Paris, France, July 23, 2024: “Fantastic”, “very nice and quiet” and “it’s coming alive” were just three descriptions of the Olympic Village from Asian National Olympic Committees during a media open day on Tuesday, July 23.
The village is located near the St-Denis Stadium on the outskirts of Paris and is distinctive with its low-rise accommodation and the river Seine running right through the middle.
“I think it’s very nice and quiet and is good for the athletes. They can take a rest in between training and competition,” said Han-Jhen Liou, a member of the Chinese Taipei Olympic Committee’s therapy team inside the village.
When asked for her overall impression of the village, Mongolia NOC’s Bayartuya Bayarsaikhan was in no doubt.
“Fantastic,” she said. “The dining hall is huge with a variety of choices from World, Asia and France. They will provide the right kind of meals for everyone.
“For me, the Hangzhou Asian Games and Paris Olympic Games are doing very well. The quality and standard is high, and it will be difficult for other games to follow.”
Sri Lanka NOC’s Hiruni Munasinghe was busy setting up the office inside the Sri Lanka HQ building and awaiting the arrival of the six-strong team of athletes.
“The rooms are very nice, with two athletes per room, and we have plenty of space to set up the office. Just walking around the village, I can feel it’s coming alive,” she said.
The village’s international zone includes a press centre, café, village plaza with official merchandise store, convenience store and village square with a big-screen TV.
Inside the residential zone there is a fitness centre and mindfulness zone, laundry, polyclinic and multi-faith centre. Two rows of colourful flags line the path to the dining hall, but there is no flag plaza in the international zone as the organising committee is not holding team welcome ceremonies.
The Singapore team leaders all signed the Truce Wall, which will be on display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne after the Games.
Her colleague, Dulguunbayar Uuganbayar, added: “The village is very attractive because every building is a different design.
