Why aren’t Team GB’s cyclists staying in the Olympic village?
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You may have already noticed from the Instagram videos, but when a British cyclist wins a medal at the Paris Olympics, they receive a guard of honour back at the team’s lodgings. They walk over a Team GB mat, and into a wide room, clad with Union Jacks. It doesn’t look like the cramped apartment blocks of the Olympic village. That’s because it isn’t.
While many of Team GB’s athletes are staying in the village, the majority of the cycling squad is staying out of town, in a hotel near Versailles.
According to the squad’s performance director, Stephen Park, this is for “logistical” reasons.
“At this Games, as with a number of sports, many of our key cycling venues are situated outside of Paris, so it makes logistical sense to stay in closer proximity to them, as well as giving our riders easy access to road training.”
The Olympic village is located northeast of the French capital, in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis. Most of the cycling events have taken place southwest of the city, with the mountain bike course in Élancourt, and the velodrome and BMX racing track in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, both 20 miles away from the village.
The only members of Team GB’s cycling squad who did stay in the village were the BMX freestylers. Their events took place in Place de la Concorde, at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées, only six miles away.
When Kieran Reilly won his silver medal in the freestyle park, he planned to celebrate back at his shared accommodation. “There has been a little dessert bar at the village I’ve been looking at all week, so I’m going to treat myself to one of them,” he smiled.
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In addition to the logistical reasons cited by Park, staying outside of the village also means GB’s cyclists can isolate from other athletes, with the fear of Covid still present. The squad can likewise bring in their own chefs, rather than rely on the food in the village, which swimmer Adam Peaty claimed is contaminated with worms.
“The catering isn’t good enough for the level the athletes are expected to perform,” Peaty told the i. “I like my fish and people are finding worms in the fish. It’s just not good enough. The standard, we’re looking at the best of the best in the world, and we’re not feeding them the best.”
Team GB’s residence in the Olympic village is adorned with flags.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Park said GB’s cycling squad are still “great advocates for the Olympic movement”, and have enjoyed staying in the village in previous editions of the Games. He added that the British Olympic Association [BOA] has been “incredibly supportive” of the squad’s decision to stay outside of the village.
“[The BOA] worked hard to create a high-quality performance environment for our athletes, to support them in delivering their best performance while also feeling connected to the wider Team GB,” Park said.
“It‘s really nice,” said GB track cyclist Ethan Hayter. “We’ve got a hotel to ourselves, surrounded by the British cyclists and support staff. Everyone can relax together and wind down.”
GB’s cyclists are not the only ones sleeping away from the village. Many of those riding in the track events this week are staying near the velodrome, with some in official hotels provided by the Olympics in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines. The French squad have been put up in a large château.
Team USA’s basketball players have been staying in a four-star Marriott hotel in central Paris. According to a report in the Daily Mail, this is so they can sleep in longer, sturdier beds, rather than the cardboard ones in the village.
