Truth behind controversial air-con ban for athletes at Olympics 2024
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: VCG/VCG via Getty Images
When organisers of the Paris Olympic Games announced their plans to ban air-con in the Olympic Village, it's safe to say that the decision wasn't well received by competing countries.
The rules at the Paris Olympics for 2024 seem to be hard and fast - with there being all kinds of regulations surrounding swimming costumes and just living in the Olympic Village generally.
However, this year, organisers of the games claimed that they strived to make this Olympics the most sustainable of all time but have seemingly gone to extreme levels in order to achieve this - namely axing air conditioners.
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In a statement as per The Guardian, architect Laure Mériaud said the aim was to create 'a more pleasant, greener space for local people’s daily lives here after the Games'.
And according to Yann Krysinski, SVP of SOLIDEO who built majority of the Olympic's infrastructure, the buildings wouldn't need air con as they had 'oriented the facades so that they wouldn't get too much sun during the summer, and the facades, the insulation is really efficient'.
He also said that 'naturally cool water' would also be cooling the air of the apartments.
However, this decision wasn't received very well by the countries of competing athletes - with many concerned that the hot weather would affect their sleep.
So the organisers ended up compromising and allowed teams to bring their own air-con units to the village for the duration of the games.
And unsurprisingly, a large number of units were purchased - to be specific, 2,500 units had been ordered, and the numbers only increased in the months leading up to the games.
According to the Washington Post - Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Japan and Australia all confirmed their intentions to bring air conditioning units.
And Australia in particular didn't spare any expense for their athletes as according to The Australian, Australian Olympic Committee Matt Carroll said: "We appreciate the concept of not having air conditioning due to the carbon footprint. But it is a high-performance Games. We’re not going for a picnic."
CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Sarah Hirschland, also confirmed that her teams would be bringing air conditioning units along with them.
During a briefing, she said: "We have great respect for the work that's been done by the Paris Organising Committee in particular, and their focus on sustainability," before clarifying: “Yes, we will have air conditioners.”
And it's a good job too, as it's widely rumoured that thing's get particularly hot and steamy in the Olympic Village - and former Olympian, Susen Tiedtke, has previously spilt the tea about what goes down behind closed doors.