Paris, Jul. 31, (PA Media/dpa/GNA) – Athletes and fans struggled to stay cool in the heat as temperatures soared above 30 degrees Celsius in Paris on Tuesday.
Temperatures of up to 36 degrees Celsius were reported in the French capital during day four of the Paris Olympics.
At the Eiffel Tower Stadium, electric fans were seen being carried into the venue to help spectators cool down.
The stadium hosts the beach volleyball event, which takes place outside with the Eiffel Tower as its backdrop.
Tennis spectators were helped with their battle to stay cool by water mist sprays at Roland-Garros and the heat rule was in place for players, which permits a 10-minute break before a deciding set in singles games.
Britain’s Jack Draper was one of those in action, but lost to Taylor Fritz in the second round, as he wilted in the heat after a good start.
He criticized Olympic organizers for making players drink “hot water.”
He said: It’s pretty poor that the players have to drink hot water when we’re playing in those conditions.
“It’s important we have good fridges to keep our water cool. It’s so tough to recover when you’re just not replenishing properly. There’s no escape from the heat, even at the change of ends.”
Earlier at the canoe slalom event, the WC1 and MK1 heats were rescheduled due to “lightning, thunderstorms, hail and strong precipitation risks” forecasted for late afternoon.
An official communication stated that the start intervals for runs between each athlete had been reduced to two minutes for WC1 and 1 minute 40 seconds for MK1.
Advice on the official Paris 2024 website reminded spectators to drink water regularly, protect themselves from the sun with a hat and sun cream as well as spending time in a cool place.
The warm weather comes only days after Paris was blighted by heavy rain.
The opening ceremony on Friday was affected by heavy rainfall and the adverse conditions continued into Saturday, which saw some events postponed and delayed. The men’s triathlon was put back to Wednesday as a result of previous rain adding to pollution in the River Seine.
In a press conference on Tuesday, International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams was asked about changing weather conditions around the world and admitted it is something to be aware of.
He said: “In Tokyo, as you know, where heat conditions I think are fair to say worse, where humidity is the real issue or worse, we actually look a lot of decisions.
“We moved the schedule for rugby if I remember rightly, and also we actually moved the timing of the start of the marathon, and we moved into the north island, Hokkaido.
“So yes, we have to live in the world – as they say in sport – you have to play what you have in front of you, and when you have growing issues you have to deal with them.
“I don’t think it’s a challenge to (the viability of) Olympic sport or any sport, but you just have to be aware of the changing climate and the changing world we live in.”
GNA