When staying in the Parisian Olympic Village during this year's summer games, American athletes were shocked and awed to discover they had access to free healthcare.
As Sports Illustrated reports, US Olympians are taking full advantage of the free health services provided at the Olympic Village. From gynecology to ophthalmology and most everything in between, the Village clearly has it all, and it's all free of cost to the athletes.
Bronze medalist Ariana Ramsey decided to get a pap smear after winning for rugby and was, as she exclaimed in a TikTok about the experience, blown away when she wasn't charged for it by the medical practitioners in the Village.
"Like, what?!" she raved in the now-viral video.
@ariana.ramsey I quite literally love it here. The way the Olympic village has free healthcare, but America doesn’t😣 oolympicsoolympicvillageoolympiantteamusarrugbyb#bronzemedalist
After her discovery, the rugby pro decided to get other important medical needs taken care of during her stay in the Olympic pop-up city. As she told SI, she's in hindsight frustrated that she was so surprised in the first place.
"That’s just America," Ramsey told the magazine, "and their privatized healthcare system."
While French people have, as they're wont to do, made fun of the rugby medalist's shock and awe — "Like, 'welcome to France,'" Ramsey joked — it's clear that in a certain sense, the experience has radicalized Ramsey.
"I'll fight for universal healthcare," she insisted in her interview with SI.
Interestingly enough, free healthcare at the Olympics has been a staple of the competition for more than 90 years, since it was first offered at the 1932 Los Angeles Games — which means that even when they take place on American soil, health services are complimentary for Olympians and comped by the International Olympics Committee.
Despite that seeming boon for athletes, however, most competitors aren't aware of the "polyclinic," as the Olympics calls its complimentary health center. As Ramsey told the magazine, staffers at the clinic at this year's games thanked her for bringing awareness to the service, and other athletes have reached out to her expressing their own surprise and thanking her for encouraging them to visit it, too.
As for her own experience with the Olympic polyclinic — which resulted in her getting X-rays, dental cleanings, and a pair of glasses for blurry night vision free of charge — Ramsey said that the doctors there exceeded her expectations.
"They really go above and beyond," she enthused.
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