The United States and other western countries will be supplying air conditioning units for their Olympic athletes in Paris after the organizers declined to do so in an attempt to cut carbon emissions. Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the US Olympics and Paralympics, announced the move for the US team on Friday, stating that while they appreciate the sustainability efforts, the federation would be equipping its athletes with AC units at the 2024 Summer Olympics.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said, per the Associated Press. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain would be supplying AC units to their Olympic athletes as well. The outlet stated that these nations "effectively undercut Paris's marquee sustainability measure" in doing so after the athletes raised concerns to their national Olympic committees that their rooms would not be a comfortable temperature for them during what is predicted to be record heat. While some countries plan to ship the units to Paris and bring them back, others plan to source them locally.
“We will bring them. And we will take them back to Greece,” said Alexandra Palli, president of the Greek Olympic committee for environmental sustainability. “They need support. Because what they do is very difficult anyway.” Olympic organizers have said that their plans to keep the rooms cool in the Athletes Village this summer consist of a "cooling pipe" system beneath the floors with the objective of keeping internal temperatures between 73 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit. They also will be providing fans in the rooms. The Post calculated that over 3,000 out of the 15,000 participating Olympic athletes will be equipped with AC units from their respective countries.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said, per the Associated Press. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority and something that the athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”
Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and Britain would be supplying AC units to their Olympic athletes as well. The outlet stated that these nations "effectively undercut Paris's marquee sustainability measure" in doing so after the athletes raised concerns to their national Olympic committees that their rooms would not be a comfortable temperature for them during what is predicted to be record heat. While some countries plan to ship the units to Paris and bring them back, others plan to source them locally.
“We will bring them. And we will take them back to Greece,” said Alexandra Palli, president of the Greek Olympic committee for environmental sustainability. “They need support. Because what they do is very difficult anyway.” Olympic organizers have said that their plans to keep the rooms cool in the Athletes Village this summer consist of a "cooling pipe" system beneath the floors with the objective of keeping internal temperatures between 73 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit. They also will be providing fans in the rooms. The Post calculated that over 3,000 out of the 15,000 participating Olympic athletes will be equipped with AC units from their respective countries.
