IOC: Pyeongchang ticket sales are improving

Lausanne, Switzerland (dpa) - Ticket sales for the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics are improving, with some 55 per cent now sold, International Olympic Committee executive director Christophe Dubi said on Wednesday.Ticket sales have been slow from the outset as South Korea is not a major winter sport nation, with short track speed skating and figure skating the main events for the hosts.In all, some 1.1 million tickets are on offer for the February 9-25 Games as Dubi said that "ticket sales are improving."Pyeongchang organizers gave another report on the state of their preparations to the IOC executive board. Dubi spoke of "a great presentation" and said the South Koreans were well-prepared.The two-day meetings were to end later Wednesday, with another news conference with IOC president Thomas Bach scheduled for 1800 GMT.The IOC executives had on Tuesday suspended Russia over wide-ranging and state-sponsored doping practices, but will allow clean Russians to compete in Pyeongchang without their national symbols.