Paris Olympic Games 2024: Australian athletes kicked out to avoid boozy parties in bombshell ruling

Aussie athletes are at their best when given freedom to express themselves - and maybe party a little too - which makes this decision by the AOC absolutlely loony, writes Julian Linden.

Aussie athletes will be kicked out the village after 48 hours

• Magnussen: Ban is nonsensical and shameful

In a world gone mad, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) deserves a gold medal for loony decision making.

Despite the best intentions, the AOC’s plan to boot Australian competitors out of the Olympic village in Paris next year fails the pub test.

Australians love winners but the Olympics have always been about more than just medal tables or results.

It’s the characters that stay in the memory forever because the Olympics are the one global event where Eric the Eel, the Jamaican bobsleigh team and Steven Bradbury get to share the spotlight with Serena Williams, Michael Jordan and Lionel Messi.

The Olympics are part of Australia’s DNA and the AOC has always known that, but the stunning success of the Australian team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics has blurred the lines.

Because the team performed so well and helped unite the country during the misery of lockdown, the AOC, understandably, hopes to replicate that in Paris, but they are looking at it the wrong way.

Michael Klim of Australia plays the air guitar after breaking the Men's 4x100 Freestyle Relay World Record

The draconian rules that were used in Tokyo should be the exception, never the blueprint for the future.

If the AOC wants a model that works, they should use the template from Sydney 2000.

Not only did the Australian team collect a record 58 medals in Sydney - 12 more than in Tokyo - but they made people fall in love with the Olympics again by abandoning all the prudish rules that were killing the Games.

Instead of pomp and ceremony, Sydney’s Olympics were a 17 day celebration of decadence.

The wowsers and spoilsports were banished from sight so all Australians could let their hair down and poke fun at themselves while the world lapped it up.

These were the same Games where Australia’s swimmers played air guitars on the podium after beating the Americans and HG and Roy’s “fat-arsed wombat” became an unofficial mascot.

It was a raunchy party from start to finish but it didn’t detract from the performances of the Australian team or the carnival atmosphere.

If anything the Aussie team thrived by embracing the full Olympic experience and the current generation should be given that chance as well.

It is Paris after all. Ooh la la!

BOMBSHELL OLYMPIC BAN TO AVOID WILD BOOZY PARTIES

So much for the new Olympic motto of everyone sticking together.

Adopted just before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics when the world was in the grips of the global pandemic, the word ‘together’ was added to the official Olympic slogan of ‘faster – higher – stronger.”

It was a cute gesture to reassure everyone that everyone was dealing with the same problem and the biggest sporting festival on the planet would be the beacon of hope that things would eventually return to normal.

But not everyone got the memo.

In a baffling decision that will delight the woke mob and alarm everyone who thinks Australia is fast becoming a nanny state, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) is banning team members from staying in the Paris village once their events are over.

The AOC says there’s evidence to prove it’ll benefit the health and performances of the entire team because they won’t be distracted by any party goers but critics say it’s a heavy-handed approach that robs athletes of one of the best experiences of their lives.

“I think it‘s a real shame because for most people this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Australian Olympic swimming legend Giann Rooney said. “It diminishes the Olympic experience.

T\Australian athletes will be banned from staying to support their peers

“Because alcohol is banned in the village any parties all take place outside the village but there’s already plenty of noise and distraction because people are coming and going all the time.

“But that’s all part of the Olympics experience and it actually inspiring to see people walk around the village who have won medals. It gives everyone a lift.

“I‘m incredibly proud to be an Olympian and incredibly proud to say I swam at two Olympics, but a lot of the best memories I have are of getting dressed up and going and supporting my teammates.”

For the vast majority of Olympians who don’t win medals, those priceless few days of freedom inside the village represent a once-in-a-lifetime reward for all the blood, sweat and tears they have shed for their sport.

It’s the time when they get to let their hair down after years of hard training and rub shoulders with other elite competitors from around the world while cheering on their Aussie teammates still in competition.

The strict biosecurity measures that were used in Tokyo have been lifted for Paris but the AOC has now implemented its own regulations, effectively booting Aussie competitors out of the village after their last event.

“It‘s purely a performance based decision,” AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said.

“The learnings from Tokyo were absolutely positive that for the athletes who are competing in the second week, reducing the load on the village by athletes who have finished was positive for both their preparation and their health.

“We want all the athletes to be able to perform at their best, whether they have a medal chance or not, so it doesn‘t matter what sport you’re in.”

WHAT THE RULES MEAN

Under the new deal, Australian athletes will have to vacate the village within 48 hours of their events finishing, with some leniency for an extra 24 hours if they have a lot of equipment like sail boats.

They can choose to remain in Europe and attend the closing ceremony on August 11, but will have to pay their own costs for the period in between.

For some athletes, such as the men’s Rugby Sevens team whose competition ends the day after the opening ceremony, that could mean an eye-watering two-week bill, with three-star hotel rooms in the French capital starting around $600 a night.

“The athletes could take a holiday,” Carroll said. “They‘re free to do that.

“I’ve spoken to a few of the athletes and everyone understands it.”

“This is about performance. It’s not for the wowsers, we’re actually doing it for the athletes who are still competing.”

If athletes want to march in the closing ceremony it could cost them close to $10k to stay in Paris

AUSSIES LOVE TO CELEBRATE

Olympians are renowned for their wild celebrations, with Australians never far from the action.

Living legend Dawn Fraser was famously arrested at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics for her part in pinching a flag from the Japanese emperor’s palace.

At Rio in 2016, swim star Emma McKeon was initially banned from attending the closing ceremony for breaking the team’s strict curfew after a late night out with friends in Copacabana.

She was later allowed to march after the public called for officials to get off their high horses.

More recently, members of the men’s rugby and soccer teams were investigated following complaints they were intoxicated on the flight home.

Anticipating the biggest coming out party that sport has ever witnessed, Paris organisers are already planning to distribute up to half a million condoms and packets of lubricants to athletes inside the village.

The AOC insists it is a performance incentive but it will deny many the real Olympic experience

However, the boozy late-night parties will all take place outside the village, because strict rules already apply, banning music and anything that might disturb athletes still competing.

That doesn’t mean everyone follows the rules so each country makes its own decision about whether athletes can stay in the village after their events.

A lot of countries let them, but some of the bigger teams, including the United States, vacate rooms to free up beds for athletes competing in the second week.

The Australian Paralympic team has decided that all its team members will be permitted to remain in the village so they can all travel back to Australia together on a charter flight.

Before making its decision to split its team, the AOC board first sought the approval of the Athletes’ Commission, which includes some current Olympians who could be directly affected by the rule change.

Ken Wallace, who competed at three Olympics and won gold in canoeing at Beijing in 2008, is the deputy chair of the Athletes’ Commission.

He said it was a difficult decision to make but the majority of competitors will support it.

“The athletes’ voice was definitely heard,” he said.

“I agree that being in the Olympic Village is a part of the whole Olympic Games experience but I don‘t agree that it should outweigh performance.

“We all love a good larrikin, but we also want to be a respectful team.

“So while they may be kicked out of the village, they‘re not being kicked out of Paris or being kicked out of the Olympic environment.

“They can still go see other events and still be a part of that Olympic experience but we want to give every athlete that performance outcome and opportunity to compete at their very best without having any distractions around them.”