The Paris 2024 Olympic Village is a hive of activity and diversity, dreams and life stories, joys and sorrows, bringing together people from all over the world who practise sport and representing the most important multicultural gathering in the world, where interaction is constant as they compete in the thirty-third modern Olympic Games.

It is a living reflection of coexistence and the Olympic spirit in a huge "mini-city" spread over three different communes in Seine-Saint-Denis.

One of the most striking aspects of the Village is the presence of impressive delegations such as those from the United States, Australia and France, easily identifiable by the flags hanging from their balconies, alongside smaller delegations. From America to Oceania, with stops in Europe, Asia and Africa, not forgetting the North and South Pole, everyone is there.

Some of the smaller delegations are less visible. Security also plays an important role in the village. Israel has no external markings and keeps its doors closed, although its athletes wear uniforms like the others.

All delegations are housed in the same Village, except for those athletes who have opted out, such as the US basketball team, who preferred a central 5-star hotel for their athletes to rest in, due to the lack of air conditioning and very hard "eco-friendly" cardboard beds.

The United States and China are far apart. The same goes for the Refugee Olympic Team in relation to countries with exiles such as Afghanistan, Cuba or Iran. The rest are mixed together, as has generally been the case since the first Olympic Village was built exactly 100 years ago in Paris in 1924.

The small city has it all. From an official Paris 2024 merchandise store (with no price advantage over the one near the Place de la Concorde) to a Samsung store where every accredited athlete will receive a mobile phone. 

From 24-hour medical care, gyms, beauty and relaxation centres, virtual services and even a space for different religious practices. The 2024 Olympic Village has it all, including a free, alcohol-free bar for athletes to relax in their free time.

The use of bicycles is commonplace for getting around the vast Village, which spans three municipalities: Saint-Denis, Saint-Ouen and l'Île-Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris.

Some of the bikes are human-powered, while others are technology-assisted and can be seen all over the Village. The idea was for athletes to get around on bikes as part of an attempt to make the Village the most sustainable and environmentally friendly in history.

The Belgian delegation in particular stood out with their yellow bikes that could be seen everywhere. They didn't want to face the problem many athletes have of not finding available bikes, as Argentinean Olympic BMX gold medallist Jose "Maligno" Torres commented to his country's media: "The public bikes are not enough, so many athletes lock them up as if they were their own to prevent others from using them. Others take the bike away from those who do".

Although the organisation boasts an elite catering service managed by Sodexo Live, with 3,300 seats and 40,000 meals a day to meet the needs of more than 10,000 residents, with more than 500 recipes, including a selection of "gastronomic" menus served and imagined by star chefs such as Alexandre Mazzia and Akrame Benallal, the athletes do not share this view.

Nutrition is vital for top athletes, and the controversial decision to make it predominantly vegetarian with little animal protein "to be more sustainable" has not gone unnoticed. "We all have problems with the food here in the village because they keep serving the same meals over and over again. There are long queues. I'd say the organisation of the food is quite strange," Maica Garcia Godoy, who plays centre forward for the Spanish water polo team, told Catalunya Radio in Spain.

Argentine rugby sevens team coach Santiago Gomez Cora was equally critical of the organisation: "It's trendy now to have no proteins, and the food is vegan or plant-based or whatever, and there were no proteins. We waited 40 minutes for a hamburger or whatever meat they served. Waiting 40 minutes is a lot for an elite athlete."

"The truth is that the organisation was not good. The transfers were not good.It was 35 degrees and there was no air conditioning because of cost-cutting and environmental concerns, and the truth is you can't sleep in 35 degrees. The guys didn't sleep the first two nights. There were eco-friendly fans that cooled less than nothing," the Argentine coach complained on Argentine television after finishing seventh at Paris 2024.

"That's why a lot of stars probably won't come to the Olympic Village. Argentina's building had no water for a whole day. The hockey girls had to move to another building because the toilet was overflowing with excrement. We spent a whole day going to the toilets in the dining hall. It's amazing that high performance sports organisations have such standards," said Gomez Cora.

Returning to the subject of food, British swimmer Adam Peaty, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and eight-time world champion, was highly critical of the organisation of the third Olympic Games to be held on French soil.

"I like fish and people find worms in the fish. It's just not good enough," said the British swimmer in an interview published on Tuesday by the English newspaper and sports website i.

"In Tokyo the food was incredible, in Rio it was incredible. But this time... there weren't enough protein options, there were long queues, you had to wait 30 minutes for food because there was no queue system," Adam Peaty pointed out. 

"The sustainability narrative ends up punishing the athletes. I want meat, I need meat to perform and that's what I eat at home, so why should I change?" complained the 29-year-old swimmer, who was born in Uttoxeter.

According to The Times, the head of the British Olympic Association, Andy Anson, mentioned that they had to call in private chefs as a contingency measure. "There's a shortage of certain foods: eggs, chicken, certain carbohydrates, and then there's the quality of the food, with raw meat being served to athletes," Anson complained.

Echoing the Argentine rugby coach, Olympic gold medallist Italian swimmer Thomas Ceccon said, "There's no air conditioning in the village, it's hot, the food is bad. A lot of athletes move because of that. It's not an excuse, it's just a chronicle of what maybe not everyone knows."

The winner of the 100 metre backstroke was seen resting outside his room. His "bed" ended up being the ground in a park after he complained publicly about the accommodation. It could not be confirmed whether this was in the athletes' residence or somewhere in the city of France.

American tennis player Coco Gauff, ranked second in the world, not only complained but left the Village, claiming the rooms were "too small", as she noted in a TikTok video shared with her millions of followers.

Meanwhile, French swimmer Assia Touati expressed his concern about the lack of air conditioning, while Australian water polo player Matilda Kearns posted on social media that she had "already had a massage to repair the damage" from sleeping on a mattress. Multiple gymnastics champion Simone Biles also joined the controversy, using her TikTok account to say that the beds "suck", although she did mention that her team had been given extra mattresses.

In short, the list of disgruntled athletes would make this note endless in relation to what was thought to be a modern, progressive, sustainable and eco-friendly Village versus the reality experienced by the athletes who saw their sleep and nutritional routines affected.

Despite the problems, the athletes are trying to smile through the setbacks and taking the opportunity to visit iconic sites for photos, with the Olympic rings and the entrance to the dining hall building with flags from all the countries being favourite spots for athletes and staff to capture memories of their stay.

In their free time, some take advantage of the creative entrance to the Danish delegation, where there is a table for Lego building, an activity that has caught the attention of many athletes.

An unusual trend has also emerged from previous Games. A tattoo artist has set up shop in the Village and many athletes are opting for a permanent souvenir in the form of an Olympic rings tattoo.

As in life, everything mixes in an Olympic Games, and even more so in an Olympic Village, where athletes experience the pinnacle of glory or the frustration of defeat, without forgetting the great experience they have lived and will never forget.