Jess Battison
When they’re not training with their coaches and teammates or competing in front of the world, this year’s Olympians are hanging out in the athlete’s village.
Many of them have been sharing an insight into what it’s like there on TikTok, from documenting the freebies they’ve bagged to testing out the ‘anti-sex’ cardboard beds.
While they might be having a laugh staying there, if not at least a couple of shags, there are rules the athletes must follow in the Olympic Village.
And recently, a swimmer has now been sent home from the games in Paris after breaking a major rule with her boyfriend.
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Ana Carolina Vieira from Brazil was dismissed from Paris 2024 while her partner and fellow swimmer, Gabriel Santos, received a warning.
That’s because the pair had left the village without permission and has been rumbled by social media posts showing they’d broken the rules.
So, let’s look into what those rules are the athletes have to follow.
Technically, only the athletes are allowed to stay there in the first place, but if needed, they’re allowed to bring in their coaches and team officials.
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When it comes to actually leaving, they reportedly can’t stay in the Village more than two days after their competition wraps up or when they’re eliminated.
And pretty brutally, their Olympic Identity and Accreditation Card will be deactivated so they won’t be able to access the Village.
Ahead of the 2020 Olympics, a ban on protests and political, religious and racial propaganda was put in place which isn’t limited to just the Village. The ban is also in force on the field of play, during medal and all other official ceremonies.
And when in terms of all that social media posting we’re lapping up, athletes are free to post from most areas but can’t share anything commercial, anything using AI-generation or live videos longer than two minutes.
Oh, and unsurprisingly, drinking alcohol and having a party is banned in the Village.
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In Vieira’s case, it seems her country’s Olympic committee had banned its athletes from leaving the village without permission.
Plus, she then reportedly acted in a ‘disrespectful and aggressive manner’.
A statement on the situation said: "The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) received this Saturday, 27 July, a statement from the Head of the Brazilian Swimming Team, Gustavo Otsuka, with the information that swimmers Ana Carolina Vieira and Gabriel Santos committed acts of indiscipline.
"With this, in common agreement with the members of the Technical Committee of the sport, with the Team Leader and with the Brazilian Confederation of Aquatic Sports (CBDA), the COB decided to punish the two athletes for having left the Olympic Village without authorization last Friday.
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"In addition to this fact, the athlete Ana Carolina, in a disrespectful and aggressive manner, contested the technical decision taken by the Brazilian Swimming Team committee.
"Thus, athlete Gabriel Santos was punished with a warning and athlete Ana Carolina Vieira was punished with removal from the delegation.
"She will return to Brazil immediately."