No Excuses: Italian Swimmer Claims Olympic Village Being Awful With No A/C And Terrible Food Is Part Of The Reason He Didn't Make The 200m Finals
Tom Weller/VOIGT. Getty Images.[Source] - In the Village there is no air conditioning, it’s hot, the food is bad. Many athletes move because of this … it is not an alibi it is the pure chronicle of what perhaps not everyone knows
I emphasize that this is not meant to be an excuse or an alibi, we are all experiencing the same situations and are in the same conditions. It is one thing many people probably do not know and it is right to tell the story.
Maybe I did not go into the water with the same conviction that I had in the 100m, and that was my mistake, it will serve me well in the future. I’m disappointed that I didn’t make a finals time, but I was tired too.
I gave up in the semi-final … a little tired you have a hard time sleeping both at night and in the afternoon, between noise and heat.
Yes it’s hot for me too, in the Village there is no air conditioning, we don’t eat well and there are problems with the food. Many athletes move for these reasons
I know part of the experience of being an Olympian is getting to stay in Olympic Village. It's a sex-crazed area, thousands upon thousands of condoms handed out every 4 years and you get to live with other Olympians. But this year? This year is nothing short of a disaster. It started with the air conditioning fight:
I don't care if you're an Olympian or a fat slob, you need air conditioning. It's one of life's greatest inventions. You flip that bad boy on and instantly feel comfortable. Hell, I'm writing this blog wearing a long sleeve shirt inside my house because of air conditioning. You know what's even worse than being hot? Trying to sleep when it's hot out. It's damn near impossible. You can't get comfortable, no one wants to sleep above the sheets. You want to curl up, wrap those sheets over you and go right to sleep.
If that's not enough we have the whole food thing:
We're talking about world class athletes here. You need to eat. You need to eat normal, good food that helps you stay ready for whatever event you're in. And Thomas Ceccon isn't some nobody. He won gold in the 100m backstroke final before not making it to the finals in the 200m backstroke. He also says no excuses, so you can't say he's whining. He's just saying what's going on and why so many athletes are moving out of the Olympic Village. I don't blame them. I want to be comfortable, it's probably the most important thing in life.
Now part of me wants the world to flip here. Olympians like Ceccon and those? They get to live on the yachts and private hotel rooms. All the big name basketball players when they make it to Paris? Put them in Olympic Village. Make all the big names see how table tennis players live at the Olympics. Cardboard beds, bad food, hot nights. Good luck. No excuses though.
