Champion swim team to split up after Games, with Australia forcing them from the village

A swimming great has spoken out at the decision to kick Australia’s athletes out of the Olympic village and leave them facing the heartbreaking call of temporarily leaving the host city.

Outlandish hotel prices will force some big-name Australia’s swim stars to temporarily leave France after being kicked out of the Olympic village before they return for a final lap of honour.

In news revealed by this masthead, Australia has ordered its Olympians to leave the village 48 hours after their events finish in July’s Paris Games with an accommodation squeeze forcing the move.

The news went down badly with the swimmers but the athletes now accept they will be powerless to change the decision with Australian officials confirming they had been allocated 464 beds and have a team of more than 570 athletes.

Hotel rooms available in Paris during the Games are scarce and those that are left are averaging around $1200 a night, making late bookings a nightmare.

While the Australian swim team will not be finalised until next month’s Olympic trials, many swimmers have made tentative plans to leave Paris, and in some cases France, before returning to march in the closing ceremony.

At least one swimmer is considering going to Italy while others will head to England or the French city of Marseille.

Former Olympic gold medallist Duncan Armstrong, who attended Dean Boxall’s Paris-themed training session in Brisbane on Saturday, was disappointed by the decision.

Former Olympic swimmer Duncan Armstrong said he is disappointed with the decision. Picture: Liam Kidston

“Really disappointed - with Covid over I don’t know why we have to put up with that sort of stuff,’’ Armstrong said.

“I know it’s a room thing and a budget thing but I really feel for the athletes because that second week of the Games is a reward for all the pressure, the hard work and sacrifices it took you to get there. It’s for the hard choices you made.

“After that second week you feel totally rewarded when you got home. But to not get that week in the village … I think it is a real shame, a wrong turn.’’

Fellow gold medallist Susie O’Neill said: “It’s a hard one because in a role as an official which I have been, I can totally understand why they are shipping everyone out because not everyone fits in the village.

Australian swim legend Susie O'Neill isn’t a fan of the swim team leaving the Olympic village early, but understands why the decision was made.

“But as an ex-swimmer I am disappointed for them because I actually think there is a lot of pressure on the swimming team. Literally how they perform is how the Australian team are perceived at the Olympics because that is where the majority of the medals come from.’’

At the last Olympics in Tokyo, Australians swimmers won nine gold and 21 medals overall while the team won 46 in total including 17 gold.

“It is really disappointing they will have to leave - I remember being 18 in 1992 and going to the soccer with Angus Waddell in the second week - but if I was in Anna Meares role (Chef de Mission) I would have done the same thing,’’ O’Neill said.