Year Christophe Lemaître, who won a unique treble of gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in Barcelona, have already said that they will be performing in front of their home fans next March
In total 20,000 tickets, with prices ranging from €10 to €50 depending on the day and the category, have gone on sale via the website www.ticketnet.fr as well as through the usual retail outlets in France.
Three-day packs are also available for those wishing to attend the whole event.