The sun could be setting on the summer Games after International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said climate change may force future Olympics staged in the northern hemisphere to be held later in the year.
In his final press conference in Paris, Bach noted that hotter summers had already forced changes to Olympic scheduling, with the Tokyo marathon shifted to the cooler climate city of Sapporo and the Paris marathons given an early morning start time.
The sun sets on the beach volleyball competition beneath the Eiffel Tower.Credit: Getty Images
“We will have to speak about the dates because of climate change,” Bach said. “If climate change is continuing in the way the experts are forecasting then it will be very difficult to organise the Olympic Games in summer, in August. We have seen this already.
“This is not only true for us. This is true for the entire calendar of the international federations. We have to sit together and regardless of where the Games are taking place, see whether the calendar has to be adapted, adjusted to climate change and globe warming.″
Further studies were required to determine whether future summer Games in the northern hemisphere needed to be pushed into autumn. The result of that research is unlikely to impact the timing of the Games in Brisbane in 2032, which will be held in the Australian winter or early spring.
When Sydney hosted the Games in 2000, the opening ceremony was held on 15 September. In Rio 2016, the most recent Olympics staged in the southern hemisphere, the Games began on 5 August.
The Tokyo Games, staged in 2021, are officially the hottest since the modern Olympics began in 1896, with temperatures spiking above a humid 34 degrees celsius.
Last year was the world’s hottest on record, with average global temperatures 1.45 degrees above pre-industrial averages, and this year is on track to be hotter still. Bach said warmer average temperatures would also likely force a change to winter Olympics, which have traditionally been staged in February.
