After years of dedication and sacrifice, the least the athletes deserved at this summer’s Paris Olympics was proper facilities to fuel their quest for glory.
Instead, they received quite the opposite response.
Last weekend, US tennis star Coco Gauff revealed that she had become the latest athlete to have her entire team flee the Olympic Village, which appears to be doing more harm than good, with just a week to go until the 2024 Olympics.
The 20-year-old Gauff posted a candid TikTok video exposing the shocking conditions Olympians are enduring inside the new $1.6 billion facility. The US Open champion was forced to share a bathroom with 10 fellow players before five of them packed up and left.
The U.S. women’s tennis players aren’t the first to walk out of the Olympic Village this summer, but given the flood of complaints, they likely won’t be the last.
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Paris organizers are determined to make this the most sustainable Olympic Games ever, prioritizing an environmentally friendly approach in almost every area.
But the aggressive focus on being environmentally friendly has resulted in poor conditions for athletes attempting the feat in the French capital, with few world records set so far.
None of the rooms have air conditioning, it’s uncomfortably muggy, and all the beds are standard cardboard.
American gymnast Frederick Richard was so short on beds that he was forced to send his own mattress to his Parisian village.
“Everyone’s complaining about the beds and stuff,” he said last week. “I’ve already ordered one and had it shipped over. It’s been a comfortable bed since the beginning.”
Others, like Richard, who didn’t think ahead, are left sitting on cardboard boxes chasing their Olympic dreams.
If a hot, oppressive night’s sleep wasn’t bad enough, it is said that 60 percent of the food provided to athletes is vegan, creating a major challenge for those who rely on a meat-based diet to stay in peak physical condition.
To make matters worse, the Olympic Village suffered a food shortage the day after the opening ceremony.
French newspaper L’Equipe reported that breakfast staples like eggs and roast meat were rationed on Saturday, with some people complaining about small portions.
Egg deficiency is seen as a major concern as eggs are an important part of most athletes’ diets due to their high protein, healthy fat and range of nutrients and minerals.
The dire situation has thwarted some Olympic stars’ hopes of making history, with retired Australian swimmer James Magnussen slamming Paris officials for undermining the quality of the Games.
“The lack of world records is ultimately down to an eco-friendly, low carbon footprint, vegan-first mindset, not high performance,” Magnussen said.
“We have a charter that 60 percent of the food in the Olympic Village must be vegan, and the day before the opening ceremony, they removed all meat and dairy options in the Olympic Village because they didn’t expect so many athletes to choose meat and dairy over vegan options.”
“The catering company had to adjust their numbers and get more of those products because, shockingly, world-class athletes don’t eat vegan diets. I’m sure they watched the Netflix documentary ‘Game Changers’ and thought everyone was the same. But Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Roger Federer – none of these athletes eat vegan diets.”
Additionally, there will be no VIP treatment for athletes participating in the competition.
Requiring public transport to get to stadiums, arenas and velodrome venues means athletes will have already endured a hot and crowded commute before arriving at the Olympic venues.
The president of the Korea Swimming Federation (KSF) said six South Korean swimmers had left the Olympic Village and been moved to a hotel near the swimming venue to avoid long journeys in hot buses.
KSF president Jeong Chang-hoon said members of the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay team had been moved to a hotel a five-minute walk from Paris La Defense Arena, where the swimming events will be held.
Chung said he had received complaints that the buses that transported swimmers to the Olympic Village, about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) from the swimming venue, had no air conditioning and the windows were taped shut.
“We just want to make sure they’re at least a little more comfortable,” Chung said.
Australian swimming champion Ariarne Titmuss, a three-time gold medallist who fought to the best of her ability in “terrible” conditions that reportedly thwarted her world record attempt, may have benefited from a similar change.
“It probably wasn’t the time I thought I could do, but living in the Olympic Village makes it harder to perform,” Titmuss acknowledged in an interview on Sunday.
“This is obviously not designed for high performance, so it’s really about who can keep their minds up.”
As the Olympics draw to a close, more athletes are expected to flee the athletes’ village to improve their chances of victory in the French capital.
The housing estate that will host this summer’s Olympics may become a ghost town when the games draw to a close.