The U.S. Olympic team is one of the few that will provide air conditioning for its athletes at the Paris Games, undermining organizers’ efforts. plans to reduce carbon emissions.
U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Games CEO Sarah Hirshland said Friday that while Team USA values sustainability efforts, the federation will supply air conditioning for what is typically the largest contingent of athletes at the Summer Games.
“As you can imagine, this is a period of time where consistency and predictability are critical to Team USA’s performance,” Hirshland said. “In our conversations with athletes, this was a very high priority, and athletes considered it a critical component of their performance.”
The Washington Post reported the news earlier this month. that Germany, Australia, Italy, Canada and the UK were among other countries planning to supply air conditioners in France.
Olympic organizers have touted plans to cool the Athletes’ Village, which will house more than 15,000 Olympians and sports officials during the games, using a system of cooling pipes under the floor.
The average temperature in Paris on August 1 was 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit). The goal is to keep rooms at 23-26 degrees (73-79 degrees Fahrenheit). The premises will also be equipped with fans.
“I want the Paris Games to be exemplary from an environmental point of view,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said of Olympic plans.
According to the International Energy Agency, less than 1 in 10 households in Europe there is air conditioning, and in Paris there are fewer of them. The study said that of the 1.6 billion air conditioners used worldwide in 2016, more than half were in China (570 million) and the United States (375 million). There were about 100 million of them in the entire European Union.
The Olympics will mark the biggest stop in the sporting careers of the more than 10,500 athletes who will flock to Paris, leading some high-profile countries to undermine environmental efforts for the sake of comfort.
“It’s a high-performance environment,” Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Strath Gordon explained to The Post.