Guests 'outnumber 2012 athletes'

The ODA expects 20,000 members of the world's media to attend

Sponsors and their guests are expected to outnumber athletes by more than two-to-one at London's 2012 Olympics.

Organisers expect 31,400 "marketing partners" to attend the event, compared with 14,500 athletes.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) also expects 20,000 members of the world's media to attend.

Earlier this week a group of MPs described the government's original £4bn estimated cost of hosting the games as "entirely unrealistic".

The Public Accounts Committee said ministers used "wishful thinking" in reaching this estimate in 2005. Last year the Olympic budget was put at £9.325bn.

Transport fleet

The latest attendance figures were contained in an ODA document forecasting transport requirements for the games.

It estimated that 7.7 million tickets would go on sale for the 2012 Olympics, with a further 1.5 million for the Paralympic Games.

An estimated 275,000 spectators are expected to travel to the Olympic Park in east London each day during the games, of whom more than three quarters (78%) are expected to go by train.

Athletes and other members of the "games family" will be transported between venues across London in their own dedicated fleet of coaches, cars and vans, the ODA revealed.

But the document added that work had yet to take place to estimate how many vehicles would be needed.

"We need to develop a strong understanding of the travel behaviour of all client groups, including the number of trips they are likely to make each day," the ODA said.