REPORTAGE
Will athletes from all over the world get to know hell on the slopes? Originally planned for August, the World Athletics Championships kick off in Doha on Friday, in very high temperatures, capable of destabilizing athletes.
25 degrees in the stadium, 40 outside
"The exit from the airport was a shock for many," says Patrice Gergès, boss of the teams of France. "It felt like a pizza going into an oven." What is now offered to them is a formidable contrast, always difficult to manage, between heat, also related to the humidity, and air conditioning, present in the stadium. Not less than 25 degrees are expected on the track and in the stand, against 40 degrees felt on the outside.
" We invested in refrigerated jackets, in a freezer and coolers to carry "On the French side, everything has been designed to try to counter the effects of heat. "We invested in refrigerated jackets, in a freezer here at the hotel and coolers to carry", lists Patrice Gergès. The risk of angina for athletes, with permanent hot and cold, yet remain very strong.
Favorites in danger?
The situation will be even more delicate outside the modern and air-conditioned speakers. "The athlete finds himself wanting to produce the same type of effort he does in normal times, so we can have relatively significant discomfort," fears the doctor of the team of France, Jean-Michel Serra. "Anyway, it will probably be a lottery and there may not be the results with the expected favorites, we can expect to see some surprises."
Extreme weather conditions could even have an impact on the organization of the competition: there is uncertainty as to the maintenance, even at night, of the women's marathon and the 50 km march, whose defending champion is Frenchman Yohann Diniz.