Turn on the TV later this month and you’ll see the Olympics in full swing, with athletes flipping through the air, kicking through the water and sprinting down the track, among other spectacular feats. And the momentum is only set to continue with the Paralympics, which begin on August 28.
But when the cameras aren’t rolling, what goes on behind the scenes in the legendary Olympic and Paralympic Villages? Athletes eat, sleep on cardboard beds, play Mario Kart, train and recover, and socialize with friends and idols, all while preparing for one of the biggest events of their lives, celebrating and grieving. Here, we hear more from 12 athletes who know it best about what they’re really going through.
The atmosphere is generally bright and quite intense.
“It’s such an exciting, global, vibrant community. Everybody is excited and happy to be there. It’s like, ‘We’re in the Olympics. This is our dream.’ There are athletes from all over the world, all walks of life. It’s so cool.”Helen MaroulisA wrestler who won a bronze medal in Rio 2016 and a gold medal in Tokyo 2020
“It’s crowded! It’s ironic that we think of the Olympics as an elite sporting event that only a select few can attend, yet there are thousands of people in the Athletes’ Village. At the same time, it’s so much fun and feels so special.”—April RossA beach volleyball player who won a silver medal in London 2012, a bronze medal in Rio 2016, and a gold medal in Tokyo 2020.
“In the Athletes’ Village you really experience the Olympic and Paralympic spirit. Everyone there is a top athlete, proud to represent their country, excited about competing and excited to meet other people.”—Nicky NievesVolleyball players who won gold medals in Rio 2016
“It’s chaotic. Usually the marathon comes towards the end of the program, so there’s a real festival atmosphere, and then there’s a very serious, I’m focused on the biggest event of my career. “It’s a great atmosphere and it’s a tough balance to strike, but it’s fun. It also brings together all the top, elite athletes in the same place, so you appreciate the variety of body types that are represented in the sport. You realize that athletic ability doesn’t have to look like one thing. It’s very diverse.”—Des LindenMarathon runner who competed in London in 2012 and Rio in 2016
“When I walked in, I felt like I was in a superhero village. The fastest people, the strongest people, everyone lived there. They are real-life superheroes in terms of their strength and physical abilities.”Marta Penn FrietasA middle-distance runner who represented Portugal in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
But things aren’t always going well.
“There’s not much talk about the post-competition pressure in the Olympic Village. You work so hard for one moment of your life – 10 seconds for 100m, four minutes for 1500m – and it’s like, this just happened, this moment is over. And sometimes people feel heavy because things didn’t go their way. Not everyone wins in the Olympics. So the party energy is very high, or very low. The in-between energy is very rare.”Penn Frietas
The restaurant has all the food you could want and it draws a lot of people.
“The cafeterias are otherworldly. In Tokyo they were two stories high; in Rio they were the size of a football field. There’s every type of food you can imagine. People watching is also fascinating. I distinctly remember a Chinese gymnast in Rio carrying trays filled with nothing but pineapples, one on top of the other. Then I saw a giant weightlifter carrying five giant trays of food. It’s fascinating.”Cat HolmesA fencer who competed in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020
