Sprinter Noah Lyles Spotlights an Inequity Between Countries Inside the Olympic Village
While Team USA continues to rack up the medals in Paris, track and field superstar Noah Lyles revealed some hard truths about life in the Olympic Village.
Lyles, 27, who exclusively spoke to Us Weekly via his partnership with Tide, said the scorching temperatures in France — where it’s expected to reach 99° on Tuesday, July 30 — have made for some uncomfortable living conditions for athletes.
“Most of the Village does not have A/C,” Lyles said via Zoom from Paris. “Thankfully, Team USA has bought air conditioning units. But I heard that was limited to a certain amount of countries. So it wasn’t that they didn’t want to buy, it’s that they didn’t have the option to do it.”
Lyles continued, “So that’s very interesting to hear.”
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Us Weekly reached out to the International Olympic Committee for comment but has not heard back.
On the other hot topic inside the Village — the infamous “anti-sex beds” — Lyles confirmed “the beds are hard.”
“But they have given us this foam that we can turn around and make softer or harder,” Lyles added. “It’s not that effective, but it’s something. Some athletes have brought in mattress toppers. That does make everything better.”
Despite some other horror stories about life inside this year’s Village — which included every American women’s tennis player, other than Coco Gauff, moving to a hotel due to less-than-stellar accommodations — Lyles argued things weren’t all that bad.
“I’ve enjoyed the little common areas that they have. They have these nice grab-and-go places,” Lyles said. “They’ve made their own bakeries all over the Village. There’s probably 17 of them. If you don’t want the food from the cafeteria, you can grab a burger, an egg sandwich, a croissant or a pastry. Hot chocolate, tea, all those drinks are easily accessible at any moment.”
Lyles continued, “Of course there’s always going to be some bad and situations that are not as pleasant, but that’s my scenario with the Village that I’ve had.”
As one of the biggest stars in Paris, Lyles acknowledged that he’s been having a difficult time adjusting to fame — and even other Olympians in the Village following his every move. “I’m learning on the fly,” he said.
“I already have my set rules,” he explained. “I don’t take pictures while I eat, I don’t take pictures when I’m with my girlfriend and I don’t take pictures when I work out. Other than that, everything is pretty fair game. I don’t have a problem with that.”
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Lyles’ girlfriend, Junelle Bromfield, is also in Paris on the hunt for gold. Bromfield, 26, will represent Jamaica in the 4x400m relay, an event that earned her a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
After arriving in Paris ahead of last week’s Opening Ceremony, Lyles doesn’t officially hit the track to compete until the men’s 100m gets underway on Saturday, August 3. Luckily, his new partnership is coming in clutch in the Village.
“I go through so much laundry, I’m gonna need Tide,” Lyles said. “I mean, I’m a track and field athlete. Just yesterday, I was training and my coach was talking about the stains on my outfits. Olympians get stains, too! We all need to wash our clothes.”
Lyles and 10-time Olympic medalist Carl Lewis came together for Tide’s 2024 Summer Olympics campaign called “Stains Happen to the Best of Us,” which can be viewed here.
