By Layli Foroudi
PARIS (Reuters) – Despite July temperatures in Paris sometimes rising above 40 degrees, the International Olympic Committee president is confident that athletes will sleep comfortably in their non-airconditioned accommodation at next year’s Games, he said on Tuesday.
“The organising committee has taken great efforts and many measures […] so that they can produce minus 6 degrees compared to the outside temperature, maybe even more,” Thomas Bach told reporters during a visit to the site.
Paris, like many European cities, has experienced extremely hot summers in recent years, with temperatures rising to 43 degrees in July last year.
Bach said he was not concerned about heatwaves affecting the comfort of the 15,000 athletes expected at the Games and the Paralympic Games as the Committee has had to deal with high temperatures and humidity during the Tokyo Games in 2021.
“We will benefit from this experience when it comes to Paris,” he said.
Paris 2024 organisers, however, have decided not to install air conditioning in the Athletes’ Village, in order to limit the carbon footprint of the Games.
Laurent Michaud, director of the Olympic and Paralympic Villages for Paris 2024, said that it wouldn’t be necessary as “with the insulation of the buildings we can contain the coolness of the night until late the next day and that helps keep an acceptable temperature inside.”
He added that they estimated that even with temperatures of 38 degrees outside they will be able to keep temperatures down to 26-28 degrees inside, with the help of fans, which are included in the carbon footprint calculations.
The organisers have carried out thermodynamic simulations of the room temperatures, which they have not yet tested.
To reduce waste and transport costs, the organisers have opted for recyclable cardboard bedframes, which can hold around 140kg.
“They will be very happy. I have even had an opportunity to test a bed and I can assure them they will sleep very well in these beds,” said Bach.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Toby Davis)
