Translate to English Behind the doors of Milan and Cortina – everyday life, deposits and snow

Torsten and Günther stand silently at the window. They are small and wear green clothes. They should still grow. At least that’s what their “fathers” hope. These are the German speed skaters Hendrik Dombek and Felix Maly. Torsten and Günther, two small plants, will belong to the two athletes for the next two weeks – for the duration of the Olympic Games.

“We adapted it for the times,” says Maly. During a visit to the Olympic village in the south of the global metropolis of Milan, Dombek and Maly provide insights into the German district. This extends over two floors in a total of six seven-story buildings on an area of ​​38,000 square meters – the size of five football pitches or 21 ice hockey rinks. There is space for around 1,700 athletes here.

In their simple double room, Maly and Dombek have created a lot of cozy and Olympic flair. They have put up dozens of pictures of the two of them with friends and family on the walls. A Team D flag is hung between the beds. No photos were allowed to be taken during the visit to the two speed skaters’ room.

Speed ​​skaters Dombek and Maly like married couples

“The closets are nice and big. But that’s what we need. We have a lot of clothes from the Olympic outfit. It’s a small room, but it offers enough space,” says Maly. After the games, the newly constructed buildings will be used as student dormitories.

Dombek and Maly seem like a well-rehearsed unit. No wonder: they have been sharing a room during competitions for years. “My wife always says he’s my work husband,” says Maly with a laugh. “We just get along well and wanted to room together because we know that things are going well,” says Maly, who is given just as much outside chance over 5000 meters as Dombek over 1000 and 1500 meters.

Outside the room, many athletes hang out in the lobby of the building. “The Olympics are on there all day,” says Maly, and Dombek adds with a laugh: “You can take away deposits there. That’s very important as a German.” You can also play on the console and if the weather permits, which varies between rain and sun at around 10 degrees, there is an opportunity to relax outside in the center of the village.

Area bounded by a fence

The Olympic rings are in great demand. Many athletes have their photos taken in front of the iconic symbol. Hot drinks are available on a coffee bike. The main cafeteria is open around the clock. “Typically Italian, there’s a lot of pizza and pasta. The food is good,” says Dombek.

The entire area is demarcated by a fence approximately three meters high. No one comes in except the teams and a few journalists. Numerous security personnel ensure this. The controls at the entrance are almost identical to those at airports.

There was a small glitch a few weeks before the start of the Winter Games. According to investigators, showers in a total of 70 rooms were damaged in three different buildings between mid-December and mid-January.

In Cortina mood like at the Electric Love Festival

However, a real winter atmosphere arises in the snow-covered Olympic Village in Fiames, just outside Cortina. They have even built a large snowman here; around his icy neck he has an accreditation with the name “Duke of the Dolomites”. Germany’s great gold hopes in bobsleigh, tobogganing and skeleton, such as Felix Loch and Francesco Friedrich, live here together with athletes from all over the world in many tiny houses crowded together.

The containers, each designed for two athletes, are decorated with colorful national flags and have fairly thin walls. That’s why the special ambience also includes the fact that you unintentionally hear noises from neighboring houses and from outside. “It’s a bit noisy. When I’m alone in the dark, I always get a little scared. And then you hear a few noises that you don’t know yet,” says Hannah Neise, 2022 Olympic skeleton champion.

Toboggan colleague Anna Berreiter at least confirms that she hasn’t heard any snoring from the neighboring cabin yet. “It’s a beautiful Olympic Village,” says the 2022 Olympic silver medalist: “It’s like a big campsite and the feeling is really cool. I’ve already been to a few festivals like Electric Love or Echelon, it’s pretty similar.”