A towel spread out on the grass behind an outdoor bench, on a path in the Village. Thomas Ceccon lies down on it, turned on his left side, wearing shorts and a national team T-shirt, his shoes off and perfectly aligned next to his feet with white socks, his backpack next to him. A short video on social media, which is becoming popular, shows the Olympic champion in the 100 backstroke as he seeks a bit of relief and rest from the fatigue. Not just that of swimming and competitive stress: but also that caused by the difficult conditions of the athletes in Paris. It is impossible to sleep at night in your own rooms, with the heat that has been there in recent days. There is no air conditioningit was known for some time: the organizers chose not to include it for reasons of environmental sustainability.
Chaos also in transport
And after sleepless nights, also poor and low-quality food. Some delegations chose to leave, to hotels. Or to have meals delivered from outside. Chaos also in transport: athletes travel on buses, also without air conditioning for hours in the Parisian traffic. All together, sometimes standing and for a long time, before reaching the facilities.
Paris 2024, Thomas Ceccon sleeps on a lawn: the Olympic village under accusation
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Paltrinieri’s protest
“We are not protected,” he protested yesterday Gregory Paltrinieri after the 1500 heats (2nd best time, the final tonight). “I’ve done four Olympics, and this is definitely the worst. The pool is far from the Village, I don’t fall asleep in my room before two in the morning, it’s too hot, it’s unthinkable in my opinion not to have air conditioning in the rooms. You can’t treat athletes like this, we are the protagonists of the Games, we should be the ones protected, and instead we are not protected at all”.
Olympics, canteen food infuriates athletes: “Poor and low quality”. Eggs rationed for breakfast
from our correspondents Cosimo Cito and Alessandra Retico
The heat and the slow pool
Ceccon himself he had been complaining since the first days difficult conditions: “It’s raining, hot, there’s no air conditioning. You can’t sleep well, between the noise and the heat. You eat badly. And the pool is slow. All this causes a bit of tiredness and can have an effect. Tokyo was better organized but it’s hard to beat the Japanese in this”. Yesterday, after the 4X100 medley relay team was eliminated in the heats after winning bronze in Tokyo, Thomas left the pool without even commenting on the race where he, like Martinenghi and Miressi, didn’t shine (the best of them, the butterfly swimmer Carini).
Waves, higher times and (still) no records: the Paris pool is lower and does not convince the athletes
from our correspondent Alessandra Retico
Equal conditions for all
The Venetian champion apparently hadn’t slept at all and wasn’t feeling well. Even the sprinter Miressi didn’t want to speak, but the breaststroker and Olympic 100m champion Martinenghi did: “Difficult conditions at the Village? True, but they don’t believe they had an impact, maybe in the long term. But we’re all in the same boat, we’re not the only Italians who live in those conditions. You have to know how to adapt, that’s what a great athlete does. We tried to stay calm in a slightly more uncomfortable situation.” Little food, no sleep: is it an Olympics or the Island of the Famous?
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– 2024-08-05 03:50:05
