There hasn’t exactly been a shortage of criticisms for Paris’ Olympic Village, and concerns about personal hygiene are the latest addition to the numerous complaints already voiced by athletes.
While speaking on The Project, Australian swimming star Ariarne Titmus revealed that the athletes’ bedsheets did not get changed for two weeks. However, her comments should be taken with a grain of salt; Australia sent many athletes home a few days after they finished competing, meaning Titmus may not have actually been there for two weeks.
“The Village isn’t as glamorous as people think,” Titmus said. “Our bedsheets got changed after the first night we were there and then they didn’t get changed for the rest of the time we were there, so we were living in filth.”
Additionally, Titmus claimed the Olympic Village did not stock enough toilet paper, leading to a shortage and causing athletes to have to find creative ways to get more, even going so far as having to lie about the number of roommates they had to scrounge more rolls.
Several other swimmers have previously commented on the less-than-satisfactory conditions in the Olympic Village.
Italian gold medalist Thomas Ceccon cited a lack of air conditioning as making for uncomfortable room and sleep conditions, before later going viral for napping in a park. The cardboard beds provided by the Olympic village were also a hot topic throughout the Games, with a number of athletes posting pictures and videos online of the setup.
Following the conclusion of the games, Great Britain’s Adam Peaty recalled people finding worms in the fish while eating in the Olympic Village, which was just one of several criticisms voiced about the state of the food.
The poor conditions in the Olympic Village left so much to be desired that some athletes reportedly had beds and mattresses flown in from their own countries, while other teams sent their own chefs out to Paris to help meet their athletes’ needs better. A handful of athletes were prompted to leave altogether, checking into hotels or private residences instead.
I don’t understand why top Olympic athletes like Titmus don’t just spend a bit of money on a decent hotel. They spend all year optimising and micromanaging their training, nutrition, sleep, recovery, etc, and then put up with what is basically a cheap summer camp? I get that low to mid-tier athletes might want the full Village experience, but gold medal contenders?
I try to change my sheets once a week, but I wouldn’t consider the same sheets for 2 weeks as “living in filth” unless you straight up weren’t showering
Peaty never said he found worms in his fish. He said people are finding worms in the fish.
Ever so slight difference.
But why aren’t some of those millions of dollars paid to broadcast, sponsor, etc the Games finding their way to stuff like the village, the food, etc? Those athletes should be living like kings and queens for 2 weeks given how much is paid to the IOC! Am I wrong somehow??
The Olympics are very, very expensive to operate. I think there’s a misconception that the Olympics make massive profits. The Olympics are mostly an excuse to make investments into infrastructure and other pet projects.
There is administrative bloat for sure. It’s terrible optics for the athletes to sleep on cardboard beds while the administrators sleep in five star hotels, but pragmatically, even austerity measures in the administration wouldn’t save enough money to make a huge impact on spending in athletes’ villages, prize money, etc.
My sense is that this is more of a logistics failure than ‘running out of money’.
The conditions were definitely not conducive to preparing for a gold medal performance. When these athletes are at any other competition, they’re in a situation where they have everything they need which includes sleep, the right food and being close to the venue they compete in. For the swimmers to travel 4 times a day for 45 minutes in a crowded hot bus was not ideal. Maybe the transportation was tough to change but Paris should’ve at least done better where the food and sleeping quarters was concerned.
She came home with two golds, putting a picture with her silver is doing her a bit dirty, isn’t it?
It isn’t always that deep.
Hello, Ledecky
Ur one of those that passive aggressively points things out hoping people get offended along with u .
Isnt it kind if normal to not wash bedsheets for 2 weeks? If the bed isnt shared, thats a pretty common thing
Not in this setting
Duvet covers sure, but sheets & pillow cases at least weekly… Surely people don’t use the same pillow case for 2 weeks?
hot nights, no AC….
Now I realize how the 1st world is different from us.
This is just your average guys living conditions their first year in college