Titmus’ parents paying thousands to watch Ariarne, an example of huge sums being paid by families of athletes to be in Paris
Families and friends of Australia’s Olympic athletes could be forced to fork out eye-watering sums to watch their events in Paris next month. The Titmus family is just one example.
Ariarne Titmus’s parents have tickets to the rugby union and football in Paris but won’t be going to either. Welcome to the Great Olympic Ticket Scramble.
The Titmus family may be swimming royalty in Australia but when it comes to the Paris Olympics it’s every family for themselves and the hunt for tickets can take you in all sorts of quirky directions.
For Steve, Robyn and daughter Mia to watch Ariarne defend her 400m title the family will fork out $4800 at about $1600 a ticket. All up they will spend more than $20,000 on tickets for the Games as they follow “Arnie’’ through her schedule — and that spend will not include two heat swims.
When there was no guarantee last year Swimming Australia through the Australian Olympic Committee would have any tickets for its families, Steve and Robyn, like many other parents, jumped in the ticket lotto and urged friends and family to do so maximise their chances.
To secure swimming tickets in the lotto (via a lucky friend) they had to buy tickets to two other sports and chose rugby union and football.
With families unable to attend the Covid-threatened Games of Tokyo in 2021 there is a deep-seated desire from many Olympic families to be in Paris but the journey, with accomodation and flights and expensive tickets, is a costly one.
Robyn is president of the PODS (Parents of Dolphins Swimmers) and with the help of Sharon McKeown (mother of Kaylee) and other good Samaritans, has worked tirelessly for over a year to try and snare tickets for fellow parents who claim they would have been in dire straits without the PODS push.
“A lot of people have the impression you are given complimentary tickets and sit together but that has never been the case since our involvement,’’ Robyn said.
Since the Titmus’ purchased their tickets, the Australian Olympic Committee and Swimming Australia have offered some tickets to the PODS which have been keenly snapped up. There are no freebies.
“With Paris there was no guarantee that Swimming Australia would be able to acquire tickets so we couldn’t take the risk and not apply to the lotto because there was never any guarantee that there would be enough tickets to go round.
“The ballot was nerve-wracking. You almost had to pre-empt whether your child will make the team.
“It is a very big outlay for parents buying tickets without knowing if their child is going to be there. So you had parents outlaying funds hoping their child was going but not certain.
“It is a shame that there is not a sponsorship arrangement for families where each swimmer can get a couple of tickets for their family. It’s just that kids get so much benefit knowing they have family members in the stand when they are away competing at the highest level. We dress in bright yellow T-shirts and wave Australian flags so they know we are there.
In some sports such as cricket, families are extremely well catered for when they join the player on the road but, at the Olympics, there is precious little support which is why the PODS, who have special dinners where new pool parents are welcomed to the fold, are so important in building a cultural spirit in the team of many ever-changing parts.
“We have the situation where some swimmers qualified where their parents did not have tickets. So we have had to try and allocate through PODs and Swimming Australia a few tickets to be kept aside in case parents reach out. If we weren’t set up as a group with PODS it would be extremely difficult for the parents and quite an isolated and lonely experience.’’
Water polo star Tilly Kearns reveals even family and friends will have to pay huge sums for Olympic tickets
Families and friends of Australia’s Olympic athletes could be forced to fork out more than $1600 per ticket to watch their events in Paris next month.
Australian athletes have occasionally been provided with a certain number of tickets to distribute to friends and family thanks to their sporting bodies. However, as is the case with most Olympic Games, they won’t be given free tickets by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC).
It’s set to add another layer to already exorbitant costs to attend the Olympics in France with high prices for flights and accommodation in Paris.
Tilly Kearns, a member of the Aussie Stingers water polo team heading to her second Olympics, took to social media to highlight the incredible price for tickets for those close to athletes.
On the video, her screen shows tickets valued at 1000 euros, or $1,625 Australian dollars, for both Category A and Category B tickets to the events.
“We don’t even get one free ticket for our families,” Kearns posted in the caption.
The website in Kearns’ video appears to be a secondary marketplace for tickets, ‘Paris24Tickets’, and not the official Paris 2024 vendor, however, even through the main channels tickets prices are still incredibly high.
According to the official ticket website of the Games, Category D tickets for water polo are on sale for as little as 24 euros. However, tickets for the Aussie Stingers’ first two games against China and the Netherlands are currently unavailable.
There are limited tickets available through the Olympics’ resale site for the water polo for a minimum of 38 euros.
For marquee Olympics events, such as the opening night of the swimming finals that will feature the women’s 400m freestyle showdown between Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky and Summer McIntosh, the cheapest tickets available are 525 euros ($853).
Only close to a third of Australia’s team for Paris has currently been confirmed, which means the majority of athletes’ family and friends will be set to pay the higher prices as they wait for their loved ones to be announced on the team.
The International Olympic Committee has created an Athletes’ Friends and Family Ticketing Programme for Paris 2024 where two tickets can be purchased per session an athlete competes in. Purchases through that system are set to be available until 4pm the day before the session begins and will open in July.
The website for the programme also claims that National Olympic Committees have the option of “purchasing tickets in bulk on your behalf, which you can pass on to family and friends”.
Quizzed in the comments section of the video, Kearns went on to claim that every other Olympics has seen athletes provided with free tickets except for Paris.
In a statement, the AOC confirmed the process for athletes to access tickets for Paris 2024 was no different to recent Olympics.
They also confirmed that for some high-profile events, athletes will be allocated fewer tickets.
“Ticket prices are set by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee,” an AOC spokesperson said.
“Paris 2024 ensures that family and friends can buy two tickets per session for each competing athlete, except for families with athletes in Swimming, Shooting, Race Walk and Road Cycling, who are entitled to one ticket per competing athlete, per session.
“Paris organisers have advised they will allocate category B or C tickets for family and friends, based on sport/venue.
“In July, tickets for the events can be purchased through a dedicated link on the ticketing website. Accessing family and friends’ tickets will require an individual code, linked to the respective athlete.
“This is the same family and friends process that had been used at recent Games.”
More Coverage
Add your comment to this story
It’s all funds and Games for 2032
Almost $4bn in state funding has been set aside for the construction of new venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games in the Liberal National Party government’s budget.
100 v 200: Where Gout Gout’s focus lies
Set to make his European debut this week, Gout Gout has outlined the work he has been doing behind the scenes since his last race, and nominated his preference between the 100m and 200m.
To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register
Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout