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Olympic Village

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Clockwise from the top—Olympic villages of Rio de Janeiro, Innsbruck, Munich and Mexico City Olympic Games

An Olympic Village is a residential complex built or reassigned for the Olympic Games in or nearby the host city for the purpose of accommodating all of the delegations. Olympic Villages are usually located close to the Olympic Stadium within an Olympic Park.[1]

Olympic Villages are built to house all participating athletes during the two weeks of the Games, as well as officials and athletic trainers.[1] After the Games are over, the Olympic Village is typically sold or rented to the local population and turned into a new residential zone for the host city.

The accommodation provided for the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles is considered to be the first official modern Olympic Village,[1] and the first permanent Olympic Village was established at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.

After the Munich massacre at the 1972 Olympics, the Villages have been made extremely secure. Only athletes, trainers and officials are allowed to room at the Village, though family members and former Olympic athletes are allowed inside with proper checks. Press and media are also barred.

History

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The Olympic village for the 1924 Paris games

For the first editions of the modern Olympic Games, between 1896 and 1920, there were no official living arrangements for athletes. Some athletes stayed in hotels or hostels, others in schools or barracks, and some even slept in the boats they had taken to the host city.[2]

The prototype for the Olympic Village comes from Pierre de Coubertin, then president of the International Olympic Committee. The "General Technical Rules" applicable to the 1924 Summer Games in Paris stipulated that "The Organising Committee for the Olympic Games is required to provide the athletes with accommodation, bedding and food, at a fixed rate which shall be set beforehand per person and per day…."[3]

As result, the organizers built wooden huts and established an accommodation centre near the Stade Olympique de Colombes called the "Olympic Village," allowing the various world teams to stay in the same location, under the same conditions, and with common services.[3]

Consideration was given to creating an Olympic Village ahead of the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, but the organizers opted for other solutions.[3]

Athletes assisting in the construction of the 1932 Olympic village, (left to right) Frank Wykoff, Vic Williams, Levi Casey, Bob Hall, Herman Brix, Hector Dyer and Buster Crabbe.[4]

The accommodation provided for the 1932 Summer Games in Los Angeles is considered to be the first official modern Olympic Village, with a capacity of 2,000 people and located to the west of the city.[1][3] Consisting of a group of buildings with rooms to lodge athletes (men only), as well as providing a place to eat and train, it serves as the model for today's Olympic Villages. It also provided certain community services for the first time, including a hospital, a fire station, and a post office.[2]

Following the 1932 Games, a Village would be created for every edition of the Summer Games, apart from the 1948 London Games due to material challenges brought on by the immediate post-war period. For the Winter Games between 1924 and 1956, the teams would still mainly stay in hotels, with the exception of the 1952 Games in Oslo, where three accommodation sites were created.[3]

Women, on the other hand, stayed in other accommodation sites until 1952. This changed with the Melbourne Games of 1956, where women had their own part of the main Olympic Village.[2] This area of the Village would not admit male athletes, and it was only from the 1984 Games in Los Angeles onward that athletes were accommodated by team rather than gender.[3]

The first permanent Olympic Village was established at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland.[3]

After the Munich Massacre at the 1972 Olympics, the Villages have been made extremely secure.

2024 Paris

[edit]
The French building in July 2024
The village under construction
2024 Olympic Village under construction.

The beds at the 2024 Olympics were made out of cardboard and featured modular mattress sections, which enabled the mattress to be customized and recycled after the event.[5] The mattress sections, which use neither foam nor springs, could be selected in firmness from soft to harder. Some athletes did not sleep well and were given an additional mattress topper, nevertheless the issue of Olympic village beds made international news and were the subject of widespread media interest.[6][5] Beds with a cardboard frame previously debuted at the 2020 Tokyo games in 2021.[7] The beds, despite being made of cardboard are noted for their sturdiness and recyclablity, in addition, they were designed with colorful Olympic themed bedding, with words such as "Paris 2024, and on the frame " Rêvez vos exploits de demain", or in English, “Dream about your achievements of tomorrow.” [8] The 2024 Olympic Village was the first to feature a kids/nursery area for those with small children or babies.[9]

There was also reports that some rooms in the 2024 were too warm and lacked ventilation and cooling.[10] Other concerns were directed at the food in the Olympic Village and privacy level.[11] The cafeteria featured several styles of food including French, Asian, Caribbean, and others, with chocolate muffins going viral,[12] but there was some concerns about the amount of food of certain types being available.[13] Overall conditions were compared to communal living in a college dormitory, with small rooms and shared bathrooms.[11] The Olympic village hosted up to 14 thousand athletes and coaches for two weeks, with an eye for sustainability; after the event the buildings will be converted to office space and apartments.[11]

At the surfing competition events held in the South Pacific, the Olympic Village was a cruise ship, in the 2024 games.[14]

At the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, organizers distributed 300,000 condoms to athletes, staff, and members of the press in the Olympic Village to promote comfort and enthusiasm among the more than 14,000 residents. This tradition of distributing condoms at the Olympics dates back to the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and has since seen a significant increase in quantities distributed, reaching 450,000 condoms at the Rio Olympics in 2016.[15][16]

List of Olympic Villages

[edit]

Prototype complexes:

  • Athens 1906 (Intercalated Games): The Zappeion, which was used during Athens 1896 as the main Fencing Hall, was used in 1906 as a (not purpose-built) Olympic Village.[17]
  • Paris 1924: In Paris in 1924, a number of cabins were built near the stadium to house visiting athletes; the complex was called "Olympic Village".[18]

Official Olympic Villages

  • Los Angeles 1932: An Olympic Village was built for the first time in Baldwin Hills, occupied by male athletes. It consisted of several hundred buildings, including post and telegraph offices, an amphitheater, a hospital, a fire department, and a bank. Female athletes were housed at the Chapman Park Hotel on Wilshire Boulevard.[19][20][21]
Berlin Olympic village of 1936
  • Berlin 1936: About 145 one- and two-story apartment buildings, Haus der Nationen refectory, Hindenburghaus theater, a hospital, an indoor arena, a swimming pool and a sauna in Wustermark about 9.5 kilometres west of Berlin. Used as barracks for over 50 years, the buildings are partially ruined. A men's residence has been restored under the name "Jesse Owens house".
  • Helsinki 1952: The first Olympic Village, Olympiakylä, was constructed in the Käpylä district of Helsinki for the planned 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II. Another Olympic Village, Kisakylä, was built nearby for the 1952 Olympics. Kisakylä couldn't accommodate all athletes so other villages were also designated for instance in Otaniemi and the Santahamina military base. Both Olympiakylä and Kisakylä areas are listed by Docomomo as significant examples of modern architecture in Finland.[22][23]
Helsinki Olympic Village of 1952.
  • Melbourne 1956: The area in Heidelberg West, Victoria, where the athletes stayed is still called "Olympic Village". After the games, athlete residences were used for public housing. The area now consists of a sports center, a primary school, shopping strip, a community health centre which also houses a registered training organization and a legal service.
  • Squaw Valley 1960: Four identical three-story apartment buildings, two of which still stand, modified into condominiums.
  • Rome 1960: consist of 33 buildings with two, three, four and even five floors.
  • Innsbruck 1964 and 1976: A two phases housing buildings at Neu Arzl Olympic Village district.
  • Tokyo 1964: Main village in Yoyoki, with 4 other satellite village in Tokyo.[24]
  • Mexico City 1968: 904 apartments distributed in 29 multi-story buildings in the Miguel Hidalgo Olympic Village Complex.
  • Munich 1972: Multiple buildings of 25, 22, 20, 19, 16, 15, and 12 stories, used now as Olympic Village student housing.
Montreal Olympic Village of 1976.
Salt Lake Olympic Village of 2002, now used as student housing.
London Olympic Village of 2012, now part of East Village
Rio de Janeiro Olympic Village of 2016.
2020 Tokyo Olympics Village of 2020.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Competing and being part of the Games Archived 2023-05-11 at the Wayback Machine." 2021 International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  2. ^ a b c The Olympic Museum Educational and Cultural Services. 2013. "The Modern Olympic Games Archived 2023-04-29 at the Wayback Machine." The Olympics Museum. Retrieved 2023-04-28.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g "Olympic Summer Games Villages from Paris 1924 to Tokyo 2020 Archived 2023-04-29 at the Wayback Machine." The Olympic Studies Centre. 2022 June 20.
  4. ^ "As East and West Prepare for Olympic Classic at Los Angeles Next Summer". The Pittsburgh Press. 1 May 1932. p. 25. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Simone Biles reacts to Olympics cardboard beds that many have complained about: They 'suck'". TODAY.com. 2024-07-29. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  6. ^ Kurzius, Rachel (2024-07-30). "The cardboard Olympic beds aren't 'anti-sex.' But are they comfy?". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  7. ^ By Alana Wise , Maquita Peters. "Cardboard beds have returned to the Olympics. What do they do? July 25, 20245:05 AM ET". NPR.
  8. ^ "Diver Tom Daley shows off Paris 2024 Olympic Village's cardboard beds". Yahoo Sports. 2024-07-22. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  9. ^ Tan • •, Nicole (2024-08-03). "'Motherhood and elite sports can coexist': The first Olympic nursery supports athletes with children". NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  10. ^ Schad, Tom. "Some Olympians are complaining about cardboard beds. Frederick Richard brought his own". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  11. ^ a b c Whitehead, Jacob. "Cardboard beds, no curtains, inedible food... welcome to the Olympic village". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  12. ^ "What is the Olympic chocolate muffin and why did it go viral?". RNZ. 2024-08-15. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  13. ^ "Inside 'dreadful' Olympic Village - 'sex fests on eco cardboard beds and tasteless food'". Yahoo News. 2024-08-05. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  14. ^ "Cardboard beds and a cruise ship: Olympic athletes settle in to their new digs". Yahoo News. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-08-14.
  15. ^ Timsit, Annabelle; Ables, Kelsey (2024-03-19). "Sex is back at the Olympic Village: Paris will hand out 300,000 condoms". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  16. ^ O'Kane, Caitlin (2024-03-18). "Paris Olympics lifts intimacy ban for athletes and is stocking up on 300,000 condoms - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-20.
  17. ^ "The Zappeion Exhibition Hall over time". The Zappeion Megaron Hall of Athens. Archived from the original on 2008-09-21. Retrieved 2008-11-11.
  18. ^ "Olympic Village (village, Olympic Games) - Encyclopædia Britannica". Britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-28. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  19. ^ 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Athlete's Village in the Baldwin Hills Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed November 12, 2007.
  20. ^ 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Athlete's Village in Baldwin Hills Archived 2012-04-26 at the Wayback Machine, Accessed November 12, 2007.
  21. ^ "1932 Los Angeles Olympic Athlete's Village - Baldwin Hills- Baldwin Hills Information". Archived from the original on 2020-12-08. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  22. ^ "Olympiakylä – Olympic village". Docomomo Suomi Finland ry. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  23. ^ "Kisakylä – Olympic 1952 Village". Docomomo Suomi Finland ry. Archived from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved March 8, 2014.
  24. ^ "選手村" (in Japanese). 日本オリンピック委員会. Archived from the original on 2021-06-21. Retrieved 2021-07-03.
  25. ^ "Barcelona 1992 Official Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008.
  26. ^ "The Olympic and Paralympic Village". Paris 2024. 11 March 2019. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  27. ^ Dennien, Matt (2021-07-28). "First look at Brisbane's 2032 Olympics athletes' village". Brisbane Times. Archived from the original on 2021-08-09. Retrieved 2021-08-09.

[1]

[edit]
  1. ^ "Paris 2024 Olympic Village: Location, Map & Complete Guide". Sporting Tribe. Waleed.K. 29 July 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
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