- Young athletes are documenting their experiences in the Athletes' Village at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
- Some players have pointed to problems with accommodation, including lack of beds, food and privacy.
- Tennis star Coco Gauff said on TikTok that 10 players have to share two bathrooms.
Some young Olympians have taken to TikTok to criticize their accommodations in the Olympic Village, citing poor food, uncomfortable beds, lack of privacy and limited common spaces.
The world's best athletes are gathering in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics, some of whom have chosen to stay in the Olympic Village, a residential complex with on-site training facilities, for the roughly three weeks of competition.
As the third day of the Olympics concluded, several players, including 20-year-old tennis superstar Coco Gauff, voiced some frustrations about their living conditions.
US player Gauff posted a TikTok video on Saturday pointing out how “10 women” were sharing “two bathrooms” at the facility.
She gives a brief glimpse into how hectic the space can get as she and other athletes prepare for the day's competition.
Representatives for the athletes mentioned in this article did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
“The bed is awful”
The Olympic Village was first established in 1924 to bring thousands of world-class athletes under one roof.
Since then, these establishments have acquired their own legends, including tales of never-ending parties and sexual adventures, beyond the iconic games themselves.
The athletes' villages, which change every year, have also come under criticism. At the 2012 London Olympics, athletes complained that the village had no air conditioning, and perhaps the worst in recent history was at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where facilities were slammed as “unlivable.”
While the issues raised in the Paris Olympic Village are less serious, young Olympians online have pointed out inconveniences in terms of living conditions.
Swiss rower Celia Dupré said in a TikTok post on July 23 that most countries' athletes were choosing hotels over the Olympic Village because it was far from the competition venues, despite organizers promising that athletes' accommodation would be within 25 minutes of the competition venues.
But the rower added that she was “not necessarily upset” about the change in accommodation, having found the cardboard beds in the village – which have attracted a lot of attention online – uncomfortable during her overnight stay.
“I stayed the night in the village and couldn't sleep,” she said in the video. “The cardboard box bed was as hard as a rock and really uncomfortable. And the Olympic comforter was really itchy and really hot.”
US gymnast Simone Biles said in another TikTok video that her “bed sucks” and that she was buying a mattress topper to improve it.
Cardboard beds have previously been used in the athletes' village at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. Several athletes have previously complained about them, but US fencer Katherine Holmes previously told Business Insider that they're not as uncomfortable as some have made them out to be.
90 degree heat with no air conditioning
Dupré also said the facility does not have air conditioning, but instead has a water-cooling system to keep the facility cool, with temperatures in Paris expected to reach the mid-90s this week.
While water-cooling systems are generally considered more efficient than air conditioning, there is no way to set a precise temperature, an Olympic official told The Washington Post. The rooms are equipped with thermostats that control the speed of the water flow, which reportedly allows the temperature inside to vary by just 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
Laurent Michaud, director of the Olympic and Paralympic Village, told The Associated Press last year that the cooling system should keep indoor temperatures between 73 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit.
The cardboard box beds and water-cooling system are part of the Olympics' sustainability efforts to reduce the Games' overall carbon footprint, according to the Associated Press.
“There's water in the walls to cool them down, but it was really hot. We were on the second or third floor,” Dupre said in the video. “I can't imagine there were people upstairs.”
U.S. track and field athlete Chari Hawkins pointed out the lack of privacy to get changed inside Village apartments in a TikTok post on Saturday.
“No curtains. No curtains. No curtains,” Hawkins repeated in the video.
As for a DIY solution, Hawkins suggested draping a large towel over the “very sticky” part of the window frame for some privacy.
“It really works perfectly, but I will say it has a time clock,” she said. “It's sticky and it will eventually fall off, so when I get out of the shower or get dressed, I put this on and I literally get dressed as fast as I can.”
“I want to eat a Chipotle bowl right now.”
Food in the Paris Olympic Village has also been a subject of complaints from athletes.
Zaria Allaz-Riburd, a track and field athlete representing the Caribbean island of St. Kitts and Nevis, posted a TikTok video on Friday in which she made a thumbs down gesture at food.
“Me every day since having to eat Olympic Village food,” she wrote, adding in the caption, “All jokes aside, I've lost 5 pounds in a few days. I want a bowl of Chipotle soon.”
An Olympics spokesperson did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
If you are an Olympic athlete or participant and have any tips, please call Lloyd Lee at (646) 768-1630 or lloydlee@businessinsider.com Because of his signal number.
