Olympics officials in Paris intend to nix air conditioning in their 2024 Olympic Village, but the athletes are reportedly not very pleased with the woke scheme and are making plans to subvert the drive for “sustainability.”
Officials are planning what they call the “greenest ever Games” for this year’s Olympics. They have opted not to install air-conditioning in the residences where the athletes will stay while training and competing in this year’s international games.
Instead, engineers have devised a different cooling plan, which consists of pipes of running water lying under the quarters’ floorboards.
“This village was designed to avoid the need for air conditioning, even in very, very high temperatures, to maintain comfortable temperatures,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said, according to NPR.
But with more than 5,000 French citizens having perished from last summer’s extreme heatwave, some athletes are worried that the watery pipe scheme may not keep them comfortable while they try to focus their minds on the games.
An inside view of a bedroom during the media visit of Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Village on July 02, 2024, in Paris, France. (Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)
Indeed, so many athletes are worried over the heat issue that some countries — including Team U.S.A. — have announced that they are bringing their own AC units to the Olympic Village, despite what Paris Olympics officials want.
Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC), has confirmed that her athletes will have AC in their quarters.
“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 and the predictability and consistency of what they’re accustomed to,” she said. Though Hirshland did go to pains to say that the USOPC has “great respect” for the Paris officials and their work for “sustainability.”
Other countries that have confirmed their decision to bring their own AC units include Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Germany, Greece, Denmark, Japan, and Australia.
Indeed, Australia noted that its Olympic officials are spending $100,000 on AC units.
“We appreciate the concept of not having air conditioning due to the carbon footprint,” Australian Olympic Committee Matt Carroll said. “But it is a high-performance Games. We’re not going for a picnic.”
Ultimately, Mayor Hidalgo is very unhappy with all the teams that seem bent on ignoring the “science” of global warming.
“I think we have to trust science on two counts,” she complained. “The first is what scientists are telling us about the fact that we are on the brink of a precipice. Everyone, including the athletes, must be aware of this. And secondly, we have to trust the scientists when they help us to construct buildings in a sober way that allows us to make do without air conditioning”
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