How extreme heat casts a shadow on the Paris Olympics

As the world reels under record high temperatures and the effects of climate change bite, the upcoming summer Olympics, in which more than 10,000 athletes from 214 countries will compete in Paris from 26 July to 11 August, is on course to be the hottest edition on record.

A new report by University of Portsmouth scientists show the dangers posed to athletes and spectators by rising heat. The report, titled, Rings Of Fire: Heat Risks At The 2024 Paris Olympics warns thatFrance has witnessed several heat waves since the turn of the century, with 14,000 people dying during a heatwave in 2003, 1,435 deaths in 2019, with Paris registering a record temperature of 42.6 degrees Celsius. Nearly 5,000 people died due to intense heat in 2023.

The report also states that summer months have gotten warmer since 1924 (when Paris last hosted the Olympics), with thisAugust’s average temperatures set be to 2.7degreesCelsius higher than a century earlier. “The fact that the Olympics will take place during high summer means that the threat of a devastating hot spell is a very real one,” notes the report.

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Doctors and fitness professionals advise people to stick to lighter workouts, modify their exercise regimen and timings and stick to indoor sessions during a heatwave. However, elite athletes headed to the Olympics do not have this luxury. High heat impairs physical performance, particularly when the exposure is prolonged and sustained high work rates are required.

Competing in hot and humid conditions can result in compromised cardiovascular and muscle function, discomfort, cognitive impairment, dehydration and sleep troubles. The report warns that athletes, officials and even spectators are likely to be affected: “Even if the health of those involved is not threatened (and it is quite possible that it will be), the overall experience will be diminished by uncomfortable conditions for spectators, and impaired performance by athletes and officials. The expectations of all involved in some sporting events will need to be adjusted.”

The Tokyo Olympics were the hottest summer games on record and several athletes struggled as temperatures soared. There were instances of players pulling out due to heat exhaustion, some having to leave the premises on wheelchair. “I can finish the match but I can die.” tennis star Daniil Medvedev said mid-match in Tokyo. Paris 2024 is expected to reach new heat highs.

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India’s highest ranked triathlete, Pragnya Mohan, who represented India at the Commonwealth Games, was part of the report and said that the conditions in India are so hot from April to October that she is forced to train in Europe. She highlights the risks of dehydration due to heat, including slower brain function, dizziness and fainting. “It is scary and can be fatal,” said Mohan in the report.

To add to the worries, the Olympic Games Organising Committee has designed green buildings without any air conditioning at the Olympics Village. This has plenty of squads, including India, worried as high temperatures hinder sleep, which in turn impacts athletes’ recovery, readiness, reaction times and performance. “For athletes, from smaller performance-impacting issues like sleep disruption and last minute changes to event timings, to exacerbated health impacts and heat related stress and injury, the consequences can be varied and wide-ranging,” said Sebastian Coe, former Olympic champion and president of World Athletics in the foreword to the report.

So worried are team doctors about disrupted sleep that multiple contingents, including India and the USA, have asked the Paris 2024 organising committee to arrange air conditioning units for a fee. The Hindustan Times recently reported that the Paris-bound Indian contingent’s medical and sports science team will also include a sleep specialist.

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However, there is some fine print as far as athletes from tropical countries such as India are concerned. In Europe, days are declared “hot” when the mercury crosses 25degreesCelsius and “scorching” above 30 degreesCelsius—temperatures that Indian athletes are quite used to given that our country is warmer than this for almost nine months of the year. Is that an advantage for the Indian athletes?

Craig Fulton, head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team, hopes that would be the case. “I certainly hope so… especially in the last 20 minutes, our team is more used to training in the heat while some of the European teams won’t have it [the same advantage] as it is a winter sport and they don’t train in that ultimate heat, which is 30°C-plus. That’s helpful, it’s not the only thing but one of the things that could help… we don’t mind. We are physically prepared for it,” Fulton tells Lounge, after a session in Bengaluru under a scorching afternoon sun.

The Indian hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh says they have been preparing for the heat by training during peak heat hours around noon during their two-week pre-Olympic camp in Bengaluru. “We are conducting most of our conditioning and trainingsessionsin the heat so that it would help us. Everyone struggles in the heat. Your water intake and hydration levels matter as cramps are a real threat because of frequent shuttles [up and down the field in hockey] and your fitness levels are tested. While I won’t call it an outright advantage because all teams are aware of the conditions and everyone must be preparing for it, but we have done our best and are working on our weaknesses,” Singh tells Lounge at the Sports Authority of India training ground in Bengaluru after a training session in early July.

The heat conditioning advantage is perhaps a minor one for Indian athletes but at the elite level it’s a game of fine margins between a medal and no medal, and athletes readily accept any legitimate advantage that comes their way. It’s not just the hockey team but the entire Indian contingent would be hoping that the “heatwave” swings things, however minute, in their favour.

Shrenik Avlani is a writer and editor and the co-author of The Shivfit Way, a book on functional fitness.

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