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Olympics 2016: Plenty of good tickets still available

Maracana Stadium will host the Opening Ceremonies for Rio 2016 on Aug. 5. (Getty Images)
Maracana Stadium will host the Opening Ceremonies for Rio 2016 on Aug. 5. (Getty Images)

If you can get past all the bad headlines – if you can ignore the Zika fears and the impeachment crisis and the security worries – you might just have a deal of a lifetime in Rio de Janeiro.

Usually by the end of June, tickets to Olympics events are either long gone or prohibitively pricey. But Rio 2016 has plenty of good seats available for many of the events – and not just the low-buzz events.

This is not exactly good news for the Olympic movement, but the lack of demand and Brazil’s currency struggles against the U.S. dollar could be great news for late buyers. Some of the deals are fairly eye-popping.

Want to see the men’s 100-meter track final? You can get in for 530 reals, or about $165.

How about the men’s individual gymnastics final? Get-in price is 700 reals, or about $217.

The men’s hoops quarterfinal? Even lower: 280 reals, or $87. That’s cheaper than a lot of Golden State Warriors games.

The best deals might be on Copacabana Beach, where you can watch volleyball and gaze out at the sea under the Brazil sun. Prices for semifinals are 400 reals, or $124, but most of the earlier matches are available for far less.

This is a far cry from London, where track and field finals went for more than $1,000 in 2012. Rio offers a much different landscape, due to economic turmoil and a relative lack of interest among Brazilians.

“In comparison to London, the demand is lower,” said one ticket agent who didn’t want to be named. “By this time in London it was impossible to get tickets to top events.”

And while the ticket site CoSport had the sole right to shop tickets in America until June 1, now Rio 2016 is also offering the tickets – without the markup. That’s a discount on top of the discount.

“Olympics tickets aren’t going to be this cheap again for a long time,” said the ticket agent.

All you need is a Visa card.

And a flight to Rio, of course.