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Olympic Village has a very specific rule that all athletes have to obey

Home> News> Sport

Published 13:02 31 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Olympic Village has a very specific rule that all athletes have to obey

It's a rule that every Paris Olympics competitor must follow

Tom Earnshaw

Tom Earnshaw

The 2024 Paris Olympics is in full flow. But despite it being less than a week in, athletes are already leaving the official Olympic Village.

And it is due to a very specific rule that they have to obey whether they are Olympic legend Simone Biles or a fresh faced newcomer just looking to get experience under their belt.

More than 10,000 athletes have descended on Paris for the 2024 Games, competing over a two-and-a-half week period across 329 medal events over 32 sports.

Those looking to secure gold spend their time at the Olympics living in the official Olympic Village, which lies roughly five miles north of the city centre across the three cities of Saint-Ouen, Saint-Denis, and L'Ile-Saint-Denis.

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The village has pretty much everything an athlete could want in their downtime.

We're talking free Costa Coffee shops and a French bakery.

There's also a games room where athletes can compete against each other in table football, air hockey, and on arcade basketball machines.

A hair salon is also on site for those wanting to get a freshen up before going before the international cameras during their event of choice.

Inside the Olympic Village (Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images))
Inside the Olympic Village (Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images))

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It hasn't been enough for some, though, with certain athletes voluntarily leaving the village and checking in to hotels.

Team USA tennis star Coco Gauff said she was the 'only one really left' in the village with her teammates already gone.

She said: "At first I was going to move, and then when I kept meeting all these amazing athletes staying in the village, and then Rafa [Nadal] is staying in the village.

"So I was like, if he can do it, I can do it. But I understand why my teammates left."

One of the restaurants in the village (Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
One of the restaurants in the village (Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

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The dorms in the village are pretty basic. You're usually put in a less than spacious room with another athlete from your team

For the Paris Games, there's also no air conditioning as temperatures go above 30°C with a 'geothermal cooling system' instead installed throughout the team accommodation.

Then, of course, there's the notorious cardboard beds.

But whether athletes leave early or not, there is a cut off where they have to say goodbye.

And it's not at the end of the tournament as some might be thinking.

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You have 48 hours to leave after your event is over with (Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)
You have 48 hours to leave after your event is over with (Zhao Wenyu/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Guidelines issued to athletes state that they must leave the Olympic Village 48 hours after their events have finished, either by early elimination or the end of the event itself if you get to the latter stages. And if they don't, they accreditation will be deactivated.

Olympic gold medallist Sam Quek explained this rule was originally introduced during the Tokyo Olympics in an effort to reduce the spread of Covid, but also applies in Paris.

He told Capital Breakfast: "Normally at the Olympics you stay at the village from the beginning to the end and everyone stays and then goes home.

“But for some reason this year they’ve remained in place the same rules they had in Tokyo. Because of Covid when they finished, they had to leave the village, reduce the spread, but they’ve brought that again to Paris and I’m so gutted for the likes of Tom Dean, the swimming guys, the divers.

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"As soon as they’ve finished this week, they have to leave the village and find their own accommodation. So their Olympic experience will be cut short."

Featured Image Credit: Zhao Wenyu / China News Service / VCG via Getty Images / Sarah Meyssonnier Pool / Getty Images

Topics: Olympics, Sport

Tom Earnshaw
Tom Earnshaw

Tom joined LADbible Group in 2024, currently working as SEO Lead across all brands including LADbible, UNILAD, SPORTbible, Tyla, UNILAD Tech, and GAMINGbible. He moved to the company from Reach plc where he enjoyed spells as a content editor and senior reporter for one of the country's most-read local news brands, LancsLive. When he's not in work, Tom spends his adult life as a suffering Manchester United supporter after a childhood filled with trebles and Premier League titles. You can't have it all forever, I suppose.

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@TREarnshaw

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