Organizers insisted they would not put air conditioning in the Olympic Village, as athletes become increasingly frustrated by the French capital’s severe weather conditions.
Los Paris 2024 Olympic Games they started with an opening ceremony soaked by the rain soaked athletes and spectators equally. On Tuesday, however, they suffered exactly the opposite. Most of France is under heat alertwith temperatures of 36ºC in Paris.
The gymnastics gold winnerthe American Simone Biles, published a video on Instagram in which she was seen fighting against the lack of air conditioning. “Don’t come after me because of my hair,” Biles wrote on Instagram before the gymnastics team final. “It was done but the bus doesn’t have air conditioning and it’s like 9,000 degrees. Oh and a 45 minute trip.”
Visitors and athletes endured a sweaty and sunny Tuesday before thunderstorms were expected in the Paris area in the afternoon. People He dived into a Parisian canal which serves as popular bathing place or fanned himself at the exposed Olympic venues. British tourist Sarah David summed it up with her plan: “Eat a lot of ice cream, drink a lot of water and buy a new fan.”
Ice blocks, fountains and spray: How do volunteers and spectators cope?
Volunteers used hoses to spray cheering fans at the beach volleyball stadium, in the shadow of the Eiffel Towerand they posted signs about areas to refill water.
Spectators took shelter under the trees in search of shadowwhile the players who were on the sand scorched by the sun -which can be more than 20 °C above room temperature– extra breaks were taken to cover their heads and shoulders with ice packs.
“It’s really hot”, commented the player Egyptian beach volleyball player Doaa Elghobashy after competing in long sleeves, pants and a hijab. “But not like in Egypt.” The people took refuge in mist water fountains installed in some areas of Paris and in places like the La Concorde urban parkwhere skateboarding and freestyle BMX cycling are practiced.
The Paris-area train and metro operator said it was distributing more than 2.5 million containers of water in more than 70 train stations and other stops on its network, as well as at bus stations.
The New Zealand women’s rugby sevens team resorted to slushies, blocks of ice, shade, ice water and cold baths before competing. “We did everything we could to make sure we were fresh before the match, and when you play sevens, it’s tough,” captain Sarah Hirini said.
Animals also suffer from the heat and tennis resorts to the emergency protocol
Equestrian teams sprayed their horses with fresh water and kept them in the shade after touring the countryside. The riders also said that reduced warming 45 minutes to half an hour before competitions held in the royal gardens of the Palace of Versailleson the outskirts of Paris.
“It’s very hot, but we have to to be professional“said British rider Carl Hester after a test on Tuesday. “There are plenty of breaks for the horses to relax. We have a covered trackso the sun doesn’t shine on their backs.”
At Roland Garros, where tennis players competed in outdoor courtsthe organizers activated the first step of a “extreme weather” protocolgiving athletes in individual matches the possibility of requesting a 10-minute break before the third set. The next step is to suspend the game.
No cold water
British tennis player Jack Draper complained that he was not provided with enough cold water on the court. “I’m a big, big sweater,” Draper said, with face still covered in sweat half an hour after their defeat in three sets against the American Taylor Fritz. “The bottles don’t stay cold. We were drinking hot water out there.”
The Canadian Leylah Fernández, US Open 2021 runner-upalso complained about a “crazy heat” after being eliminated by the German Angelique Kerber. “I trained in Spain and also in Miami, where it’s hot, this kind of weather,” she said. “But sometimes, when you’re in a game, it’s a totally different atmosphere. And with the heat, you get to feel all your emotions. … I didn’t handle it well.”
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal urged the population to limit their outdoor activities during the day, hydrate, seek shade and protect the most vulnerable: the elderly and young children. She stated that the organizers of the Games Olympics were closely following the “serious heat wave.”
