A photo was taken by Saudi rower Hussein Alireza and posted on his Instagram account, showing the gold medalist in the 100-meter backstroke and bronze medalist in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Italian Thomas Ciccone, lying on the ground to get some rest, referring to the location as the Olympic Village grounds.
Many believe that living in places designed specifically to host the world’s best Olympians is something that excites all athletes, but not so for the Italian swimmer, who previously complained about the “poor” conditions of the Olympic Village, describing them as “substandard”, despite winning two medals this week.
The Italian swimmer apparently decided that sleeping outdoors was much better than sleeping in a cardboard bed.
The 23-year-old swimmer has been vocal about his stay since losing the 200m backstroke final last Wednesday.
“There is no air conditioning in the village, it is hot, and the food is bad,” he told reporters.
He continued: “Many athletes move for this reason. It is not an excuse or an excuse, but it is the truth that perhaps not everyone knows.”
“I am disappointed that I could not reach the final, but I was very tired. It is difficult to sleep at night and in the afternoon. Usually when I am at home, I always sleep in the afternoon. Here I really suffer from the heat and noise.”
The Italian Swimming Federation clarified that the video and the photo in which he appears asleep have nothing to do with his previous comments about the Olympic Village, commenting that it was “just a nap,” also noting that the clip was filmed during the day.
However, he is not the only athlete to have criticised the conditions in the Olympic Village.
Team USA player Coco Gauff shared that one of her tennis teammates left the village after she found the quarterfinals “too bad.”
French swimmer Assia Touati recently said: “We didn’t have air conditioning in the bedroom but they installed it anyway because it was so hot.”
Australian water polo player Matilda Cairns also said she had “actually had a massage to repair the damage” caused by sleeping on the cardboard bed in the Olympic Village.
Source: unilad
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2024-08-05 18:16:59