For the upcoming Summer Olympics, Paris decided that, for the sake of Climate Change, they were not going to be installing Air Conditioning in the Olympic Village, but instead use fans, pumping cold water, and other methods for cooling.
In response, at a minimum the German, Australian, Italian, Canadian, British and now American all said "Screw that, we're just going to bring our own portable AC units with us"
Apparently the governments of all those countries consider athletic performance more important than "saving the planet". Who would have guessed?
There is going to come a time, sooner rather than later where the Olympics won't matter. And not onl ydue to apathy as people generally won't care about them.
But because no one who looks like the people used to that are supposedly from those countries that won medals actually looks like they're from there anymore.
The Olympics is a slow moving machine. It may take a few more summer and winter ones to happen before people start to notice. But they will. And they'll stop caring. Which means they'll stop watching. And that'll affect the money. No reason to do it without money and sponsorships and ads. Otherwise it'll cost the hosting country hundreds of millions more. Maybe even a billion.
And that'll be payed by the people that live there, slowly.
As an example, it took Montreal nearly 40 years to pay off their Summer Olympics that took place back in 1976. Meanwhile the olympic village went so unused and into disrepair they had to demolish it, and the stadium they built was a laughing stock, as it slowly fell apart for decades. People refused to walk or drive in front of it as chunks of it fell off.
It's already happening. Look at opening ceremony numbers compared to closing ceremony numbers. Prior to 2016, the audience was roughly 1:1 or 4:3. In 2016 and 2020, it was 2:1 and 2024 is unlikely to break the pattern. Half the people who watched the opening ceremonies dropped off before the end, and you only drop off at that rate from apathy.
The only way they'll be able to save the ratings will be mandated bikinis during the women's competition. Men might still be fine the way they are since that's where the actual competition is
Mandated bikinis for the "women" will just mean seeing bulges and hairy chests.
Hey, show some respect for Beach Volleyball!