Olympic gold medallist spotted sleeping in a park after complaints about the Olympic Village

05 August 2024 , 15:52

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Olympic gold medallist spotted sleeping in a park after complaints about the Olympic Village

Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon has complained about the Olympic Village and took matters into his own hands by taking a nap in a park, having won a backstroke gold medal

Gold medal winning swimmer Thomas Ceccon was spotted napping in a park in Paris after complaining about conditions in the Olympic Village.

Ceccon has won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke and bronze in the men’s 4x100m freestyle at this summer’s games but was outspoken over the "bad" living conditions after failing to qualify for the men’s 200m backstroke final on Wednesday. 

"There is no air conditioning in the village, it’s hot, the food is bad," Ceccon complained. "Many athletes move for this reason: it’s not an alibi or excuse, it’s the reality of what perhaps not everyone knows.

"I’m disappointed that I didn’t make the final but I was too tired. It’s hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon. Usually, when I’m at home, I always sleep in the afternoon: here I really struggle between the heat and the noise."

And Ceccon now appears to have taken matters into his own hands after Saudi Arabian rower Husein Alireza shared a clip of the Italian taking a nap in a park with the caption: "Rest today, conquer tomorrow".

Ceccon is one of several athletes who have voiced their complaints about the Olympic Village, with Australian swimmer Ariane Titmus criticising the living conditions after winning the women’s 400m freestyle.

"It probably wasn’t the time I thought I was capable of, but living in the Olympic Village makes it hard to perform," Titmus said. "It’s definitely not made for high performance, so it’s about who can really keep it together in the mind."

Ceccon won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke ( Image: DBM/Insidefoto/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

Romanian table tennis player Bernadette Szocs, meanwhile, told the Guardian: "There is no air conditioning, just this fan and it is not enough. Somehow we were lucky that it was not so hot outside so we didn’t need it so much but it is now hot and you can feel it is too hot in the room. 

"[The fan] is not powerful enough and when it is pointing at you it is good but after it is turning you don’t feel it. We are sleeping with the door open in the night. The rooms are small and we are two persons."

Sophia Martinez