Paris: At the Tucker Box Bistro it’s “Taco Tuesday” and Australia’s finest athletes are gathered around, just shooting the breeze, ahead of what might be the greatest fortnight of their lives. Just around the corner there’s another group with a barista serving up the types of flat whites that you’d expect in Brunswick or Balmain. You can grab one of these before or after jumping into an ice bath, routinely kept at a chilly 15 degrees, in the Rainforest Recovery Centre or book a massage via the team app on your phone.
Australia’s athletes are making themselves at home in the athletes’ village in Paris. Credit: Eddie Jim Welcome to the Paris athletes’ village Australian-style, where most of the 460 athletes who’ll wear the green and gold over the coming few weeks will call home. It’s a seven-storey apartment block where the windows of the lower floors sport images of Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef and more than 5000 pieces of artwork submitted by 300 schools.
On the outside banners reading “Australia”, “Merci Paris” and “Allez Aus” are draped across the balconies. There’s an endless supply of Weet-Bix, Nutri-Grain, Vegemite, frozen meals and overnight oats. It’s basically a Woolworths Metro (they in fact have supplied the stock) on hand for anyone who feels peckish.
They have enough coffee for around 20,000 shots and 10,000 muesli bars in storage. More than 1.4 tonnes of cereals was sent from Australia, 3200 kilograms of tuna and 340kg of.