Olympic athletes are raising concerns about the “unreasonable” living conditions in the quarantine facilities in Beijing, citing inedible meals and a lack of training equipment.
“My stomach hurts, I’m very pale and I have huge black circles around my eyes. I want all this to end. I cry every day. I’m very tired,” wrote Russian biathlon competitor, Valeria Vasnetsova after sharing a picture of her meal on Instagram, according to the New York Post. The meal, which she claims she was served for “breakfast, lunch and dinner for five days already,” consisted of plain noodles, charred meat and no vegetables.
“My bones are already sticking out,” she wrote, adding she ate all the fat on the day she posted instead of the meat “because I was very hungry.”
Vasnetsova also claims that Olympic athletes are being treated worse than others in the quarantine facilities. When picking up the food left outside her door, she took a glance at the boxes left outside other rooms in her corridor, whose doors were labeled with signs to distinguish Olympians from other people working at the Games who tested positive, such as team staff. Her team doctor, living two floors below her in the facility, had fresh fruit, a salad and prawns with broccoli. “I honestly don’t understand, why is there this attitude to us, the athletes?!” she wrote, according to the New York Post. (RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Calls On American Athletes To Stay Silent During Olympics In Beijing)
Belgian skeleton racer Kim Meylemans also took to Instagram to voice her frustration with the quarantine situation. After testing positive upon her arrival in China, Meylemans was moved to an isolation facility where she expected to be able to leave and continue strict protocols in the Olympic Village after three days and multiple negative PCR tests, the South China Morning Post reported.
View this post on Instagram
Instead of being moved to the Olympic Village, Meylemans was taken by ambulance to another nearby facility for seven additional days of isolation, prompting her to release a tearful video of her ordeal on Instagram which spurred the International Olympic Committee to intervene on her behalf. (RELATED: ‘Our Athletes Are At Risk’: Nikki Haley Goes After Biden As China Warns Athletes Against Speaking Out)
After three-time gold medalist Eric Frenzel tested positive, German delegation head Dirk Schimmelpfennig slammed the “unreasonable” living conditions in the quarantine facilities, demanding larger, more hygienic rooms, and more regular food deliveries so athletes who are eventually released are still fit to compete, according to ABC News.
Just days after her critical Instagram post, Vasnetsova was delivered a better meal to her room which consisted of salmon, cucumbers, sausages and yogurt. Russian biathlon team spokesperson Sergei Averyanov stated that a stationary bike will also be delivered soon, according to AP News.
“Vasnetsova is already smiling, and that’s the main thing,” he wrote.