(Paris) The lack of air conditioning in the rooms of the athletes’ village for the Paris Olympics in 2024 raises concerns on the part of certain federations and athletes, AFP learned on Tuesday from sources close to the sports movement.
The Olympic village, based in Saint-Denis, should accommodate nearly 14,000 people (athletes and management) during the Paris Olympics (July 26 – August 11). Promised to be carbon neutral, with the use of materials dedicated to energy performance, this village will then be converted into housing.
Asked Tuesday about the conditions that athletes could encounter in the event of a scorching summer, Nicolas Ferrand, the general manager of Solideo, responsible for building the permanent works of the Olympic Games, kicked into touch.
“We are building rooms where it will be minus 6 degrees compared to the outside temperature,” he assured during a press conference.
“If afterwards, the communities or the Cojo (organizing committee of the Olympic Games, editor’s note) change the order, of which act. But then it’s not the same thing. […] If we have to change, with the technological object that we have put in place (…), there it is air conditioning”, specified Nicolas Ferrand, “but at that time the carbon footprint does not is not the same”.
“It’s a social issue. Do we collectively accept being at minus 6 degrees and having an excellent carbon footprint, or are we saying it’s not going well, and we are ready to downgrade the carbon footprint,” he added.
“Empty the village”
The scenario of a scorching summer, with temperatures that can exceed 40 degrees for several days, has been taken into account, the organizers assured at the end of the summer, who launched a specific working group on the subject.
“Except that there, their project is confronted with reality. It is clearly a subject of the temperature in the rooms, ”assures an influential player in the sports movement.
“Imagine several days in a row at over 40 degrees, in rooms at 34 degrees. It’s still pretty crazy that these scenarios have not led to any changes, ”he regrets.
“It is the choice of the Cojo to make an ecological project, but in the event of a heat wave, the well-being of the athletes is not taken into account”, estimates another member of the sports movement.
“There are federations which are already trying to find fallback solutions, to try to find accommodation elsewhere. If they continue like this, they will empty the village, ”he assures.
“It’s still a ‘work in progress’ subject, there are other alternative solutions to air conditioning, such as a reversible floor, a fan”, explains Paris-2024. “But we are working on the subject, except that it is not completely established. We are talking about it with the Athletes’ Commission.