For Olympic athletes, the chance to compete at an Olympic Games is the pinnacle of their sporting career.
Every four years, the best competitors in the world converge on a single city, seeking to bring glory back home with them.
But in Paris those closest to the athletes will be forced to fork out fortunes to watch them compete, leaving competitors outraged.
Do Olympic athletes get free tickets?
No, Olympic athletes are not allocated any free tickets to their events, meaning that their eager families are forced to battle the crowds for the chance to watch the events.
According to the family of 2020 Gold medallist Ariarne Titmus, their tickets to watch their daughter defend her title set them back around $1600 a pop, telling the Daily Telegraph that they have spent around $20,000 in total to watch her compete.
Speaking to Triple M Breakfast with Marto, Margaux & Dan, Titmus' father Steve Titmus said that the families of Olympic athletes have not been allocated tickets to the swimming as long as he had been involved.
"It's a very big misconception," he said.
"I have so many people say to me, 'Oh can you get us tickets?' It's always a big thing and we say, 'Look, we can't even get tickets for ourselves.'
"This has been a case for ever since we've been involved in the sport. Whether you go to world championships, Commonwealth Games, we go to the Olympics.
"There's no such thing as free tickets and we got our tickets through the French public ballot, $20,000 (AUD) cost all up.
"Look at it this way, there's about 10,000 athletes that go to the Olympic Games. Now you imagine if they gave away, say four tickets to every athlete, that's 40,000 tickets.
"Ticket prices are starting at about $500 (AUD). The thing about the swimming though is the stadium doesn't hold that many people."
Recently, Australian water polo player Matilda Kearns put the Olympics on blast, after discovering the cost for her family to attend her games in Paris.
"POV our family and friends will have to pay up to €1000 per ticket to watch ONE of our games at the Olympics," she wrote via TikTok.
"We don't even get one free ticket for our families.
"Every other Olympics has (provided family tickets), but not this one for some reason! Not even one ticket."
