The heat poses serious health risks to athletes at the Paris Olympics

As Europe suffers the effects of a premature heat wave, concerns grow over the weather in Paris during the celebration of the next Olympic Games.

The event, whose opening ceremony is scheduled for next July 26, it could become the hottest Olympic event ever recordedwith the consequent risk of causing serious illnesses and even causing the death of some athletes.

A new report titled ‘Rings of Fire: Heat Risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics’, describes the 34 degree Celsius temperatures recorded at the 2021 Tokyo Games as “a window to a alarming and growing pattern for the Summer Olympics.

“Competitors vomited and fainted at the finish lines, wheelchairs were used to carry athletes out of the stadiums, where there was a suffocating heatand even tennis player Daniil Medvedev, seed number 2 in men’s tennis in the Tokyo Gamesexpressed his fear of dying on the court during the course of the matches,” the report indicates.

In 2003, in the months of July and August, the same period in which the Olympic Games of 2024, a unprecedented heat wave It caused more than 14,000 extra deaths in France.

According to a recent report in ‘The Lancet’ magazine, the population of Paris is the one most at risk of to die by heat waves throughout Europe.

Will there be a heat wave during the Paris Olympics?

In May, the French meteorological service Météo France predicted higher than normal temperatures from June to August throughout the country, and especially hot and dry conditions along the Mediterranean coast, where some events of the Olympic Games will be held.

At the end of May, temperatures in France were stifling. Thus, in Biarritz, in the southwest of the country, 30 degrees were reached. There were also produced strong hailstorms which lasted until the month of June.

Across Europe this year, heat waves They have come earlier in times past. Countries such as Greece, Cyprus, Türkiye and Italy have already been affected by extreme heatand in some of its provinces temperatures have exceeded the seasonal average by ten degrees Celsius.

Medium-term forecasts are not always accurate, since the weather in Europe is very changeable and there are countless factors that influence it. Meteorologists can use weather modelss and general trend data, such as monthly temperature averages, to make predictions.

The risk of heat waves for athletes

As temperatures rise, athletes’ bodies are subjected to increasing pressure. He heat and humidity make it difficult to regulate body temperature. This reduces physical performance, especially in endurance sports.

For those who compete outdoors during a heat wave, the risk of sunburnand heat exhaustion and cramps.

In especially serious cases, a severe heat stroke It can endanger the life of the athlete.

Athletes who are going to participate in the Paris Olympic Games will not have air conditioning

The Paris Games aim to be the “greenest in Olympic history“, so the authorities have chosen to use natural systems to ensure that indoor temperatures are at least 6 degrees Celsius lower than outdoor temperatures.

This includes scheduling events cooler hours of the day and ensuring that venues where competition takes place indoors are built with climate change in mind.

It also means that several buildings, including those at the so-called ‘Olympic Village’, a purpose-built residential complex in the northern suburbs of Paris, will not be equipped with air-conditioning. In its place, the designers have installed a geothermal cooling system.

“A geothermal network has been developed to supply the buildings of the ‘Olympic Village’. The energy produced (68% of which is renewable) will provide both heating and cooling to accommodationsoffices and homes that will be built within these walls after the Olympic Games,” say sources from the Paris 2024 organizing committee.

This system will be combined with other measures, such as solar films, ‘high-performance’ carpentry and the general design of the residential complex. If this were not enough, athletes will have some support devices, such as fans.

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With these systems, even if the temperature outside is 39 degrees Celsius, the organizers affirm that they will be able to reach the desired interior temperature from 23 to 26 degrees Celsius.

For some delegations, however, that temperature is not enough when it comes to maintain competitive advantageand countries such as Greece and Australia have suggested that their athletes wear their own air conditioning units portable.