Gold medallist Thomas Ceccon was spotted taking a nap in a Paris park after complaining about the conditions of the Paris Olympic village.
Italian swimmer Ceccon won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke this week despite saying “it’s difficult to sleep both at night and in the afternoon” in the athletes’ accommodation, which has not impressed this year.
“There is no air conditioning in the village, it is hot, the food is bad,” he explains. “Many athletes travel for this reason: it is not an alibi or an excuse, it is the reality of something that perhaps not everyone knows.”
‘Normally, when I’m at home, I always sleep in the afternoon: here I have a hard time between the heat and the noise.’
Now, a picture that has gone viral on social media has shown Ceccon, who went viral for his good looks during a medal ceremony, taking extreme measures to get some rest.
Saudi rower Hussein Alireza spotted Ceccon sleeping on a towel in a park and posted a photo of the bizarre sight on Instagram. He tagged the Olympic Village grounds as the spot where the Italian had taken a nap.
It is unclear whether the photo was taken before or after Ceccon and Italy were eliminated from the men’s 4x100m medley heats.
The 23-year-old joined Coco Gauff, Ariarne Titmus and Assia Touati in complaining about the accommodation provided by Paris organisers.
Thomas Ceccon was seen sleeping in a park instead of inside the Olympic village
Ceccon complains about the poor conditions offered to athletes in Paris
After defending her Olympic gold medal in the 400m freestyle, Australian swimmer Titmus felt she could have broken the world record had she stayed in better accommodation.
“It probably wasn’t the moment I thought I was capable of, but living in the Olympic Village makes it difficult to perform,” he admitted in an interview after the race.
“It’s definitely not built for high performance, so it’s about who can really hold it together in the mind.”
The beds in the Olympic Village have been the focus of controversy due to their lack of comfort and their ‘wokeness’.
The single beds, produced by Airwave, feature cardboard frames as part of the organizers’ sustainability efforts.
The “anti-sex” cardboard beds came crashing down like a lead balloon on Australian 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 also revealed the village is nothing like being in a hotel in a social media post on Tuesday.
The athletes have been given cardboard beds during their two-week stay in France
“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.
This comes after retired Olympic swimmer James Magnussen criticised the Olympics, claiming that the green stance is ruining athletes’ chances of setting world records.
Magnussen won gold, silver and bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.
He also won the 100-metre freestyle world championship title 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.
Italian star Ceccon won backstroke gold despite living in the Olympic village
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“It’s the cardboard beds that don’t give you optimal 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.
Magnussen 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.
