Olympian surfer reveals shocking reality of staying aboard floating Olympic Village
Topics: Olympics, News, World News
Gerrard Kaonga
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/Buda Mendes/Ed Sloane
Topics: Olympics, News, World News
A Peruvian surfer has highlighted the ‘fun’ perks athletes in Paris might be missing out on in their Olympic village.
In case no one told you, there are multiple Olympic Villages, and the big surprise is one of them is nowhere near Paris. Yep, a 2024 Paris Olympic Village thousands of miles away... from Paris.
As the river Seine isn’t exactly the best spot for surfing, the Olympic surfing competitions have been held in waters off the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.
The more you know right.
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Peruvian surfer Lucca Mesinas has been outspoken about how much he has enjoyed staying in the luxurious Aranui 5 cruise ship while competing. This massively contrasts with some athletes who haven’t been so keen on this year’s accommodation in the main Olympic Village.
Nevertheless, there is one thing he's complained about.
Speaking to TMZ, the 28 year-old said: “We had good food, we had ping-pong, things to do over there.
“We were allowed to leave the boat anytime to go to surf. It was pretty fun anyway.”
According to the ship's website, it can accommodate about 230 passengers in over 100 cabins, with eight guest decks, a spa and gym.
Sounds like these athletes were living it up on the cruise ship between events. Now THAT sounds like the ideal way to bring out your best ahead of your competition.
And to twist the knife just a little bit more for the athletes in the French capital, Mesinas spoke about how much he loved his room, especially the bed.
This is a massive contrast following the introduction of ‘anti-sex’ beds made out of cardboard, which has been among the complaints of athletes over the last few years
He continued: “The room was pretty nice, the bed was really nice too, the only bad thing was that the boat was moving a lot like every day.
“Because there was a lot of wind and waves it was kind of difficult to sleep sometimes.”
The two-time Olympian, who lost in the second round of the Men’s competition last week, might have another Olympic sport he could pick up in his back pocket.
He said he and the other athletes took great advantage of the ping-pong table aboard during their downtime.
“I’m pretty sure we were [the best], the Peruvians,” he told the outlet. “As surfers, every time we travel, we play ping-pong all the time. I’m not amazing at it, [but] all the team is pretty good at it.”
Guess we’ll have to keep an eye on Mesinas for the next few years to see if he wants to make his table tennis debut in the Olympics.