Bio-climatic analysis of Paris presented, Prof Pezzoli to the Italian coaches: "Highly variable area, prepare to compete in different conditions"

The climate will play an important role in deciding the medals for Paris 2024, and CONI wants to be ready. Important insights were given today by the online seminar “Bio-Climatic Analysis Paris 2024”, organised by CONI’s Institute of Medicine and Sport Science, which provided the technical directors of the Italian teams with a detailed study to ensure the country participates to the best of its ability in the XXXIII edition of the Summer Olympic Games. “This is an opportunity to take stock of Paris,” CONI Secretary General and Head of Mission to Paris 2024, Carlo Mornati, said at the opening of the meeting. “It is useful to have an overview of how the climate could change.  We will strive to stay connected in the lead-up to the Games, sharing common interests. However, today it is crucial to gain a statistical overview of the scenarios for those competing for medals where hundredths of seconds could be vital — be it in a pool of water, on a competition field, or on the roads.” And one year after the Forum dedicated to the General Secretaries, managers, directors and technical commissioners of the various Federations and organised by the Olympic Preparation, and in light of the inspections of the technical directors at the Paris 2024 venues that took place last week, CONI focused on an aspect that will be decisive in the athletes’ performance and results. “The shared goal is to stay in Italy until the last moment and then move to Paris, so it is important to know the temperature change in the Olympic Village or in training,” added Mornati, who then spoke about the visit to the Village last week. “For the construction, new technologies have been used, it is a very different village compared to the previous ones,” he pointed out, “because it is not the classic neighbourhoods, all of which are identical, but a new housing complex, with buildings that could have commercial or residential purposes. It is a very non-uniform village, with completely different buildings. We have chosen one of the most suitable buildings, close to the canteen, gymnasium and transport platforms. The technology used does not involve air conditioning, but permanent air ducting. And it does indeed seem to be working. If conditions are like this year’s, the air conditioners will not be needed.” Giampiero Pastore, Head of CONI’s Institute of Medicine and Sport Science, then introduced Professor Alessandro Pezzoli, a bio climatologist at the Turin Polytechnic University, who supervised the Bio-climatic Analysis of Paris 2024. “We analysed a very large area that has a fair density of meteorological instruments, but which do not cover the whole of our area in detail,” explained Pezzoli. “We worked with methodology tested some years ago for a bicycle company that asked us to work on several competitions such as the world championship in Qatar and the Rio 2016 inline race.” The climatological analysis in Paris (photo ANSA) was carried out on the basis of weather data simulated by the CALMET model, with a very high resolution 200m x 200m grid. Analysing the events from 2013 to 2022 within the upcoming Olympic period (19 July-18 August), the focal point of the competition field was identified, and a virtual database was established encompassing all hours of the day. “The Paris area has very significant variability, much higher than the average,” the bio climatologist pointed out. “This is the classic area of continental climate where you can see rapid swings. We will have extreme hourly variability, between morning afternoon and evening, and extreme daily variability throughout the week. We must therefore be prepared to compete in different conditions, because there is extreme variability with respect to average values. Attention must also be paid to thermal discomfort during thunderstorms, where the wind can increase a lot.” Continuing his analysis, Pezzoli explained that “the south-westerly wind characterises the main flow of air in the Parisian area. The area with the greatest intensity is central Paris, which often receives the strongest flow. The capital is capable of extreme situations,” noted the professor: “In this period we took the day of 28 July 2015, between 4pm and 5pm, when we had the lowest maximum temperature: 17.4 degrees. What we saw this summer, with a temperature between 17 and 20 degrees, is therefore not so uncommon. But Paris can also spring surprises in the other extreme. In the famous 2003, the highest number of deaths caused by high temperatures was in France, which is characterised by an extensive body of land where thermals from the sea often do not arrive.  On 25 July 2019 at 5pm, the maximum temperature was 43 degrees. We have therefore gone from 17 degrees in 2015 to 43 degrees in 2019. Obviously this is a statistical analysis, but we can also have extremes that need to be analysed.” The average temperatures in the Olympic Village, located in the north of the capital, will follow the classic Parisian trend: relatively low in the morning (16-17 degrees), with the maximum at around 4-5pm in the afternoon – around 24-25 degrees. “It is important to relate these temperatures to the humidity,” continued Pezzoli. “As the temperature rises, the humidity decreases. In the afternoon it drops and then rises again in the late afternoon or during thunderstorms. In the morning, on the other hand, there could be cloudiness due to the high humidity, and the athletes could suffer from moderate cold stress, as well as in the evening.” Subsequently, Professor Pezzoli went into the specifics of the different competition venues, delving into the individual macro-areas. He started with the Stade de la Marne and continued with the areas of Les Invalides, La Chapelle Arena, Elancourt Hill, Roland Garros and Versailles, providing targeted information to the technical directors of the disciplines competing in the areas in question.