And the Paralympics, beginning August 28, will only continue with the momentum.
Heres more about exactly what they experience, from a dozen athletes who know it best.
The vibe is generally upbeat and pretty intense.
picture alliance/Mark Makela/BEHROUZ MEHRI/Getty Images/Amanda K Bailey
Its electric, its globalits a community thats vibrant.
Everyones so excited and happy to be thereits like, We made it to the Olympics.
This is our dream.
There are athletes from all over the world, from different walks of life.
Everybody there is an elite athlete and theyre so proud to be there representing their country.
Typically, the marathons are towards the end of the program.
You realize athleticism doesnt have one look.
The fastest people, the strongest peopleeverybody was living there.
Theyre the real-life superheroes in terms of strength and physical capabilities.
Something people dont talk about much is how heavy it is after competition in the Village.
Then youre like, this just happened, this moment is gone.
And sometimes people are just heavy, because things didnt work out the way they wanted.
Not everybody wins at the Olympic Games.
So you have very high party energy, or sometimes very low energy.
Middle energy is very rare.
Pen Frietas
The dining hall comes with any dish you could wantand a LOT of traffic.
Thedining hallis out of this world.
In Tokyo, it was two floors; in Rio, it was the size of a soccer field.
Theres every throw in of food you could imagine.
Its interesting people-watching too.
I remember distinctly that the Chinese gymnasts in Rio had trays and trays piled high with only pineapple.
Then you see giant weightlifters carrying five massive trays of food.
It took a few days to get used to the food.
You go from being super strict with your diet to having absolutely every option you could want.
In Tokyo, they had local cuisine as well.
There are condiment stands all over the place, so theres no large grouping of people.
In Tokyo, they had two floors that were mirror images of each other.
That makes it easier to kind of think through these things.
The little snack stations are the best part.
you might slowly eat your way through the Village.
You get this little fob that works at any Coke machine in the entire Village.
Im not a big soda fan, but you could get soda or water or sports drinks.
Kat Holmes
In London, they had these coffee kiosks in adorable wooden trailers.
They were all over the Village, and we had one right outside the USA building.
You could take your little keycard and get free coffee, free snacks.
There was a barista and everythingit was a full food truck.
Scaroni
Tokyo had great coffee stations.
You could do the pre-programmed espresso drinks.
If you hit it at the wrong time, though, the lines would be so long.
Every time you enter the Village, you go through security like youre going to airport TSA.
You have to scan in your credentials.
Of course, they have to go through the whole security thing with your ID and all that stuff.
But they can come in and see the Village, the dining hall.
Each Village feels similar, but the proximity to the cafeteria is different.
In Rio, I want to say it was a quarter-mile to half-mile walk to get there.
We got to use those for cycling around the Village, which made it so much easier.
Going on bikes saved your energy and also meant you could see more.
In Tokyo, you had to leave the Village 48 hours after you competed.
I was right at the end, so I got to stay for the whole thing.
Theres a polyclinic [a dedicated 24-hour healthcare facility] in the Village.
If you better go, one of our doctors will usually go with you.
They have little game rooms for the athletes to go hang out and relax.
There are cultural centers, where it’s possible for you to learn about Rio or Japan.
And they always have the Olympic rings.
There is a lot of free stuff.
Then there are the gift shops, with all the official Olympic giftsthose, you pay for.
Its like the airport gift shop on steroids, with mugs and T-shirts and keychains and more.
Because the stress was so high, it was almost like a walking meditation through the garden.
We make a run at get whatever tickets we can to watch Team USA around our own competition schedule.
When we cant go in person, I love parking myself in front of the TV.
It has 40 channels, each one a live feed from a venue.
Its so cool because youre truly that much more connected and able to follow along.
Trading pins is a big thing.
You put them on your lanyard.
Mine was full and heavy.
Everybody was terrified of talking to anybody else.
In Rio, it was like, Were here together, were gonna get to know each other.
In Tokyo, it was like, Oh, my God, dont breathe on me.
In the dining hall, you had to put on gloves and sit between plastic barriers.
We wore masks at all times.
It was pretty much eat, train, stay in your roomvery restrictive.Holmes
It was nerve-wracking.
I felt bad for the guy who had to collect the samples.
We felt like we were being safe, but you didnt know.
Every Olympian has their idols.
One day, [Novak] Djokovic decided to practice in the Olympic Village.
Everybody was just going crazy, because everybody knows who Djokovic isthere were so many people watching.
Another fun moment was with Usain Bolt.
He showed up at the cafeteria and sprinted from one side to the other.
A lot of people tried running to catch him.
Theres kind of an awe in general and a curiosity.
One cool moment for me was meeting [decathlete] Ashton Eaton, whos just this incredible athlete.
Youre like, This guy could totally be a jerk if he wanted to.
He shakes my hand and my hand disappears; he could crush all my fingers.
But hes the nicest guy youll ever meet.
We were walking through the Village to do the opening ceremonies and I ended up next to him.
He talked about how wed already done the work.
At opening ceremonies, we were together and had created this little bond.
Theyre so famous that I think it was nice for them to have people to be normal with.
Youre taking them with me.
I hope I have the chance and the courage to talk to her in Paris.
Meeting swimmer Jessica Long in real life for the first time was a starstruck moment.
Were friends now, but back in 2012 I was starting out, and she had an incredible Games.
She was a household name at that point.Masters
I met Michael Phelps in the elevator in Rio.
I obviously knew who he was, but he didnt know me.
He was asking me about water polo and wishing me good luck.
There are parties in the Village.
We dont really have time to go to those because were still competing.
You just have to make a run at tune it out.
Steffens
On one of the Team USA floors, they have a tracker with all the medals.
When someone who wins comes in, theyre like, Woo-hoo!.
The sports med team, your team, your coaches, and all the staff celebrate with you.
To be frank, there was tons of alcohol.
Some people were playing games.
There was musicI dont think it was a DJ, but I feel like athletes always have speakers.
I met people from Brazil, from Zimbabwe, talking and joking and taking selfies and doing handstand contests.
Read our latest coverage of the Paris Gameshere.
