Australia Olympic Committee kicking athletes out of the village is shameful and ridiculous

The decision to kick Australian athletes out of the Olympic village straight after they finish competing is a farce. It destroys the ethos eof being a team, writes James Magnussen.

image of the biggest moments in Oly pic sport

The Australian Olympic Committee needs to reconsider its decision to ban athletes from staying in the village after they finish their events in Paris.

As an athlete who has competed at two Olympics, I strongly believe that everyone who makes the Australian team in Paris deserves to have the full Olympic experience, and that includes staying in the village for the closing ceremony and supporting their teammates.

Being an Olympian is not just about winning medals. It is a rare achievement that deserves to be properly celebrated – no matter what result they achieve.

Most athletes only ever get to one Olympic Games, so just making the team is the reward for a lifetime of hard work. They should be allowed to soak up every moment. Sending them home early just makes no sense.

Speaking as a swimmer, this feels like a transactional decision.

Swimmers already can‘t go to the opening ceremony because we start competing the next day, so they wheel us in, with no opening ceremony, straight into the competition pool, and always with very lofty expectations.

Emma McKeon, Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris and Cate Campbell celebrate goldnin Tokyo

And the moment we‘re finished, rather than letting our hair down and relaxing and celebrating and feeling like we’re part of the greater Australian Olympic team, you get kicked out of the village and on your bike.

I know they are saying you can still go to the closing ceremony because there’s an option to stay around Paris, but based on what my friends and family have told me about trying to find affordable accommodation in an Olympic city, their chances for Paris are Buckleys and none.

So what they’re really doing is making the Olympics just like another competition rather than the special once-in-a-lifetime experience that generations of Australian athletes have had before.

That’s missing out on a big part of the mystique of the Olympics and being able to support your teammates and meet athletes from other countries. They should never take that away.

Something that was really pushed on us towards the back end of my career was how important it was for everyone to support other athletes in the Olympic team, whether it was going to the basketball to support the Boomers, or going to soccer, beach volleyball or whatever.

Celebrating your wins and backing your teammates is part of the Olympic experience

This is a really important part of being in the Australian team because when it‘s an Olympics on foreign soil, some of our athletes have very little crowd support so it’s important that we’re there for them.

It’s not just about parties, although there are plenty of those. A lot of athletes also have commitments to their major sponsors so they need to stay around to fulfil corporate and any other obligations as well as meeting fans and family.

But if they have to leave the village and pay for their own accommodation that’s going to be a huge financial strain and for some, it will be financially impossible so athletes should be given a choice of whether they want to stay in the village or go straight home.

The other thing that needs to be taken into account is athlete wellbeing.

Because athletes invest so much physical and emotional energy into the Olympics, those extra few days in the village and the chance to go to the closing ceremony are a great way to unwind after what’s been a stressful, hard four years.

Putting things into perspective is a big part of it. After that week of racing, there’s so much pressure and expectation and it’s so intense that you need time to kind of process things after the competition is finished, no matter what the result.

That’s the gold standard for Olympians because that’s the time when you can really recognise what you’ve been able to do and it would be a great shame for athletes to have opportunity taken away.