PARIS – Athletes and federations have raised concerns over the lack of air-conditioning in the rooms of the athletes’ village at the Paris 2024 Olympics, sources told AFP on Tuesday.

The Olympic Village, based in Saint-Denis, will accommodate nearly 14,000 athletes and staff during the Paris Games in July and August 2024.

Games organisers have promised the event will be carbon neutral, with the use of materials chosen for their energy performance. After the Games, the Olympic Village will be converted into housing.

On Tuesday, Nicolas Ferrand, head of Solideo, which will construct the Olympic buildings, said there was no problem to address.

“We are building rooms where it will be 6-deg C cooler than the outside temperature during the French summer,” he assured during a press conference.

“If the Olympic Games organising committee later demands air-conditioning, there will be air-conditioning.

“It’s a question for society. Do we collectively accept being at 6-deg C less and having an excellent carbon footprint, or do we say it’s not okay, and we’re ready to downgrade the carbon footprint.”

In 2022, France experienced three heatwaves.

Le Monde reported that the government health agency, Sante publique France, recorded “an excess of 2,816 deaths compared to the last five years directly related to the three heatwaves in France in the summer of 2022”.

It was the second hottest French summer since the beginning of the 20th century.

The possibility of another scorching summer, with temperatures in excess of 40 deg C, has been taken into account, the organisers assured in 2022.

But the reassurances have not appeased everyone.

“Imagine several days in a row at more than 40 deg C, in rooms at 34 deg C. It’s still pretty crazy that these scenarios have not led to any changes,” said a high-ranking French sports official.

The Olympic organisers have chosen to make the 2024 event “an ecological project”, said another sporting figure.

“But, in the event of a heatwave, the well-being of the athletes is not taken into account.”

Some sports federations are already looking for solutions, including finding accommodation elsewhere.

“If they continue like this, they will empty the village,” he added.

Paris 2024 organisers are considering their options, including using floor fans. “It’s still a work in progress,” they said. AFP