The Olympic Village

Before 1924, athletes stayed in rented accomodation located around the host city, then for the first time in 1924 at the Paris Olympics a purpose built Athlete Village was built.

The Olympic Village or Athletes Village is a place where the athletes can get away from it all, relax and interact with other athletes from other nations.  A perfect place to put into practice the Olympic Values.

Id idea of the Olympic Village is also to cut down on travelling times for athletes going to and from their events, keeping them close to the venue.

In 1924 the first Olympic Village was the idea of Pierre de Colombes, it was situated close to the Stade Olympique de Colombes and was just wooden constructed cabins.

The first proper Olympic Village was constructed in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles for the 1932 Olympic Games.  The village consisted of hundreds of buildings, including post offices and telegraph offices, an amphitheatre, hospital, its own fire department and a bank.  However the female competitors were housed at the Chapman Park Hotel on Wiltshire Boulevard.  The village was dismantled after the games.

Nowadays the Olympic Villages are huge! Soetimes the size of a new suburb, with training and leisure facilities to ensure the comfort of the athletes.  Since 1972 at the Munich Games where a terrorist group called the Black September took hostage and finally murdered members of the Israeli team, extensive security measures have also been put in place.

For the London 2012 Games, the Olympic Village will house around 17,000 athletes and team officials.  The villages has extensive facilities including fountains, landscaped squares, hair salons, internet cafe, medical facilities, a disco, and a dinning hall that can cater for 5500 people open 24hrs a day.

After London 2012 Games is over the Olympic Village is set to become a lively residential area, featuring an education academy, community and health care facilities, parks and open spaces, along with benefiting from the new transport links as part of the whole Stratford City regeneration scheme.

Tags: London 2012, olympic village

Category: Olympics