Heat compromises blood flow to the gut and leads to excessive sweating, which can cause dehydration, cramping, exhaustion and fainting. Muscle glycogen, the body’s stored form of glucose, is used up more quickly when it is hot, impairing endurance performance, says Tipton.
t’s not just athletes’ physical performance that is diminished by heat, he adds. “Heat changes your cognitive function in terms of complex decision making, makes you more irritable and more agitated, reduces motivation, and decreases mood.”
This means that scorching temperatures can also impact more “passive sporting events”, such as archery or shooting, where the “margins of error are very small”, he says. (Read more about the sinister ways heatwaves warp the mind.) Acclimatising to high temperatures is now a critical part of training for athletes, says Tipton. “If you get your heat preparation wrong, it’s a risk to life and limb.”
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Mohan is preparing for high temperatures at the Paris Olympics by spending up to an hour in saunas several times a week and turning off the fans while doing her indoor cycling training.
“Being an outdoor sport, whatever conditions you can think of, we have trained in them,” says Pritchard.
Organisers say they are taking a number of precautions to protect athletes from extreme heat. Outdoor endurance events such as the marathon and triathlon will start early, at 8am, when it is cooler, and athletes will have access to water stations and shaded areas at regular intervals, says Lambis Konstantinidis, executive director of planning and coordination at the Paris Olympics. The triathlon will be postponed if the temperature rises above 32.2C (90F), Konstantinidis says.
The AC question
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In a bid to halve the carbon footprint of the Paris Olympics compared with previous games, air conditioning units have not been installed in the Olympic Village.
Instead, the village will be cooled by a geothermal system which pumps water from deep below the ground to keep indoor temperatures 6C (10.8F) lower than outside, according to the organising committee. More than 9,000 trees have also been planted in the Olympic and Paralympic villages to provide natural cooling. The “natural freshness” of the River Seine will also help cool the city centre, says Konstantinidis.
Whatever conditions you can think of, we have trained in them – Benjamin Pritchard
Some delegations, including the US, have said that they plan to bring their own air-conditioning units, for athletes’ rooms. “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,” Sarah Hirshland, chief executive of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee leadership committee, said during a press briefing in June.
