It was good to see athletes succeed in their field at the Paris Olympics.

They must have been working up to the event for years and invested a huge amount of time and money in their training.

But is this not the time to consider whether such large international events as the Olympics are viable? The future which will be increasingly dominated by global warming factors.

Is there such a thing as a carbon neutral Olympics?

Highly doubtful where hosting countries have to, either already have, or build, huge infrastructure to support the games and millions of people from all around the world need fly in to support the games. And some countries will be affected earlier than others by climate conditions making it more difficult to train and more expensive to artificially create the conditions needed for this.

Some countries will be affected by high heat, 40 to 50 degrees, making it almost impossible to train outdoors.

Others will be increasingly dependent on expensive air conditioning systems for indoor events and stadiums.

Eventually the planet will not be sufficiently hospitable to support the training needed for Olympic standards to be maintained let alone increased.

Time now to consider the future of this otherwise joyous event before huge monies are unnecessarily committed by hosting and competing nations.

Elizabeth Smith

Woodmancote