High heat throws curveball at Paris Olympics, climate change at play 

According to Climate Central’s Climate Heat Index, high temperatures in Paris were made four times more likely because of climate change

While the Olympics 2024 is underway in Paris, last week most of France was under heat warnings, with temperatures in Paris hitting 36°C, the national weather agency said.  According to the Climate Central’s Climate Heat Index,  high temperatures in Paris were made four times more likely because of climate change. 

This came just weeks after athletes and climate scientists warned of the potentially fatal dangers of extreme heat to the Olympics in the Rings of Fire report, which pointed out the heat risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics that could lead to competitors collapsing and in worst case scenarios dying during the Games.

The heat was even worse in the south, including the region around the Mediterranean cities of Marseille and Nice that are hosting Olympic competitions like soccer and sailing. It was as hot as 41°C in parts of southern France.

Athletes in multiple Olympic sports are bracing for climate change-fuelled extreme heat just a few days into the Paris Olympics 2024, in temperatures which pose increased risk for Olympic athletes competing outdoors. 

Average temperature rising

The average temperature during the months of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games has risen by 3.1°C since 1924, with scientists at Climate Central warning that “scorching days (with highs of 30°C or above) are now nearly three times more frequent in Paris than when the city last hosted the Games.” 

“Climate change has made the heat affecting athletes and attendees in Paris far more likely,” said Kaitlyn Trudeau, senior research associate for climate science at Climate Central.  “The games are taking place during a time of the year that is becoming hotter, and the risks of holding the Olympics during the summer will only increase as the burning of fossil fuels continues.

Professor Mike Tipton, professor of human & applied physiology at the Extreme Environments Laboratory, University of Portsmouth, said, “Mid to high thirties is absolutely in the “danger zone,” especially for athletes that exercise above light levels for extended periods of time. This includes sports like long-distance running and walking, triathlon and team sports like hockey. In addition, other sportspeople, officials and spectators can also be challenged by high ambient temperatures and humidities resulting in impaired performance, and conditions that include fainting, heat exhaustion and the medical emergency of heat stroke”.

Talking about what sport should be doing longer term, Australian three-time Olympian race-walker Rhydian Cowley said, “As someone who has experienced heat stroke first hand, I know how dangerous these extreme temperatures are. If sports are serious about responding to climate change, it is not enough for events to become more sustainable. They must also part ways with sponsors whose fossil fuelled products are cooking us out here.”

Heatwave risk warning was issued across most of France, particularly in the south and southeast. Last week’s heat was the kind of conditions national teams feared when calling out France’s decision not to have air conditioning. Whilst richer nations have spent thousands to arrange their own, it will be poorer nations’ athletes who lose out on cooling systems the US has branded a “critical component” to performance.

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