GAMES LIKE NO OTHER

Village life for this year’s Olympic athletes will be very different thanks to the pandemic

- DENNIS CAVERNELIS

FASTER, higher, stronger – it’s the famous motto of the Olympic Games and it encapsulates the pursuit of perfection all elite athletes strive for when they take part in the greatest sporting spectacle on earth.

But in order to perform at their peak they need a good night’s rest, wholesome meals and some space for a bit of R&R too. Which is where the athletes’ village comes in – and the sprawling homefrom-home for the crop of sportspeople taking part in Tokyo 2020 is the embodiment of Japanese slickness.

Games organizers recently unveiled the village where Olympians and officials will spend a month working out, eating, relaxing, and sleeping during an Olympics that, thanks to the pandemic, will be like no other.

Strict measures will be imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 – including the absence of condoms, which were freely available in villages at other Games to encourage safe sex among athletes keen for some action of a different kind.

Safety, sustainability and recycling are the buzzwords at the heart of Tokyo 2020’s waterfront village, which occupies 14 hectares of reclaimed land – about the size of 13 rugby fields – on Tokyo Bay.

The enormous complex includes 21 apartment buildings between 14 and 18 stories high with a total of 3 800 residential units, which can each house two to eight athletes.

The village also has plenty of shops, a park, and a school, as the complex will be converted into residential housing after the Games.

Tokyo is expecting 15 400 Olympic and Paralympic athletes from 200 countries for the Games, which kick off on 23 July.

The village, which was built at a cost of $486,5 million (R6,89 billion) will also house nearly 5 000 officials.