- James Magnussen says Paris Games are ruining performance
- He says that ecological measures are affecting athletes
- Athletes from many countries have complained about the conditions
Retired Olympic swimmer James Magnussen has criticised the Paris Olympics, saying they are so green that they are ruining athletes’ chances of setting world records.
Magnussen won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. He also claimed the world championship title in the 100-metre freestyle in 2011 and 2013. Magnussen retired from competitive swimming in 2019.
He believes that the world’s most important sporting event has an ecological and vegan mentality that harms performance.
“There are many factors that make life in the village far from ideal,” the double Olympian wrote in his News Corp Column.
‘It’s the cardboard beds that don’t give you an optimal night’s sleep.
“The lack of air conditioning will be a big factor as the week progresses. It rained yesterday and was 20 degrees. In the next few days it will be 35 degrees.
‘That’s going to be a factor and the Australian team having their own portable air conditioners will be a welcome relief.
“The buses were packed with people and had no ventilation. You had to walk a lot to get everywhere. The only thing we noticed in London was that I walked between 6,000 and 7,000 steps a day, from my room to the dining room, the bus stop and the swimming pool.”
James Magnussen (pictured) says the eco-friendly and vegan mentality in Paris is ruining athletes’ chances of breaking records
Many athletes have complained about cardboard beds (pictured)
Paris Games organizers have been aggressive with their green approach, calling the event the most sustainable ever.
Magnussen, however, believes they have overstepped their bounds and that the environment created for the athletes could be the toughest ever created to produce world swimming records.
“The lack of world records is due to this eco-friendly, carbon footprint and vegan-first mentality, rather than high performance,” she said.
‘They had a letter saying that 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 hadn’t anticipated that so many athletes would choose the meat and dairy options over the vegan-friendly ones.
‘The caterer had to readjust their numbers and bring in more of those products because, surprise, surprise, world-class athletes don’t have vegan diets.
Vegan replacements have been offered to athletes such as a ‘not dog’ (pictured) which is made from plant-based materials.
Magnussen believes the Paris Games should prioritise performance
“You must have seen the Netflix documentary Game Changers and assumed they were all the same. But let me tell you, Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Roger Federer, none of them are on a vegan diet.”
The conditions in the Olympic village have already surprised the Australian contingent.
The “anti-sex” cardboard beds came crashing down like a lead balloon on water polo star Tilly Kearns and her teammate Gabi Palm, who said “my back is about to fall off” after their first night.
Tennis star Daria Saville revealed in a social media post on Tuesday that the village is nothing like being in a hotel.
“Here in the Olympic Village we don’t have a cleaning service like a hotel so you have to get your own toilet paper,” she wrote in a caption alongside a video of herself holding several rolls.