Paris Mayor Refuses To Allow Air Conditioning In 2024 Olympic Village

Accommodations might be far from optimal for the athletes competing at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

After concerns were raised over the lack of air conditioning in the athletes’ village back in January, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo doubled down on the idea last week.

The Olympic Village, currently under construction in the Saint-Denis area, was designed to have rooms six degrees cooler than the outdoor temperature in an effort to be environmentally friendly.

Nicolas Ferrand, the construction chief of SOLIDEO, which is the public body responsible for building the Olympic and Paralympic infrastructure, offered the following perspective a few months ago:

“It’s a question for society. Do we collectively accept being at six degrees less and having an excellent carbon footprint, or do we say it’s not okay, and we’re ready to downgrade the carbon footprint?”

Ferrand suggested that if the requirements were to change, air conditioning could be added to the rooms. The geothermal cooling plan is expected to save 45 percent on emissions compared with air-conditioned spaces.

Paris 2024 organizers have suggested that if National Olympic Committees are willing to pay for air conditioning at the Olympic Village, they could do so, but Hidalgo has objected to the idea on environmental grounds.

“The buildings were designed to face the climate of 2050,” she said. “I will not go back on these ambitions and, as president of SOLIDEO, I can guarantee that we will not change trajectory and that there will be no changes in the construction program of the village regarding air conditioning.”

Nearly 15,000 athletes and staff are due to stay in the Village during the Games.

There is a growing concern that a summer heat wave could result in temperatures skyrocketing up to 40°C (104°F) during the Games. During a heatwave of 39°C, the Village interior is said to be able to maintain temperatures of 28°C, warmer than what the French delegation has said should be the maximum in order to maintain performance (26°C).

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FST
1 year ago

I just want to point out that countless people, including world class swimmers, survive and thrive every Euorpean summer without AC.

MarkB
Reply to  FST
1 year ago

Yes, but I lived and coached in London in the summer of 2019 when it hit 38 – 40 degrees 3 or 4 days in a row. My second floor flat was a little warm, especially trying to sleep at night – even with every window open.

Klyn
1 year ago

Better hope they don’t end up with a horrible heat wave during the games. That will be misery!

IM FAN
1 year ago

I mean there’s definitely ways to build accommodations which will passively cool themselves, but I have a sneaking suspicion the village will still be like a standard modern apartment building in which case AC is very much a necessity for comfort during hot summer days.

It’s not surprising but dissapointing that the IOC’s rebranding of the games has leas to the athletes comfort getting compromised. In my opinion this is a pretty typical microcosm of modern bureaucratic and corporate societies relationship with climate activism, that is overemphasizing how much the average persons modern luxuries contribute to the problem while ignoring the drastic excesses of our elite.

If there’s to be no AC in the name of the climate… Read more »

Meathead
1 year ago

What a 🤡

Admin
1 year ago

Yes. USA Basketball, for example, opted out last time.

CasualSwimmer
1 year ago

Well, my opinion on this has always been to build smarter. When you look at old houses and buildings in the south of France (and in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Morocco) there are clear cut ways to build a house that will retain coolness rather than heat. The type of stone matters, the color of the house also, but mostly it’s about what’s around the house : trees. They didn’t need AC and most of them still don’t need it even in the height of summer. You don’t get a consistent 24C but you definitely get a house that feels breezy and cool
Now i know that the Olympic village will not be built by those standards so AC might… Read more »

Crawler
1 year ago

Anne Hidalgo has been one of the worst mayors of Paris, leaving the city in very bad financial shape. She has been the poster person for form over substance.

Whether French « progressive elites » want to be green at home is their prerogative; but when you host the rest of the world for the Olympics you got to be broader minded and more sensitive of the well being of others.

A/C may be viewed as an American excess, but some years ago hundreds of seniors died in Paris during a particularly extreme heat wave. Let’s hope we don’t witness such high temperatures in 2024.

Wild Bill Kinda
1 year ago

If it’s like most post-Olymipic villages, it will fall into disrepair as it lies unused.

Sid Frisco
Reply to  Wild Bill Kinda
1 year ago

Yes. Based on its location that’s spot on.

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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