The infiltrated athlete: The official internal timing of the opening ceremony is terrifying

I am a Spanish Olympic athlete and I am in Paris competing. They are not my first Games. I don’t have an Olympic medal yet… And I have nothing else to reveal except in the presence of my lawyer.

We are in Paris. Short ride, finally. Each Spanish athlete receives a few days before traveling a bag with different pieces of clothing provided by the sponsor. This includes specific clothes for each sport and, if you can attend the ceremony, the official uniform of the Spanish delegation. In total there will be between 30 and 40 pieces, which are usually our size because they request it in advance. If something doesn’t fit, they will change it for us with no problem.

Yes, I will go to the opening ceremony. As athletes, traffic cuts and access problems do not affect us because when we are in the bubble of the Olympic Village, you are part of the Games.

We don’t know much about the inauguration beyond what everyone else knows. They gave us a terrifying internal timing, with a program of how long it would take us to leave the village, ride the Seine (many, especially from the coaching staff, would be left behind due to limited capacity) and return. Total estimated time, if you go from start to finish, 7h.25′. If you do a lighter version, it leaves before the end, 4h.50′, which is what I get… in theory.