Why athletes prefer to remain at Paris Olympics Village even after end of campaigns

New Delhi: Paris Olympics is not only an event to compete in, but have fun too once their involvement gets over, for many athletes.

Thus they prefer to remain in the Games Village when the Games rolls into the second week once their participation ends in the initial phase of their competition.

For many it is the love for other sports and a chance to get a ringise view of their favourite sports personalities.

As triathlete Morgan Pearson explained to the Associated Press: “I’m a huge track fan.” Hence he has stayed back after helping USA claim the silver medal in mixed relay race on Monday.

“I hope to go to some of those races. I’m a huge Olympic fan in general,” he said.

Roaming around like tourists

Without the pressure of competing, many like American sport climber Zach Hammer wants to enjoy the action and be a tourist in Paris.

Hammer’s participation ended on Tuesday and he now is eagerly awaiting for the business end of the track and field contests.

“I would definitely be excited to watch the men’s 200(-meter) with (Noah) Lyles. He’s one of my favourite athletes,” he told AP.

“I’m definitely excited to get the full Olympic experience, and I’ll go watch whatever there is to watch. It will definitely be cool to see Americans competing on the biggest stage.”

Similarly, American rower Jacob Plihal has stayed back once his campaign ended in the first week, keen to watch the handball action from close range.

“Hopefully I can watch a little handball if that’s still going, maybe 3×3 basketball,” he said.

“I don’t know what the schedules are. I’ve been focused on the racing but I’m excited to stick around and watch other sports, cheer Team USA on and get to know some athletes at the (Olympic) Village.”

Some like American sport climber Sam Watson is making the most of the down time to engage fellow athletes to play chess and click selfies with a member of every delegation at the Games.

Several women rowers of the American team were in the stands cheering the women’s basketball team in their game against Nigeria on Wednesday.

Learning new tricks

British sport climber Molly Thompson-Smith is keen to catch up on some relatively less popular sporting disciplines, learning the tricks of their trades.

Some have personal reasons too, like Lithuanian rower Viktorija Senkute, who won her country’s first medal at the Games last week but has stayed put to cheer for her boyfriend canoeist Simonas Maldonis.

As each athlete receives one free ticket each day from the International Olympic Committee or get them from their national associations, entry into events isn’t a problem.

The initiative of Paris 2024 organisers for athletes to connect with fans, interact with them and flaunt their medals in the first-ever Champions Park has also resonated well with athletes.

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