Olympic Games Paris 2024: faced with ticket prices, anger is rising among athletes

by time news

2023-05-18 21:44:06

In March, 82% of French people considered the price of tickets for the Paris Olympics in 2024 to be inaccessible, according to an Odoxa survey. But the general public is also joined on this subject by the athletes likely to be actors in the event. Nafissatou Thiam, the Belgian heptathlete, double Olympic champion (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021), was offended at the time of the first sales phase: “I’m not even sure that my family will be able to come see me, it’s so Dear. There is the price of the tickets, the trip, the accommodation on site. »

The opening of the second phase of single ticket sales (since May 11) has once again added fuel to the fire. This time, it was French athletes who took the floor. The latest is judoka Amandine Buchard, Olympic vice-champion in Tokyo in the under 52 kg category.

On her Twitter account, she sent a clear message on Tuesday: “Olympic Games accessible to all, you said… In fact, you have to make credits in the bank so that families and loved ones can have the chance to come see us. Finally, if, by then, there are still tickets … “The hashtags” shame “and” disgusted “which decorate it let guess his state of mind.

Last Sunday, it was the half-founder Jimmy Gressier, fourth in the European Championship in the 10,000m last summer, who spoke on his networks: “I saw that the places for athletics were sold at an astronomical price (from 290 euros to 995 euros instead). I find it really abused. How can we charge such high prices for our sport? Which is, at the base, a sport affordable for all and accessible. »

“It will cost less in front of the TV with five beers and five pizzas”

He also regrets that athletes do not have a “specific gateway” to buy tickets for their family members. Two places are allocated to them by the IOC and four by “Winning in France”, the device of the National Sports Agency.

“We have to go through the ticket office like everyone else. While we are going to represent the colors of France and our country. I did the math: if I want to bring ten people from my family, it will cost me between 6,000 euros and 7,000 euros. It’s totally off budget,” he continued. Contacted by us this Thursday, May 18, he did not wish to react, explaining “not wanting to argue”.

Former French cross-country international Maëva Danois joked in the comments: “It will cost less to be in front of the TV with five beers and five goat cheese pizzas. Sadness. “Remark to which the 2014 European 3,000m steeplechase champion, Yoann Kowal, who will be aiming for a marathon qualification, replied ironically: “Laughs out loud, indeed and then you have them slowed down! »

In the same sport, the 3,000m steeplechase runner, Alice Finot, did not go easy on her Instagram account either: “Given the online prices, I advise my relatives not to to profit from of the so-called lucky draw. »

“Easier to participate in the Olympics than to attend as a spectator”

Gymnasts also have trouble digesting the fee schedule. Marine Boyer, present in Rio and Tokyo, even described in six steps, on her Instagram account, her reaction when she was drawn to buy her tickets: “1: go sell a kidney; 2: but there are no more places for the gymnasium finals; 3: wait for the last ticket office to hope to have accessible seats; 4: I hope that people will sell their places; 5: otherwise it will be on TV…; 6: SNIF. The beam specialist resolved: “Obviously the best option would be to be on the team. And I will do everything to be there! »

But this option is not possible for everyone. Jérôme Clavier, former pole vaulter for the France team, sent a message to Tony Estanguet on his Facebook account: “My flag bearer and captain of Beijing 2008, we were in the same team, but our roads and our values ​​are now very distant. »

Having become a physical education teacher and trainer, the silver medalist at the 2011 European Indoor Championships is caught between the love of the Games and their excessive price: “I participated in the labeling of my former establishment with the label Génération 2024. I sell the Olympic Games every day because it remains an extraordinary experience, a spectacle to live. How can I be credible in front of my students and my athletes by telling them that this event will be magnificent and that they will be able to experience it? Their parents must invest a minimum of 2,000 euros to see an athletics final (for 4 people). »

Retired gymnast Marine Debauve makes an observation that will certainly provoke some yellow laughter in an Instagram post: “Small irony: it could be easier to participate in the Olympic Games than to attend as a spectator in my own country… That drives me crazy. »


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