Qatar could use its ingenious air-conditioning system in football stadiums to help recruit for the 2036 Olympics.
Even the Olympic marathon could be run on a course cooled by air-conditioning, says engineer Saud Abdulaziz Abdul Ghani, who is 13 years old and worked on the cooling systems in seven of the eight stadiums used during the World Cup.
Qatar has plans to bring the 2036 Summer Games to Doha and wants to show with the World Cup that the heat need not be an insurmountable obstacle. “We have proven to the world that we have technological capabilities,” said Ghani. “We can do it again. It is feasible and possible.”
The 2019 World Athletics Championships occurred in the Khalifa International stadium, where the air conditioners ensured a pleasant temperature. However, due to the heat, the marathon was only run after midnight on the boulevard of Doha. Even then, it was so hot that dozens of athletes dropped out with dehydration symptoms.
There are already air-conditioned streets in the oil state and a 1.1-kilometer air-conditioned jogging track in a city park. Still, according to engineer Ghani, it is unnecessary to provide entire streets with mechanical air cooling for the marathon. “It is not necessary. You can think of cooling stations and the like. Technically anything is possible. Let the Games come, and then we will see.”
