I Got to Tour the Olympic Village—This Is What I Saw
Answers about the condom situation incoming.
The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics are upon us, and the entire city is buzzing with delight… and so many questions. Can I still score tickets to any of the Games? Why was Colin Jost replaced as a commentator? And what is the Olympic Village actually like inside?
The first is unfortunately no, the second has a more in-depth explanation right this way, and the last we investigated ourselves. You’ve heard about all the sex and parties at previous Olympic Games, and with this year’s intimacy ban lift and choice by the IOC to distribute more than 300,000 condoms to the athletes (available in the resident centers and med clinics at the Village, for any 2024 Olympians taking notes!), it seems the City of Love is grounds for the most epic Olympic Village experience ever.
“They are competing so hard, so at the end of it all, they have the right to enjoy themselves and enjoy Paris,” empathized Laurent Michaud, director of the Olympic Village, to Cosmopolitan.
As Cosmo’s Olympics correspondent, I recently toured the Olympic Village to check out its really cool sustainability features and also ask all hard-hitting questions like “are they really anti-sex beds?” and “can I jump on one to test it out?” Here’s what I learned.
The Village had sort of a sleepy business district vibe pre-Games—which is actually a big deal since the area used to be a notorious “rough” zone—but things livened up quickly once the athletes started arriving in mid-July. The Village is equipped with enough rooms to house more than 15,000 athletes during the Games, a childcare facility, and all the International Olympic Committee requirements to make it an officialOlympic Village (i.e., a barbershop, nail salon, sports lounge, café, bank, food hall, etc.).
Courtesy of Kristy Alpert
The Village had sort of a sleepy business district vibe pre-Games—which is actually a big deal since the area used to be a notorious “rough” zone—but things livened up quickly once the athletes started arriving in mid-July. The Village is equipped with enough rooms to house more than 15,000 athletes during the Games, a childcare facility, and all the International Olympic Committee requirements to make it an officialOlympic Village (i.e., a barbershop, nail salon, sports lounge, café, bank, food hall, etc.).
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After the athletes leave town, the area is expected to become one of the most sought-after addresses outside the city.
Courtesy of Kristy Alpert
The Olympic Village was part of the Paris 2024 plan to be the “greenest-ever Games,” and so much of the project includes clever ways to create a mini town that won’t drain the grid (while also helping improve it).
In many ways, the Village is acting as a test lab for building eco-friendlier cities, like how they’re testing out giant air purifiers that filter out dangerous particles to clean the air. They even invented a new sustainable system for cooling or heating the rooms and laid the Village out in a way so the air hits the river before flowing through the streets, naturally cooling them.
Courtesy of Kristy Alpert
There are roughly 3,000 apartments and most come with a typical dorm-room style setup with shared bedrooms surrounding a common area and a shared bathroom. Each room has a nightstand, fan, and two single beds made from recyclable cardboard, which are super sturdy—believe me, I bounced on one to test it out.
These cardboard-style beds got a bad rap in Tokyo 2020 for being “anti-sex” beds, but this year, the beds are 100 percent made in France and have been tested to hold up to 12 “average men” at one time, which seems sturdy enough for at least a few Olympians. *Vive la France!*
Courtesy of Kristy Alpert
Unsurprisingly, Team USA took advantage of the BYO A/C policy because the rooms won’t have traditional air-con (hey, the Canadians brought their own too, and the Australians even brought their own baristas!).
Packing in a few comforts of home is normal in the Olympic Village, but unlike the last Olympics in Tokyo, no one needed to bring their own condoms because Paris 2024 supplied 300,000 (mainly Manix and Jacket brands).
May we all get so lucky as to enjoy Paris the way an Olympic athletes have this summer!