33rd Olympic games Closing in on Paris within hours, the baton transfer to Los Angeles could be the last event in August, at least for the Northern Hemisphere.
World sports and certainly the most precious jewel in the crown, the Olympic Games, will soon face cosmological changes due to climate change and global warming.
Thomas Bach has admitted for the first time that the Olympic Games should be canceled in August, at least in the northern hemisphere, due to new weather data. Referring to the positions of experts, the head of the IOC said in a briefing with journalists regarding the assessment of the 33rd Olympic Games that discussions are underway on changing the dates. However, he was quick to clarify that the specific initiatives had nothing to do with Middle Eastern countries’ efforts to host the event. As examples of the problem caused by high temperatures, he pointed to the relocation of the marathon at the previous Tokyo Games, as well as the changes that had to be made to the Paris marathon due to the heat.
The next Olympic Games in Los Angeles are already planned to be held on July 14-30, 2028.
Bach believes that the entire calendar of major sporting events must be revised to adapt to climate change.
The same goes for the Winter Olympics, where fewer than ten countries will be able to host the event after 2040, forcing the IOC to make direct mandates.
The European football championship is also held in the year of the Summer Olympic Games. If the dates are pushed further back, the Euros will have to be held earlier and this will be reserved for the national championships.
Despite Bach’s denials, the Immortals cannot ignore the will of wealthy Middle Eastern nations, notably Qatar and Saudi Arabia, to bring the Olympics to a wider region for the first time, as they did with the World Cup. If they succeed and win the IOC’s trust, it is likely that the Olympics will be held in the winter months, similar to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
But it won’t be the first time. In 1956, the Melbourne Games, held for the first time in the southern hemisphere and Oceania, were held in November-December.
Several events have also been held in autumn, the most recent being the Sydney Games in 2000 (September 15-October 1).