Athletes Can Stay In The Olympic Village This Long

With the Rio Olympics close to winding down, the excitement of setup for the games is now turning to the letdown of tying up loose ends. How long athletes can stay in the Olympic Village mostly depends on the counties they're representing, whose Olympic officials manage their countries' allotted apartments in the 31 high-rise buildings comprising the Olympic Village. The hard stop for Olympic Village inhabitants is shortly following the Closing Ceremony, though many athletes have mentally or physically checked out of the Olympic Village already.

The earliest Olympic Village occupants arrived on July 24th, in preparation for the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympics that happened on August 5th. That gave the early Olympic Village arrivers almost two weeks to kick back and relax (or train like crazy) while adjusting to their surroundings and possibly the local time zone, too.

With each sport happening at different times during the two weeks of the Olympics, each of the Olympic Village occupants is on a different personal schedule. Some athletes stay in the Olympic Village after their competitions have ended, creating a more party-like environment than their still-competing neighbors might like. But part of the challenge of becoming a world-class athlete includes dealing with whatever circumstances life has to offer around the time of your events, so hopefully the later competitors knew this kind of distraction might be coming.

Since athletes don't pay to stay in the Olympic Village, I can see the appeal of spending a little longer on the beach in Rio. Word on the street is that plenty of sex happens in the Olympic Village, which obviously sweetens the deal. Some Olympic athletes never graced the Olympic Village with their presence, like the American basketball teams who stayed on a luxurious cruise ship instead. They're probably in no hurry to move out of those Olympic accommodations, either.

The Olympic Village officially closes on August 24th, three days after the Closing Ceremony. But, according to the Los Angeles Times, the Village is already feeling pretty empty (the McDonald's restaurant in the Olympic Village no longer has a line, hooray). Since most of the Olympic Village furniture has already been auctioned off, if the straggling Olympians overstay their generous welcome they'll be sleeping on the floor.