The 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics could be “the hottest in history.”
Ahas warned that athletes risk cramping, exhaustion, injury, heat stroke or even death from competing in severe heat.
Tokyo became the hottest Games on record in 2021, with Paris expected to break that record next month.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said climate change “should increasingly be viewed as an existential threat to sport.“
Here’s what you need to know.
New report
A report from FrontRunners, an Australian athlete-led conservation group, and the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS) analysed heat risks ahead of the Parisand Paralympics.
The ‘Rings of Fire’ report included findings from climate scientists, global sporting bodies and anecdotal evidence from athletes.
It raised concerns about sporting events coinciding with extreme heatwaves.
Paris Olympics and Paralympics
Temperatures in Paris could reach or exceed the mid-thirties during the 24 July-11 August Olympics. The Paralympics, set for the beginning of September, may also be affected “given the past precedent for heat waves to hit France later in the summer.”
Paris last hosted the Games in 1924. Temperatures in the French capital have warmed by 1.8°C since.
The report also noted there have been 50 heat waves in Paris between 1947-2023, which it said have been increasing in “frequency and intensity as a result of climate change.”
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Tokyo Games
Temperatures at the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics exceeded 34°C and humidity levels reached 70%.
Multiple athletes vomited or fainted at the finish line. Around one in 100 Olympians had a heat-related illness, and one in five Paralympians experienced heat stress.
Australian bronze-medal javelin thrower Kelsey-Lee Barber called “competing in high heat conditions” a “concerning“ reality, and pointed to a lack of strategies being offered to athletes.
Athletes’ concerns
Possible sleep disruption at the Paris Games was listed as a “major concern” among athletes, “given the lack of air conditioning in the Olympic Village.”
Olympic medallist and New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell described playing in conditions where “an egg can literally be fried on the court. This is not how sport should be played.”
Indian triathlete Pragnya Mohan said she can’t train in her home country anymore because of heat. “Your body feels like it’s shutting down,” she said.
FrontRunners CEO Emma Pocock said urgent climate action is needed to future-proof global sporting events.
“Climate and sports scientists, along with athletes, recognise the risks and want sports governing bodies to take action,” Pocock said.
Athletics Kenya President J.K. Tuwei noted that athletes face “extensive” and potentially “devastating” challenges like air pollution, food and water insecurity, disrupted sleep and exhaustion.
“This current generation of runners and those that have the hopes of coming after them… have such a fragile future.”
