Rafael Nadal explains why he opted against following Novak Djokovic’s Olympic village decision
Rafael Nadal admits he wanted to “live the full experience” of life in the Olympic village, saying it “didn’t make sense to stay in a hotel” as tennis players spend most of their careers staying in hotels.
Having missed the 2020 Tokyo Games, Nadal found himself back on the Spain tennis squad for the 2024 Paris Games and he opted for the whole shebang as he – along with the rest of the Spanish squad including Carlos Alcaraz – decided to stay with fellow athletes in the village, which is situated north of the French capital.
However, many high-profile athletes often opt to stay in hotels for security reasons and privacy as the biggest names in sport are often chased around by fellow athletes for photos and autographs.
Since arriving in Paris, Alcaraz – in particular – has often found himself the centre of attention with fellow athletes often stopping him to ask for selfies.
Novak Djokovic, meanwhile, has been one of those who decided to stay at a hotel as he “learned from previous Olympic experiences” when he stayed in the village. The 24-time Grand Slam winner felt it was important to stick to his regular routine in order to “perform my best”.
The Serbian had a similar experience to Alcaraz at the Tokyo Games as every man and his dog wanted to get a picture with him.
Following his second-round defeat to Djokovic at the Paris Games, Nadal opened up about his decision to stay in the village, saying: “I think to live the full experience you need to be in the village, that’s true.
“Of course for us it’s a little bit [less] comfortable and we are used to staying in hotels or houses with the things probably more comfortable than how the things are in the village but, I mean, when you are in the Olympics I think playing in an Olympic Games without being in the village is like playing another event.”
The tennis great added: “So it’s only once every four years and for me, personally, don’t make sense to stay in a hotel. We stay in a hotel every single week.”
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As Nadal alluded, life in the Olympic village is not always comfortable with women’s world No 2 Coco Gauff admitting that several of her team-mates have “fleed” as they have opted to move to hotels in Paris.
“10 girls, two bathrooms. #olympicvillage,” she said in a video and later added: “All the tennis girls moved to a hotel except me. So now just five girls, two bathrooms.”
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