Online e-ticket sales for the Racers Grand Prix ended Thursday night and were deemed successful by the organisers for the June 11 track and field spectacle.

Only physical tickets will now be available and these can be sourced only at Jamaica National (JN) Money Shops and at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel each day, except Sunday between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm.

On the day of the event, any tickets left will be available at the National Stadium ticket office from 10:00 am.

This is the first time that tickets to a track meet in Jamaica have been sold online. The facilitators of the service, Mysticonline, described the response as “overwhelming”.

Patrons have been particularly pleased that they were able to select seats of their choice online with no hassle and without fear of being victims of favouritism.

Meanwhile, the first batch of foreign athletes for the Racers Grand Prix arrived yesterday. The South African contingent, comprising athletes Wayde van Niekerk, Akani Simbine and Justine Palframan, accompanied by their manager and coach, touched down early yesterday.

Van Niekerk is the reigning world champion in the men’s 400 metres, while Simbine is the World University Games winner and South African record holder in the men’s 100 metres. Simbine has a personal best of 9.96 seconds over that distance.

Palframan is the World University Games winner in the women’s 400 metres, the African Junior champion, and the South African national champion in the same event. She has a personal best time of 51.27 seconds.

In the week leading up to the games, they will be training with the Racers Track Club athletes at the Usain Bolt track at the UWI Mona Bowl.

Over eighty foreign or overseas-based athletes are expected to participate in the first staging of the Racers Grand Prix at Jamaica’s National Stadium on Saturday evening June 11.