Gold medallist Thomas Ceccon was spotted taking a nap in a Paris park after complaining about the conditions at the Olympic village in Paris.
Italian swimmer Ceccon won gold in the men’s 100m backstroke this week despite claiming ‘it’s hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon’ at the athletes’ accommodation, which has failed to impress this year.
‘There is no air conditioning in the village, it’s hot, the food is bad,’ he said. ‘Many athletes move for this reason: it’s not an alibi or excuse, it’s the reality of what perhaps not everyone knows.
‘Usually, when I’m at home, I always sleep in the afternoon: here I really struggle between the heat and the noise.’
Now, an image 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 Husein Alireza spotted Ceccon napping on a towel in a park and posted a snap of the bizarre image on Instagram. He tagged the Olympic Village grounds as the location where the Italian had a snooze.
It remains unclear whether the picture was taken before or after Ceccon and Italy were eliminated from the men’s 4z100m medley heats.
Thomas Ceccon was spotted sleeping in a park instead of inside the Olympic village
Ceccon has complained of the appalling conditions on offer for athletes in Paris
After defending her Olympic gold medal in the 400m freestyle, Aussie swimmer Titmus felt she could have broken the world record had she been staying in better accommodation.
‘It probably wasn’t the time I thought I was capable of, but living in the Olympic Village makes it hard to perform,’ she admitted in an interview after the race.
‘It’s definitely not made for high performance, so it’s about who can really keep it together in the mind.’
The beds in the Olympic Village have been the focus of controversy for their lack of comfort and their ‘wokeness’.
The single beds, produced by Airwave, feature cardboard frames as part of the organisers’ sustainability efforts.
The ‘anti-sex’ cardboard beds went down like a lead balloon with Aussie water polo star Tilly Kearns and teammate Gabi Palm, who said ‘my back is about to fall off’ after their first night.
Tennis star Daria Saville also revealed that the village is nothing like being in a hotel in a social media post on Tuesday.
‘We don’t really have hotel-like housekeeping here in the Olympic Village, so you have to get your own toilet paper,’ she wrote in a caption alongside video of herself grabbing several rolls.
It comes after retired Olympic swimmer James Magnussen took a swipe at the Olympics, claiming that the so eco-friendly stance is ruining athletes’ chances of setting world records.
Magnussen won gold, silver, and bronze medals at the Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016.
He also secured the title of 100m freestyle world champion in 2011 and 2013. Magnussen retired from competitive swimming in 2019.
He believes that the pinnacle sporting event in the world has an eco-friendly, vegan-first mentality that is damaging performance.
‘There’s multiple factors that make village life far from ideal,’ the dual Olympian wrote in his News Corp column.
Italian star Ceccon won gold in the backstroke despite living in the athletes village
‘It’s the cardboard beds, which can’t give you optimal sleep.’
‘It’s the no air-conditioning, which is going to play a bigger factor as the week goes. It was 20 degrees and raining yesterday. It’s going to be mid 30s in the coming days.
‘That’s going to play a factor and the Australian team having their own portable air conditioners will be a welcome relief.
Magnussen believes they’ve gone overboard and that the environment that has been created for the athletes might be the toughest ever to produce world record swims.
‘The lack of world records boils down to this whole eco-friendly, carbon footprint, vegan-first mentality rather than high performance,’ he said.
