Trying To Buy Tickets To The London Olympics Is A Soul-Destroying Experience

It’s terrible.

Image by Rob Carr / Getty Images

Anyone watching coverage from the first two days of London’s Olympics will have noticed the many empty seats. From archery to swimming, beach volleyball to tennis, few arenas have been even close to capacity — even for the marquee events. Members of the British Army are now being recruited to fill seats, presumably on top of the extra work they’ve had to take on as Games security in light of the shortage of actual security guards.

So maybe you’re thinking, “Oh, I’ll buy a few tickets and help fill those seats too. I wouldn’t mind sitting next to some strapping men in uniform, or, you know, watching some high-quality sports.” That would be nice, and very noble of you. Unfortunately, it would also be just about impossible — because the official London 2012 ticket sales website is atrocious. Here are the “highlights” of over an hour’s worth of unsuccessful ticket searches made last night: