Organizers of the Turin Winter Olympics (TOROC) said that they have met ticket sales target of 64 million euros on Sunday, two days after the Games opened.

"The target of 64 million euro was reached. We have sold 766,00 tickets overall," said Giuseppe Gattino, TOROC head of media relations.

According to Gattino, some 55,000 people attended the first day of sports events, while Friday's opening ceremony broke the earnings record for a sports event in Italy, raking in nearly 13.4 million euros (some 18.4 million US dollars).

"We were a little concerned about female hockey. Last night with the Italian team, even though they didn't score a goal, they are a young team and it is the first opportunity to take part in the Olympics, the Palasport was full, so the passion lives here," he said.

A lackluster response from Turin's residents has marred the run-up to the Feb. 10-26 Games, but ticket sales have heated up over the past week.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2006)