- Ariarne Titmus has shared her experience in the Olympic village
- The Australian swimming champion was not happy with the living conditions
- She said her roommates had to make a roll of toilet paper last four days.
Olympic athletes were forced to share one roll of toilet paper between four people and were not provided with clean sheets in the athletes’ village.
Australian swimming champion Ariarne Titmus made the shocking revelations during her guest appearance on The Project on Thursday night, where she was asked to reveal her experiences inside the controversial lodge.
“The village is not as glamorous as people think,” she said. “The bathroom in my apartment was bigger than the living room for the four of us.”
Paris organisers came in for huge criticism during the two-week sporting bonanza for the living conditions provided to athletes, with comfort sacrificed for what some described as a “woke” environmental policy, which meant stars had to sleep on cardboard beds.
The lack of comfort was too much for Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon, who abandoned his cardboard bed for a nap in the park towards the end of the Games.
But it wasn’t just the flimsy beds that irritated the athletes, Titmus revealed there were issues with cleanliness and bathroom supplies during their stay.
“They changed our sheets after the first night we were there and then they didn’t change them for the rest of the time we were there, so we were living in filth,” said Titmus, who previously attributed his failure to break the 400-meter freestyle record to the living conditions within the village.
“We had to lie about being roommates in order to get toilet paper rolls. If you ran out of toilet paper, you were given one (roll) for four days for the whole apartment.”
Ariarne Titmus has revealed that athletes had to share a roll of toilet paper for four days
Titmus’ comments come after British swimmer Adam Peaty claimed athletes found maggots in the food they were provided with.
“The catering is not good enough for the level expected of the athletes. We have to give our best,” He told the newspaper i.
‘In Tokyo the food was amazing, in Rio it was amazing. But this time (…) there weren’t enough protein options, there were long queues, you had to wait 30 minutes for food because there was no queuing system.’
He added: “The sustainability narrative has just been hammered against athletes. I want to eat meat, I need meat to perform and that’s what I eat at home, so why should I change?” Peaty added.
“I like fish and people find worms in it. It’s not good enough.
‘The standard, we’re seeing the best of the best in the world, and we’re not giving them the best.
“I just want people to improve in their roles and jobs. And I think athletes are the best sounding board for that.”
However, Titmus praised the Australian Olympic Committee for creating a homely atmosphere in his section of the village.
“As Australians, the AOC looks after us very much,” she said.
‘I think the best part was our baristas, we had two baristas who probably worked the hardest in the small Australian district and I was excited to go every morning and have a coffee.
“They fixed everything and we felt at home. We ate Australian food, Tim Tams, chocolates, everything.”
