On a bright and unseasonably warm February day, hordes of people gather four or five deep around the perimeter of the Olympic Village. The phones and selfie sticks are out, clutches of policeman keep a watchful eye, and the horses hoping for a glimpse of… something, at least, as no one seems to be going in or out bar police cars.
Luckily the athletes are largely spared feeling like they’re in a zoo, because there’s a walled perimeter around the Village and several control points intruders must get through in order to access the oasis that is the Village itself.
Once inside the vibe is different: the dismal rain of the last few days has stopped and athletes and staff are dotted around, reclining on sun loungers and milling about, looking for all the world like ordinary people and not world-class sports stars.
A group of Polish athletes take pictures of each other by the Olympic rings in a central plaza; I spot an Italian gymnast slumped on a beanbag chair and a young Taiwanese athlete grinning ear to ear as she tests her coach’s air hockey skills.
It’s a bright, leafy, airy space - and perhaps surprisingly corporate, with brand names emblazoned everywhere. There are umpteen different spaces to relax, from a Corona Cero plant shop (if you keep your plant alive until the end of the Games, you get a gift) to a dimly-lit Samsung gaming room. There are also mindfulness sessions and a DJ – although not at the same time.
Unlike at a Summer Olympics, Team GB share a building with other teams; France, China, Georgia and Latvia are essentially just down the hall. The 10 British athletes in Milan – figure, short-track and speed skaters – have a corridor to themselves. It’s got the feeling of a high-class uni halls, with an inviting lounge space far nicer than any common room.
Two rooms have birthday balloons stuck to the doors – figure skater Luke Digby and physio Callum are celebrating their birthdays on the day I visit – and Team GB’s Carly Hodgson says “We try to make it a home away from home”. Before the athletes arrived good luck cards from friends and family were already waiting on their windowsills, while each of the athletes and staff were given a bracelet with the Team GB symbol. Most of the decor in fact is GB merch, from flags in every room to the endless clothes each athlete is provided. And of course there are the 5,000 tea bags stashed in the kitchen.
The GB space features a physio room, presided over by doctor Victoria, and drawers and drawers full of medical equipment – 4.3km worth of surgical tape included. There’s also a stretching area and a corner with a well-used PS4; short track skater Niall Treacy says the lads in the squad all compete to record the fastest lap on a Silverstone simulator. “I went on the bike for an hour and a half and found my coach trying to beat my time,” he says.
Treacy is one of the lucky ones to have his own room; some of the others share, with rooms allocated based on who has early morning alarms to get to the ice rink, to avoid waking up those in action later in the day.
Everything has been thought of, from 120 spare pairs of snow socks to 310 plug adaptors.
For the athletes all that needs to be done is to settle in, relax, and then get themselves in the zone to compete when the time comes.
As at Paris 2024 pin-trading is a favourite pastime – ice dancer James Hernandez is said to have an impressive collection already – and Treacy says ruefully, “I got scammed by someone from Athlete365 [an IOC initiative], he asked if we could trade pins and then I found out my coach got one for nothing.”
But the 25-year-old is not too worried about the pins at the moment, with practice to get on with. Team GB cars and special Olympic transport are on hand to ferry them to the rink – and bring them back to this little haven at the end of the day.
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