Bad food, hot rooms, long waiting times: There is a lot of criticism about life in the Olympic Village in Paris. But the mishaps don’t spoil the special atmosphere. They are just part of it.
When around 3,000 athletes moved into the first Olympic Village at the Summer Games in Paris 100 years ago, there was great joy. Before that, the athletes had lived mainly in barracks, schools, youth hostels or even on boats during the competitions. Accordingly, most of them enjoyed life in the accommodation built especially for them north-west of Paris, which had a currency exchange office, a hairdresser’s salon, a restaurant and a post office.
Compared to the wooden huts that were demolished after the Games ended, the current athletes’ accommodation in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis seems like pure luxury. For many of the approximately 14,000 athletes, however, the feel-good factor in the Olympic Village is limited.
Selfies with millionaires
Too hot, beds that were too uncomfortable, too little and too bad food, unreliable transport, a few thefts: many things are criticized and the grievances are also diligently reported on social media. But this special atmosphere in the Olympic Village, where there is an almost childlike enthusiasm for pin hunting, many of the 300,000 free condoms are certainly used and sports millionaires like Rafael Nadal are happy to take selfies, can be felt again this time.
“It’s a reminder of where we really come from and where the true spirit of the sport comes from, without the luxury,” said tennis star Nadal, who shares an apartment with fellow countryman and doubles partner Carlos Alcaraz. “You spend almost your whole career in hotels,” explained the 14-time French Open winner. “To live the full experience, you have to be in the village.” And that includes Nadal and Alcaraz being stopped again and again by autograph and selfie hunters on their way to dinner.
“Ten girls, two bathrooms”
But some stars have already left the Olympic Village. Tennis player Emma Navarro, like several others on the US team, decided to move out after she had only slept a total of six hours in the first three nights. Afterwards, she “cried a little in the lobby” out of disappointment and lack of sleep. Her teammate Coco Gauff gave a telling insight into the chaotic shared apartment life in a TikTok video with the caption “10 girls, two bathrooms.”
The biggest criticism of the past hot days was the lack of conventional air conditioning in the overheated apartments. The Olympic Village is equipped with a water cooling system for ecological reasons, but this has apparently reached its limits. Numerous delegations ordered portable units.
“Anti-sex beds”
The cardboard beds are also part of the strategy to reduce the carbon footprint of the games. But what is good for the environment can be bad for the athletes’ backs. “The bed is annoying,” commented gymnastics star Simone Biles, who at only 1.42 meters tall at least doesn’t have any length problems like tall athletes.
The New York Post The sleeping facilities, known as “anti-sex beds,” were “as hard as a rock” for Swiss rower Celia Dupre. Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns reported that she had even had to get a massage because of it: “My back is about to fall off.”
The food is a disaster to say the least.
National hockey player Christopher Rühr
The complaints about the food are even greater. The long waiting times, the meager selection and insufficient water supplies caused a lot of frustration on the first few days. The Olympic starters experienced almost nothing of the much-praised French cuisine in the cafeteria, which is something that not only US superstar Biles complained about. She posted a video on social media of herself eating a pain au chocolat from a plastic packaging, which the French commented on with pity.
“The food is a disaster to say the least,” said national hockey player Christopher Rühr of the German Press Agency. You have to wait “incredibly long” and then “the quality of the food is not particularly good either”. However, the German single rower Alexandra Föster showed understanding that with up to 60,000 meals a day, “of course you can’t conjure up Michelin-star food”. The German sprinter Gina Lückenkemper also put it into perspective: “I get full and I can train well with it”. The organisers also made adjustments. Large quantities of eggs and a ton of meat were also provided.
Theft in the village
And what about security? The village is located in the poorest French department, Seine-Saint-Denis, which is known for crime. There have been five reports of theft in the Olympic village, some of which were stolen from the athletes’ living quarters. This was reported by the French newspaper The Parisian.
Compared to the enormous number of diverse people on an area of 52 hectares – about 74 football pitches – this is a relatively small number. And most participants don’t let a few negative things spoil their experience in the Olympic Village. “I’ve really enjoyed village life so far,” said Lückenkemper. Also because she can hunt for pins here: “This is the Olympic sport that is relatively little reported on: the pin game in the Olympic Village.”
Liechtensteiner becomes a sought-after man
At the Olympics, it is customary for many to exchange pins and place them on the accreditation tape. Mountain biker Romano Püntener, the only starter from Liechtenstein, is therefore one of the most sought-after exchange partners. Even tennis star Andy Murray “searched for the poor guy throughout the Olympic village,” as former tennis player Laura Robson said at Eurosport “It was as if he had won Olympic gold,” Püntener reported on the reaction of the two-time Olympic champion: “He showed the pin to everyone and said: Look what I have.”
