Australian swimming queen Ariarne Titmus has criticised the ‘ridiculous’ conditions in the Olympic Village.
The three-time gold medallist is one of many current and former Australian athletes who have spoken out about the “eco-friendly” accommodation in Paris, which includes polyethylene mattresses and cardboard beds.
Others have complained about the food choices.
Titmus didn’t hold back when asked if she was disappointed not to have broken her world record when she won back-to-back gold medals in the 400m freestyle on Saturday night, despite breaking the Olympic record.
“It probably wasn’t the time I thought I could, but living in the Olympic Village makes it difficult to perform,” she admitted in an interview on Sunday.
‘It’s certainly not meant for top performances, it’s about who can really keep it together in their mind.’
Her comments prompted angry responses from Australian Swimming head coach Rohan Taylor.
He has since reminded the swimmers not to let anything distract them from their performance, including the conditions in the Olympic Village.
Golden girl Ariarne Titmus (pictured) admitted that conditions in the Olympic Village ‘make it difficult to perform’
Titmus described the conditions as ‘not suitable for top performance’. Pictured is a bed in the Athletes’ Village
“The Olympics have always been a challenge. Every Olympics I’ve been to, every Olympics you see, is a test of the ability of athletes to come here, compete and perform when it matters,” he said.
“It’s all about how you handle yourself and whatever environment you have, whatever beds you have, whatever food you eat, everyone deals with it.”
“The Olympics have always been like this and that’s the way it is. And that’s the beauty of it.”
Taylor added that the Australian Olympic Committee is making extra efforts for the athletes, such as arranging private transport, hiring a barista to make coffee, providing extra food and providing air conditioning.
“It just got resolved,” Taylor said.
“The first couple of days, transportation is always a challenge. The food, there are a lot of options. The AOC has a food pantry, but they have options there, you have multiple different places to go and eat.”
“The most important thing for them is to swim down, get a massage and something to eat, and then get back to bed as quickly as possible.”
The beds in the Olympic Village have been the subject of controversy due to their lack of comfort and their ‘woke character’.
The single beds, produced by Airwave, feature cardboard frames as part of the organisers’ sustainability efforts.
Australian swimming head coach Rohan Taylor (pictured) has reminded swimmers not to let anything distract them from their performance, including the conditions in the
Ariarne Titmus will be looking to defend her 200m freestyle title on Tuesday morning
Titmus, who will defend her 200m freestyle title early on Tuesday morning Australian time, is not the only Australian athlete to speak out about conditions in the athletes’ village.
The ‘anti-sex’ cardboard beds went down a treat with Australian water polo player Tilly Kearns and her teammate Gabi Palm, who said after their first night: ‘My back is about to come off’.
Tennis star Daria Saville also revealed in a social media post on Tuesday that the village is not at all like staying in a hotel.
“Here in the Olympic Village we don’t really have hotel-like cleaning, so you have to provide your own toilet paper,” she wrote in the caption of a video showing her grabbing multiple rolls.
This comes after former Olympic swimmer James Magnussen criticised the Olympics, claiming that its environmentally-friendly policies are ruining athletes’ chances of setting world records.
Magnussen won gold, silver and bronze at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
He also became world champion in the 100-meter freestyle in 2011 and 2013. In 2019, Magnussen retired from competitive swimming.
He believes the world’s biggest sporting event has an environmentally-friendly, vegan mentality that is hurting performance.
“There are several factors that make life in the countryside far from ideal,” the two-time Olympian wrote in his Column by News Corp.
The ‘anti-sex’ beds in the Olympic Village have been the subject of controversy for their lack of comfort and their ‘woke nature’
‘It’s the cardboard beds that don’t provide an optimal night’s sleep.’
“It’s the lack of air conditioning, which is going to be a bigger factor as the week goes on. Yesterday it was 20 degrees and raining. It’s going to be mid 30s in the next few days.
‘That will play a part and it will be a welcome change that the Australian team have their own mobile air conditioners.
Magnussen believes they have gone too far and that the environment created for the athletes could be the most difficult environment ever to swim world records.
“The lack of world records comes from the whole eco-friendly, carbon footprint, vegan-first mentality rather than peak performance,” he said.