Team USA brings own AC to Paris Olympics, after city, IOC doesn't include in Athletes' Village

The U.S. Olympic team is one of many countries supplying their athletes with air conditioning in Paris’ Olympic Village next month.

In a recent statement to the AP, U.S. Olympic and Paralympic CEO Sarah Hirshland called air conditioning “a very high priority” for the country’s athletes. 

Olympic organizers plan on cooling the rooms by using fans and pipes underneath the village house’s floors, but that was not enough for Team USA.

“As you can imagine, this is a period of time in which consistency and predictability is critical for Team USA’s performance,” she said. “The athletes felt was a critical component in their performance capability.”

The choice to not provide air conditioning to the Olympic Village was made back in March. At the time, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said she hoped that the 2024 games would “be exemplary from an environmental point of view.”

“As climate change accelerates, the Games’ response to it must do the same,” Marie Sallois, the IOC director for sustainability, said last July. “The Paris 2024 organizers are stepping up to the challenge, and they are doing so by focusing first and foremost on the core part of addressing it: by cutting emissions.”

The average temperature in Paris for July and August ranges from 60 to 78 degrees Fahrenheit.

The lack of air conditioning is one of many plans that Paris has to keep the games environmentally friendly. Other plans include using 100% green energy generated from windmills and solar farms and only using existing French venues for events.

The U.S. is among many nations that plan on supplying their athletes with AC. Earlier this month, the Washington Post reported that Great Britain, Germany, Austria, Italy and Canada are some other countries who plan on sending AC units to France with their athletes.

The Olympic games begin Friday, July 26.