Czech Team Enjoys Time at Baku Athletes Village -- On the Scene

(ATR) Czech table tennis bronze medalist Renata Strbikova’s only complaint about the Baku Athletes Village is that there is non-stop table tennis being played in the popular Pomegranate Lounge.

"After our tiring and emotional match, we came here to rest, have a coffee, and all we hear behind us is more table tennis being played," Strbikova joked.

Otherwise, the 35-year-old Czech athlete, who competed at the 2004 Athens Games, has been satisfied with her experience at the palatial Athletes Village.

"I probably didn’t expect that Azerbaijan would organize this that well," Strbikova said. "Maybe there are some problems, but I haven’t seen them.

"My buses have been driving on time, food is open all the time, the relax center is perfect and if you want to cut your hair or do your nails you can do it," Strbikova said with a laugh.

"I’m kind of surprised," Strbikova added.

The athletes village for the inaugural European Games is comprised of 13 towering residential buildings, an enormous dining hall, cafes, tennis and basketball courts, a gym, a multi-faith center and the grassy Village Square where athletes could be seen sun-bathing on a steamy Saturday afternoon.

The village is located about a 20-30 minute drive from downtown Baku and can accommodate approximately 7,000 athletes, coaches and team staff. Currently, as the Games approach midway, the occupancy is below 5,000.

"What is a little bit difficult is that we have big apartments, but there are three people sleeping in the room," said Strbikova, who shared the room with the two members of her bronze-medal winning team.

"Normally, if I go to Europeans (Championships), I am alone."

Czech NOC chef de mission Martin Doktor says that mostly everything at the village has gone smoothly for him and his delegation of 127 Czech athletes competing in Baku.

"Our athletes like it here, the service has been good and there have been no big complaints," Doktor said. "I would say there is not much difference than from other Olympic Athlete Villages."

Doktor, a double Olympic champion in canoe sprint in Atlanta 1996, also served as Czech chef de mission in Sochi 2014 and at the Nanjing YOG.

"Rooms are very big, we have space, even to make our team’s small poly-clinic," he added.

Doktor noted one difficulty, although admitted he has witnessed it before at events.

"Sometimes communicating with volunteers, they don’t understand very well or they have no power to make decisions," he said. "In some situations, you know there is a better way to do things, but you have no chance because there is aprocedure."

Overall though, Doktor advised it has been a positive experience for the Czech team.

The Czech athletes can often be seen motoring around the village on man-powered scooters, an idea that has made its fellow European nations envious.

"Today, I was driving around on them for the first time," Strbikova said. "I am pretty energetic, so it can be a bit dangerous for me," she joked.

Belarusian Cyclist Wins Ladies Road Race

The downtown streets of Baku, including a route that took cyclists around the ancient walls of the city’s Old Town, were closed for the majority of Saturday afternoon for the women’s road race.

On another hot and steamy day, with temperatures in excess of 30 degrees Celsius, Belarus cyclist Alena Amialiusk won a dramatic sprint finish to earn gold.

The 26-year-old overtook Anna van der Breggen of the Netherlands and Poland's Katarzyna Niewiadoma to win the race in three hours, 20 minutes.

Considering the heat and bright sun, competitors endured in less than ideal conditions for racing.

Spectator turnout along the city streets was below average, perhaps a factor of the sweltering temperatures.

Reported by Brian Pinelli in Baku

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