Paris is known as many things. The City Of Light, the City of Love, the Fashion capital of the world.
For the last few days of this year’s Olympic Games, it’s also been described in other, less glamorous, terms.
Like an absolute sauna, is one.
Having famously launched the Games with a rain-soaked opening ceremony, Paris’ weather has been turned on its head with a heatwave.
ABC Sport is live blogging every day of the Paris Olympics
It has been so extreme that hot weather protocols were introduced across a number of sports.
Tennis and soccer players were given extra breaks, BMX riders were provided umbrellas and horses were monitored with thermal cameras.
Some came prepared for the onslaught.
“We did sauna five days out of seven, building up from 10 minutes to 30 minutes,” British hockey player Lee Morton said.
“It was after training, to make us see what it would be like here. We are fit for it, but nonetheless it’s still very, very tough.”
Hotter than hot
Most of France is under heat warnings, with temperatures in Paris hitting 36 degrees Celsius, the national weather agency said.
The heat was even worse in the south, including the region around the Mediterranean cities of Marseilles and Nice that are hosting Olympic competitions like soccer and sailing.
It was as hot as 41C in parts of southern France.
In Versailles, organisers activated a special plan to protect the horses, the body’s chief veterinarian said.
But not everyone was flustered by the hot weather.
Australian BMX rider Natalya Diehm was trying to see the bright side.
“We do have an advantage as Australians, over other countries, given the summers we have,” she said after qualifying for the finals.
Not all fans flock to the shade
The tennis proved particularly gruelling for both players and fans, with the latter sometimes clamouring for spots positioned out of the Sun’s glare.
But some of the hardiest supporters were happy to grin and sweat it out.
“There were so many (in the) crowd cheering for me,” said Chinese tennis player Zhen Qinwen.
“Chinese people, we don’t like the Sun, and yet they’re yelling for me under the Sun … I didn’t fight alone on court today.”
Chinese Paris-based financial analyst Yamen Zang was among the tennis fans.
“I feel like I’m in a sauna here,” Zang told Reuters.
“I knew it would be like that, that’s why I took a hat, a fan and all that’s needed.”
They’re not alone.
“We knew it would be hot and that there is no shade on the(main court),” said 22-year-old student Mathilde Landin, who was wearing a hat to protect herself from the sun as she watched the tennis.
“So we took the whole kit: a fan, a small blower fan, water, suncream.”
British player Jack Draper, who was eliminated in the competition’s second round, said the heat had been tough ,and water bottles left at the side of the court did not stay cool.
The weather is proving to be as unpredictable as the results in Paris.
The city was beset with rain and thunderstorms on Wednesday morning, local time, however not enough to stop triathletes jumping into the River Seine following days of conjecture about water quality.
Thunderstorms are set to hit Paris again later this week, which would help to lower temperatures to a maximum of 33C on Wednesday and 27C to 29C for the rest of the week, according to Meteo France weather forecasts.
ABC/Wires
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