Rio Olympics 2016: Australian athletes issued list of booze rules
AUSTRALIAN Olympians have been issued a list of rules around drinking — including a zero-tolerance alcohol ban inside the athletes’ village — in Rio.
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AUSTRALIAN Olympians have been issued a list of rules around drinking in Rio.
Australian Olympic bosses say they are determined to enforce a zero-tolerance alcohol ban in the athletes’ village.
But chef de mission Kitty Chiller says celebrating athletes can still drink outside the village — as long as they do so in moderation.
Chiller said yesterday the alcohol policy introduced in 2013, under which athletes could be sent home if they are drunk in the Olympic village, had now been altered.
Now dubbed the “responsible behaviour directive”, and signed by Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates, it is intended to ensure that no athlete is distracted by loud and drunken compatriots returning to the village.
Athletes are in breach of that code if they display behaviour which includes:
SWAYING, staggering or falling down.
BEING disorderly or argumentative.
HAVING rambling conversations.
ANNOYING fellow team members.
Chiller said yesterday she believed she could find the balance between a crackdown and becoming the “fun police”.
“I put the (village alcohol ban) out there early and now we don’t hear anything more about it,’’ Chiller told the Herald Sun.
“It is probably better to remind people about it. It was never meant to be a ban on alcohol (outside the village).”
At the London 2012 Olympics, many athletes who were competing during the second week complained about loud or drunken athletes returning to the village from celebrating.
In Rio de Janeiro, athletes competing in the canoe sprint, mountain biking, BMX modern pentathlon and triathlon will all have to wait until deep into the second week of competition for their events.
The AOC has threatened to send athletes home for serious breaches of the code. But Chiller said she wouldn’t boot athletes out just for having a few beers outside the village.
“No, absolutely not,” she said. “The village is a competition venue, and it has to be 100 per cent performance-focused from the second we start up until the last gold medal match on that last day.
“I don’t care if you are Bronte and Cate Campbell swimming for a gold medal on night one, or the Boomer going for gold at 3pm on day 16 — everyone deserves a performance-based environment in the village,” she said.
Originally published as Rio Olympics 2016: Australian athletes issued list of booze rules
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