The “Rings of Fire” report — a collaboration between non-profit Climate Central, academics at Britain’s University of Portsmouth and 11 Olympians — said conditions in Paris could be worse than the last Games in Tokyo in 2021.
It warned that “intense heat at the Paris Olympics in July-August 2024 could lead to competitors collapsing and in worst case scenarios dying during the Games.”
The study adds to a growing number of calls from sports people to adjust schedules and the timing of events to take into account the physical strain of competing in higher temperatures caused by global warming.
A study in the Lancet Planet Health journal last May found that Paris had the highest heat-related death rates of 854 European towns and cities, partly due to its lack of green space and dense population.
Rather than high temperatures, incessant rain is currently the bigger weather-related concern for organisers, with regular downpours in May and June leading to unusually strong currents in the river Seine and poor water quality.
The Seine is set to host a boat parade during the unprecedented opening ceremony being planned for July 26, as well as the triathlon swimming and marathon swimming events — pollution permitting.
Organisers of Paris 2024 say they have built flexibility into their schedules, enabling them to shift around some events such as the marathon or triathlon to avoid the peaks of midday heat.
– ‘New norm’ –
One of the athletes who backed the “Rings of Fire” report, Indian triathlete Pragnya Mohan, said she had left her home country because of high temperatures, with the country recently reporting its longest ever heatwave.
Speaking after Tokyo, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who wrote a foreword for “Rings of Fire”, warned that the “new norm” was competing in “really harsh climatic conditions”.
By Agencies.