Winter Olympics: This is what it’s like in Milan’s competition village

Winter Olympics start next week in Italy.

Top sports director of the Finnish Olympic Committee Janne Hänninen50, was already in Milan’s competition village on Friday.

Hänninen, who came to the scene in the “vanguard” of the Finnish Olympic team, spoke in a positive tone about the conditions in the Milan competition village.

“Everything is fine here. We have single and double rooms in the accommodation, and the rooms are clean. The beds are good, they are not cardboard at all, but the beds and mattresses are quite decent,” Hänninen reports by phone.

According to Hänninen, the accommodation buildings in Milan are new. He has been told that after the Olympics the premises will become a student dormitory.

Hännen’s in my opinion, the accommodation in Milan during the Olympics corresponds to the level of a basic class hotel.

“The rooms have appropriate washing facilities, and there is plenty of space.”

According to Hänninen’s experiences so far, the accommodation facilities are finished. So far, at least, he hadn’t noticed that, for example, the paints hadn’t dried or the fixed furniture hadn’t been installed.

“Everything is ready in the accommodation facilities.”

“The dining room is obviously temporary, and there seems to be a little lack of paint on the interior walls. But then I don’t know if it will even be painted on top of it – it doesn’t matter in terms of the whole.”

Hännen’s according to the athletes’ canteen in Milan is located 73 meters from the door of the Finnish accommodation crab.

“The food has been good at least so far. Food production will soon expand, which means it will be made for a much larger population when athletes start coming here. Now there are no athletes here yet,” Hänninen said on Friday morning.

Former speed skater Hänninen competed in the five rings of Turin in 2006, when the last Winter Olympics were held in Italy.

On Friday morning, he was training at the gym of the Milan competition village.

“The gym is the last one,” he said.

In addition to Milan, the Italian Olympics are spread over several different mountain locations.

“From the point of view of responsibility, it is good that existing competition venues are used. It is unlikely that we will ever get to a situation where there is only one competition village and all Winter Sports representatives would be able to get to the performance venues from it – but too much decentralization is not a good thing either,” Hänninen reflected.

“And I think about this specifically from an athlete’s point of view. That the athletes would get a little more of the feeling of the Olympics and see athletes from other sports,” he continued.

In any case, a better understanding of the functionality of the competition villages and the organization of the competitions will be gained only when the athletes get to the place.

Hänninen had not yet had time to visit the venues of the soon-to-be-started Olympics on Friday morning. From Milan, he planned to go to Bormio next, and during the Olympics he shuttled from one performance venue and competition village to another.

“Yes, there will be a lot of traveling,” he stated.