Australian swimming golden girl Ariarne Titmus has slammed the “ridiculous” conditions in the Paris 2024 Olympic Village.
When asked about whether she was disappointed to not break her world record in the 400m freestyle on Saturday night, Titmus said the conditions made it difficult.
“It probably wasn’t the time I thought I was capable of, but living in the Olympic Village makes it hard to perform,” she said in an interview on Sunday.
“It’s definitely not made for high performance, so it’s about who can really keep it together in the mind.”
Her comments echo a similar sentiment made by water polo stars Tilly Kearns and Gabi Palm, who said “her back is about to fall off” after sleeping in the infamous cardboard bed for one night.
From cardboard beds to a mostly vegan catering plan, Paris 2024 has adopted a range of measures to make the Olympics more eco-friendly.
Former Olympian James Magnussen has slammed the efforts for being damaging to performance.
“There’s multiple factors that make village life far from ideal,” Magnussen, who recently went viral for saying he’d perform in the controversial Enhanced Games, wrote in his column.
“It’s the cardboard beds, which can’t give you optimal sleep.
“It’s the no air-conditioning, which is going to play a bigger factor as the week goes. It was 20 degrees and raining yesterday. It’s going to be mid-30s in the coming days.
“That’s going to play a factor and the Australian team having their own portable air conditioners will be a welcome relief.”
According to Magnussen, the lack of world records we’ve seen at Paris 2024 so far is a result of the conditions.
“The lack of world records boils down to this whole eco-friendly, carbon footprint, vegan-first mentality rather than high performance,” he said.
Paris 2024 organisers said that 60 percent of food in the Olympic Village would be vegan as part of a broader eco-friendly approach, which meant that meat and dairy options were exhausted the day before the Opening Ceremony.
The Village caterer has since ordered more meat and dairy to cope with demand.
While athletes past and present have complained about the conditions, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has backed Paris 2024 organisers in a new statement.
“Early teething issues with transport have been resolved and the food is varied and plentiful after some early shortfalls,” the AOC said in a statement.
“Quantities have been increased and staff added. Whenever the AOC has provided feedback, changes are made.”
The AOC also noted that in addition to the Village dining hall, athletes have access to the Woolworths’ Performance Pantry.
“In our allotment the baristas are doing a roaring trade and there’s plenty of familiar flavours from back home in the pantry,” the AOC noted, adding that it is looking forward to “taco Tuesday”.
“Our accommodation is centrally located with easy access to all the main services within the village including the dining hall.”
Thankfully, the Aussies aren’t letting the conditions get them down too much because they’re still killing it in the medal tally.
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