While most athletes have to make do with cardboard beds and rooms without air conditioning in the Paris Olympic Village, dozens of lucky competitors are enjoying life on a luxury cruise ship 15,000 km (9,300 miles) away.
A number of surfers participating in this year’s Games are staying on the cruise ship Aranui 5 off the coast of the French Polynesian island of Tahiti, 45 minutes from this year’s surf venue in Teahupo’o.
Dubbed «the first floating Olympic village», the dual-purpose passenger and cargo ship can accommodate around 230 passengers in over 100 cabins.
It also features a Sky bar, ballroom, library, fitness room and a spa.
Many athletes have taken to social media to show off life inside the floating village, which has been described as a «party boat» and «better than Paris».
Sharing a glimpse of the ship’s interior, Japanese surfer Kanoa Igarashi revealed that athletes have access to a 24-hour dining hall, gift shop, tattoo parlor, private bedrooms and an activity area with a foosball table and table tennis.
«I think that our sports village in Tahiti is better than the current one in Paris», shared Igarashi in the video.
German surfer Tim Elter has also shown off the amenities, sharing a video of the stunning views from his cabin, with not a single cardboard bed in sight.
“We actually have real aluminum frames, as you can see there. They are strong and durable,” he said as he touched the bed frame.
«We got it better than the guys in Paris.»
Elter and Camilla Kemps have clearly been enjoying life at sea, sharing videos of themselves dancing to music on their balconies.
«Excitement through the roof», wrote Elter in a video of the couple on board the «party boat».
New Zealand surfer Saffi Vette also joined in on the fun, sharing a clip of herself hanging out with the German competitors as they blasted tunes.
«Stakes are high here in our floating Olympic village,» she captioned the video.
«When the Germans stand above you in the Olympic village… They tied a loudspeaker to a leg rope and passed it over your balconies,» she added in the clip.
The scenes are starkly different from those emerging from the Olympic Village in Paris, where athletes have complained about «anti-sex» cardboard beds, vegan food options and a transport system that has left many stranded as they try to reach venues. training and officials. Game locations.
Addressing sleeping arrangements on TikTok, Austrian water polo star Tilly Kearns said the bed was «rock hard», while a teammate said «my back is going to fall out».
US tennis champion Coco Gauff also shared a chaotic look inside Team USA’s living arrangements inside the village, revealing there are «10 girls, two bathrooms» in a TikTok video.
Recently, Austrian swimming champion Ariarne Titmus admitted that «living in the Olympic village makes it difficult to perform».
«It’s definitely not built for high performance, so it’s about who can keep it together mentally,» she said in an interview after the race.
Outside of the sleeping arrangements, the food options – which have been widely reported to be dominated by a vegan diet – have also come under fire.
Speaking of times, The chief executive of the British Olympic Association described the food as «inadequate», sharing Team GB have been forced to fly in their own chef to help prepare the meals.
«There’s not enough of certain foods: eggs, chicken, certain carbohydrates, and then there’s the quality of the food, with raw meat that’s served to athletes. They should improve it dramatically over the next couple of days.”
«Our athletes have decided they would rather go and eat at our performance lodge in Clichy, so we have to get another chef to come in as the demand is much higher than we thought it would be.»
Austrian swimming great James Magnussen weighed in on complaints coming from the village in an article for News Corp newspapers.
«From our sample size so far, this Olympics is showing that it could be one of the toughest environments we’ve seen to produce world record marks,» Magnussen wrote.
“The lack of world records comes down to this whole eco-friendly, carbon footprint, vegan first mentality rather than high performance.
«They had a bylaw that said 60 percent of the food in the village had to be vegan-friendly, and the day before the opening ceremony they ran out of meat and dairy options in the village because they didn’t anticipate that there would be so many athletes. . choosing meat and dairy options over vegan-friendly ones.”
«The food guy had to change their numbers and bring in more of those products because surprise, surprise — world-class athletes don’t have vegan diets.»
“It seemed that Paris wanted to be eco first, performance second at the Games. I don’t know if this is a political stance, or if it’s a cost stance, but I think in the future we have to look at other options because the Olympics is the highest sporting event in the world.»
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Image Source : nypost.com