The tickets are funded by way of a levy on London 2012 Prestige Ticketing hospitality tickets and will be offered at no cost to the recipients.

"We believe it is vitally important that the Games succeed in motivating the next generation to participate in sport and to instil the Olympic Values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect," said Andy Hunt, Team GB Chef de Mission and BOA chief executive.

"We hope that our programme delivered via the excellent Ticketshare initiative will play a part in making this important goal a reality.

"The combination of visiting the London 2012 Olympic venues and the involvement of our distinguished Olympians from previous Games will undoubtedly provide the young athletes and sport support staff with great inspiration and an unforgettable experience to drive forward their ambitions for their future sporting careers.

"I hope that many of the athletes involved in this programme will use the experience gained in London to help them on their journeys towards Sochi 2014, Rio 2016 and beyond."

The BOA will allocate approximately 800 tickets to outstanding young athletes from both Winter and Summer Olympic sports who have the potential to compete for Team GB at future Games.

This will include all the athletes who represented Team GB in the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games, the 2011 European Youth Olympic Festivals and the upcoming winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck in January 2012.

Around 3,500 of the tickets will be distributed to young people aged 18–26 that are participating in sport development in the UK.

The individuals will be nominated to the BOA by the National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of both winter and summer Olympic sports, who will provide a 150 word description of how the individuals demonstrate the Olympic values of excellence, friendship and respect in their sport activity.

The young recipients nominated by the NGBs may include athletes, coaches, volunteers, technical officials, administrators and others who have dedicated themselves to the organisation and development of their sport at club level.

Accompanying many of these young people will be up to 700 distinguished British Olympians from previous Games, who will serve to inspire and educate the young people they attend with.

Wherever possible, the BOA will work to ensure that the young athletes and young sport developers receiving tickets will attend a session of their own sport, they claimed.

"The London 2012 Ticketshare scheme will see thousands of tickets donated to worthy recipients thanks to a levy placed on our Prestige hospitality packages – it's a groundbreaking scheme and one we are very proud of," said London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe.

"We are delighted that the British Olympic Association is helping us distribute these tickets – getting these tickets into the hands of people in sport and tomorrow's heroes is exactly what we had in mind when we launched the scheme."

The programme has been developed with input from the BOA Athletes' Commission and the Olympians Club, which represents British Olympians from previous Olympic Games.

Earlier this year, the BOA announced that it will provide all Team GB Olympians from previous Games, both summer and winter, with the opportunity to purchase four tickets to London 2012 sessions.

For the special group of London 1948 Olympians, two tickets will be provided at no cost.

"The opportunity presented to the young athletes and sports persons who will receive tickets through this scheme is truly a once in a lifetime experience," said five-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Steve Redgrave.

"It is a fantastic idea to pair the young people with Olympians who can provide them with guidance and inspiration from their personal Olympic experience.

"Throughout my 20 year Olympic career I greatly appreciated the support that coaches, volunteers, officials and so many others provided me with along the journey, so it is absolutely right that the next generation of sport leaders and workers are recognised and rewarded in this programme."

British javelin thrower Huw Bevan, a 16-year-old who competed last week at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Trabzon in Turkey added: "It's fantastic news that we're going to get tickets to the London 2012 Olympics.

"I applied for about ten different events and didn't get everything I wanted, so to get a ticket through the Ticketshare scheme is immense."

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