Spartan but comfortable quarters

LONDON – If you’re not an accredited athlete or coach or official in a country delegation, you won’t be allowed to enter the Athletes Village which is in the 200-hectare Olympic Park in East London unless you’re given a guest pass good for only a day up to 9 p.m.

The other day, Philippine chef de mission Manny Lopez provided a day pass so we could visit the quarters reserved for the country’s delegation of 11 athletes, coaches and officials. The exact location of the Philippine quarters is Samphire Heights Building, Seaside 2, Block F, on the corner of Honour Lea Avenue and Napa Close. For the Philippines, there is one suite with three single bedrooms on the first floor and six units with three double bedrooms each on the third level which is exclusively for the delegation. In all, administrative officer Arsenic Lacson said the provision is for 30 beds in seven suites or units.

The units aren’t luxurious but quite comfortable and reasonably spacious. The estimate is every athlete has a floor space equivalent to 16 square meters. The Village has 3,300 apartments and 17,320 beds. In the Philippine quarters, the roommates are weightlifter Hidilyn Torres and long jumper Marestella Torres, swimming coach Pinky Brosas and weightlifting coach Tony Agustin, 5,000-meter runner Rene Herrera and track coach Joseph Sy, boxer Mark Anthony Barriga and coach Roel Velasco, swimmer Jasmine Alkhaldi and archer Rachelle Anne Cabral-de la Cruz, ABAP executive director Ed Picson and BMX cycling coach Jason Richardson, BMX rider Danny Caluag and wife/trainer Stephanie Barragan, archer Mark Javier and coach Chung Jae Hun, judoka Tomohiko Hoshina and coach Yasuhiro Sato and swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna and shooter Brian Rosario.

Also billeted at the Village are Lopez, Lacson, Philippine Olympic Committee chairman and weightlifting president Monico Puentevella, track secretary-general Ben Silva-Netto, shooting coach Gay Corral, archery secretary-general Terry Lim, judo federation president David Carter and media officer Joe Antonio.

Each suite has wireless internet connection and a TV. Bedsheets with Olympic symbols of different sporting events may be taken and brought home. 

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The Village has 11 residential plots, each comprising five to seven blocks built around communal space and courtyards. Construction of the Village began in May 2008. The Village has a lot of wide-open space and features shops, restaurants, fitness centers and medical and communication facilities. The Main Dining Hall can accommodate up to 5,500 and is easily the most popular place in the Village. It is estimated that 45,000 meals a day are consumed in the Hall and before the Games end, about 14 million meals will have been served. The provisions include 100 tons of meat, 25,000 loaves, 21 tons of cheese, 300 tons of fruit and vegetable and 82 tons of seafood.

At the end of the Olympics, the Olympic Park will be transformed into a new development with the Village reconfigured to become a residential hub with 2,818 new homes, including 1,379 affordable houses for sale or rent. The partitions of the units or suites will be knocked down and new living accommodations will arise ranging from one-bedroom apartments to four or five-bedroom townhomes. Kitchens will be installed and new flooring will be laid out with carpets or wooden planks. A school called Chobham Academy will be established to take in 1,800 students with an age range of 3 to 19 at the heart of the Olympic Park.

What is striking about the Village is its ambiance. Athletes and officials from different countries, cultures and religious beliefs gather in unity. There is no animosity in the air despite the fierceness displayed on the field of competition. Superstars walk around the Village greens like ordinary mortals and accommodate requests for autographs without hesitation. The Village Plaza is the center of interaction and the hub of athletes converging to exchange stories, pins and experiences.

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When we visited the Village, we spotted Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol, playing here for Spain, and quickly made conversation. Gasol said he was all set to visit Manila with his girlfriend Silvia Lopez during the NBA lockout last year until the Spanish delegation’s flagbearer was summoned to a meeting in Los Angeles by Players Association president Derek Fisher.  Gasol later sent a video apologizing to his Filipino fans for the late cancellation. He said someday soon, he hopes to visit the Philippines, aware that it’s a basketball-crazy country.

 A day at the Village gives you a refreshing outlook in life, that there is hope for peace in our world, that sports is a unifying element among all peoples and that friendship is the foundation for an understanding and acceptance of everyone’s differences of opinion, philosophy and background.