"Doubt the likes of Rafael Nadal will be staying in Olympic village" - Tennis fans appalled by living arrangements for athletes at Paris Olympics 2024

Daria Saville recently vlogged about the Olympic Village in Paris ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, the living arrangements for athletes at the Village, as captured by Saville in the vlog, left tennis fans appalled. The fans were particularly critical of the beds, with some opining that high-profile tennis players competing at this year's Games were likely to opt for other stays instead of living at the Village through the duration of the prestigious event.

The Olympics Village for the 2024 Olympics spans the Parisian communes of L'lle-Saint-Denis, Saint Quen, and Saint-Denis. It has been designed to accomodate upto 14,250 athletes over the course of the Games, and 8,000 athletes during the Paralympic Games.

Following the conclusion of the Olympics, the Village is set to become a neighborhood of the French capital with 2,500 new homes and dedicated spaces for shopping, offices, and gardens.

Recently, former WTA World No. 20 Daria Saville shared a vlog, taking viewers into the living arrangements at the village. Tennis fans on X (formerly Twitter) took notice of the vlog post, and proceeded to criticize the organizers for what they perceived as subpar living arrangements for the athletes who are slated to compete at the Games.

One set of fans suggested that tennis players like Rafael Nadal would not accept the arrangements. For Nadal, who won Olympic Gold medals for Spain across singles and doubles categories in 2008 and 2016 respectively, the 2024 edition of the Games is set to be his swansong at the prestigious event.

"The Olympic village always looks so cheap. Tiny rooms in cramped apartments with cardboard beds and one crap open storage unit. And one bathroom between 4 rooms. I doubt the likes of Nadal will be staying in the village," one fan wrote.

"I was thinking this yesterday - imagine training for 4 years, going to every length imaginable to reach your very best level for the Olympics, then you turn up & have to sleep on a cardboard bed in a tiny apartment w 3 other people? and you're expected to perform your best in.. ..those conditions! can't imagine anyone is getting a good night's sleep. although i know that Team GB have a lodge where the athletes can go and have a nap if they want, I imagine other countries have the same," another fan commented.

"Top tennis players used to 5* presidential suites watching cardboard beds," another fan chimed in, followed by a combination of emojis suggesting that the players would be crying after seeing the arrangements.

Another set of fans took potshots at the organizers for the living conditions on offer for athletes at the Village.

"I don't know, I always imagined the Olympic Village to be a bit more luxurious than that," wrote a fan.

"One toilet for 4….," commented another fan.

"The beds are cardboard to stop the athletes from humping each other no?" asked a fan hilariously.

Rafael Nadal insisted earlier this year that he would do his best to partner the high-flying Carlos Alcaraz at Paris Olympics 2024

Rafael Nadal (L) and Carlos Alcaraz (R) at The Netflix Slam (Source: Getty)

The legendary Nadal will make his last appearance at the Olympics this year, with one of the major talking points in the buildup to the Games being the former World No. 1 pairing up with younger compatriot Carlos Alcaraz to play doubles.

The two athletes have been on different trajectories so far this year. On one hand, Nadal, who has struggled with injuries since the beginning of the 2023 season, is racing against time to reach peak fitness. On the other, Alcaraz is heading into the Games having won back-to-back Major titles at the 2024 French Open and the 2024 Wimbledon Championships.

Earlier this year, following Alcaraz's French Open title triumph, Nadal had expressed his desire to be at his best for the sake of being a "good partner" for Alcaraz.

"I'm going to try to arrive as well prepared as possible. I haven't played doubles for a long time, but Carlos is in a fantastic moment after winning in Paris, so I will try to arrive as best as possible and as prepared as possible to be a good partner for him," Nadal said in June, shortly after Alcaraz's French Open success.

In a bid to be best-prepared for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Nadal is currently competing at the Nordea Open in Bastad, Sweden. The former World No. 1 is so far undefeated at the ATP 250 event, and has reached the singles final, where he is set to face Nuno Borges.

Nadal also featured in doubles action with Casper Ruud, with the duo reaching the semifinals before the Spaniard withdrew from doubles to focus on the singles final.