‘Rip off’: Aussie athletes furious at ‘unfair’ Paris Olympics rule

Australia’s top athletes are furious at a new rule for the Paris Olympics that’s been described as a rip off and transactional.

Australia’s top athletes are furious at a rule that will kick them out of the Olympic Village after their events are done and dusted in Paris.

The divisive new ruling approved by the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) last year means athletes will have to leave the Athletes’ Village 48 hours after their last event.

It’s a particularly harsh call for Australia’s swimmers, who compete in the first week of the Games and contribute the bulk of the nation’s medal haul.

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At the Tokyo Olympics, Australia’s swimmers won nine golds and 21 medals overall. The entire Australian team won 46 medals including 17 gold to finish sixth on the medal tally.

Australia’s swimmers are furious, especially since they traditionally cannot attend the Opening Ceremony because they need to stay fresh for the opening night of competition.

Aussie athletes returned home straight after their competition at the Tokyo Olympics and completed two weeks of quarantine during the Covid pandemic.

But there was hope they would get to stay for the duration of the Olympics this time around.

Several Aussie gold medallists told News Corp they were angry at the decision, describing it as a rip off that unfairly deprives them of the full Olympic experience.

“After you’ve worked so hard to go to the Olympics, to be removed from that entire environment as soon as you finish,” 400m freestyle world record holder Ariarne Titmus said.

“I just think that it’s a bit of a rip off.

“I completely understand the reasoning behind it that you want every Olympic athlete in the Australian team to have the best possible chance to perform the best they can.

Ariarne Titmus has spoken out against the rule. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

The sporting world will take over Paris this year. (Photo by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images).

“But not having Australian athletes in the Village isn’t going to remove the noise or the partying from every other athlete in the village from around the world.

“The Australian swim team are the major medal winners for our country. We don’t get to go to the opening ceremony because we’re racing the first day. Now we don’t get to the closing. We literally miss out on our Olympic experience other than racing.”

Kaylee McKeown, who won three gold medals in Tokyo, also criticised the village rule and said it was unfair for athletes and families who are already struggling to find accommodation in Paris.

“It does make me mad,” McKeown said.

“It makes a lot of athletes mad because we got that taken away from us because of a reason. And now there’s not really that Covid reason anymore. Just let us experience an Olympic Games.”

Kaylee McKeown won three golds in Tokyo and could win more in Paris. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

Champion rower Georgie Rowe added: “It’s just not fair, it’s not very nice.

“At the end of the day, like, we’re there to train and race and do our best and it just feels like you’re then spat out onto the street, like, ‘okay, here’s your entertainment, now move on.

“What are they expecting us to do, because we don’t have a lot of money and accommodation in Paris is really expensive.”

Speaking on Nine’s Weekend Today, Nationals leader David Littleproud described the village rule as “Captain Killjoy”.

“Give them the fun they deserve,” Littleproud said.

“This is sometimes a once a lifetime opportunity to go to the Olympics. And I think we’ve done well in years past the Olympics.

“Let them celebrate but also be part of the team. I think it’s part of being a team and if they haven’t got enough beds, send the coaches and some of the officials home.

“But these young men and women have worked hard for this. Give them a crack, let them party.”

3AW host Heidi Murphy said it was unfair on the swimmers who “do all the heavy lifting for us”.

“They are the champions in the first week that get us up the medal tally and what, we send them home straight after that,” she said. “It does seem unfair.”

There’s concern Aussie athletes won’t get the full Olympic experience. Picture: David Caird

The AOC said there wasn’t much they could do, because there were not enough beds in the village for the entire team.

AOC chief executive Matt Carroll said athletes would be allowed to return for the Closing Ceremony, but they would have to find their own accommodation in between and also buy their own tickets to watch fellow Aussies in action because there were no free tickets anymore.

“It was a decision for very good reasons as we’ve already said,” Carroll said.

“Whilst we appreciate the swimmers and their enthusiasm and so forth, not just for the swimming team, but all the other athletes too who are at the Games.

“We only have 474 beds in the village but to look after the sports and so forth we need 567. So we need people to come and go.

“So there’s that aspect of it, the village is smaller. The other aspect is the high performance one, which we’ve always said so that we can ensure that the athletes coming in the second week have the same support services that we provide to the athletes in the first week.”

The AOC says there isn’t much they can do. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Olympic silver medallist James Magnussen wrote in a News Corp column last year that “this feels like a transactional decision”.

“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,” said Magnussen.”

“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.

“They should be allowed to soak up every moment. Sending them home early just makes no sense.”

The Paris Olympics begin on July 26 and run until August 11.

Originally published as ‘Rip off’: Aussie athletes furious at ‘unfair’ Paris Olympics rule