Low step counts and good room temperatures - Inside the Athletes Village

Team Ireland's chef de mission Gavin Noble feels that everything is set up at the Olympic Village for Irish athletes to achieve success at Paris 2024.

Ireland's representatives at the Olympics have started to arrive in France ahead of the official launch of the games this Friday, and many have begun settling into their temporary home five miles north of the centre of Paris.

Noble, a London 2012 Olympian himself in men's triathlon, is responsible for ensuring that everyone navigates the environment with as little fuss as possible, and it's so far so good from his point of view.

"It's very spacious, very new," Noble told RTÉ Sport from the village. "Most of the athletes compare it to Tokyo and it’s very different. Not that the Tokyo village had anything wrong with it, it was just Covid.

"Everything is good, athletes are coming in, we’ve got a really nice position in the village beside France. When you rock up and France are next door to you, you’re doing something right.

"We’re very happy with where we are. The step count should be low in terms of polyclinic, transport, food. In my little mad world, those things are important.

"The village is good, everyone is happy with their room temperatures and everything else, so no excuses."

Ireland will have its biggest ever Olympic contingent in Paris, with a 133-strong squad set to compete across 14 sports over the next fortnight.

While Noble acknowledges that it is difficult to appease everyone in the team, he is confident that everything is in place for athletes to prepare for their events, and to allow them to decompress afterwards.

"I don’t think you can keep everyone happy and I certainly don’t intend to try and keep everyone happy," he said. "But I think we’re doing a pretty good job