Village people
With more than 200 nations taking part, the summer Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world. Teams are starting to arrive in Japan ahead of the games and the 18,000 athletes and officials will be staying at the Olympic Village. The Olympic and Paralympic Village is “certain to become a focus point for the pandemic-affected games”, says ABC. Keeping athletes, journalists, sponsors, officials and millions of Japanese people safe will be “one of the greatest challenges major event organisers have ever faced”.
City within a city
Located on the Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo, the village is described as “a city within a city”, says CNN. In the residential buildings there will be 3,800 units, each of which can house two to eight athletes.
Food for fuel
Athletes won’t go hungry at the Olympic Village. The main dining hall is open 24/7 and there will be 700 food options on offer.
Sustainable sleeping
Inside the bedrooms the bed frames are made of cardboard and are “stronger than wooden beds”, said Takashi Kitajima, general manager of the Athletes Village. After the games finish the bed frames will be recycled into paper products and the mattresses will be recycled into plastic products, Associated Press reports.
Central hub
The Village Plaza will be the central hub of the 44-hectare athletes’ village and have a general store, café and media centre. The shopping area of the village features ATMs, dry cleaner, post office, bank and courier counter.
Let the games begin
Tokyo 2020’s opening ceremony will be held at the National Stadium on 23 July. The games will continue until 8 August. Japan’s capital city will then host the Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September.
