Your Voice: Sustainability and economics at the Olympics, how Formula One is breaking gender barriers

The 2024 Olympics, which concluded earlier this month, were held in the French capital of Paris. The Games proved to be more than just a celebration of athletic excellence. France provided the world with an example of how major global events can prioritise sustainability.

Paris took three significant steps to ensure the Olympics were as green as possible.

1. Reusing competition venues

Using the same locations for multiple categories ensured fewer venues were built, creating less waste. According to the official Olympics website, 95 per cent of the Paris competition venues were pre-existing or temporary. The rest were built using low-carbon construction methods.

2. Lack of air conditioning in Olympic villages

On their social media, we heard multiple athletes complaining about the lack of air conditioners in the Olympic villages. By not using air conditioning, organisers helped cut down the Games’ carbon footprint by a large part.

However, this move kept the athletes from being at their best while competing. In response, Olympic committees from multiple places, such as China and Hong Kong, brought air conditioners to Paris. This dismissed the original objective of reducing the carbon footprint and resulted in more fuel being used to transport these units.

3. Greener meal options

The organisers aimed to serve plant-based options as two-thirds of the food offered to spectators. They also claimed that 80 per cent of the products used were sourced from within France. Enjoying local food may decrease the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air by reducing the fuel needed for the flights or trucks required to transport food from further destinations.

The Paris Games have been named the “most sustainable Olympics so far” because they considered the environment while allowing the audience to enjoy the thrilling competitions.

Paris Olympics: How extreme heat can affect athletes

Andrea Cheung, Island School

The Olympics is a worldwide sporting event that is held every four years. However, since the London 2012 Olympics there has been a drastic decrease in bids, mainly due to rising costs. According to a recent Oxford University Study, the average cost to hold the Olympics is usually three times its bid price. Which leads us to the big question, do host countries actually benefit from the Olympics?

Hosting the Olympics can boost the country’s international reputation. This can be beneficial for nations that want to increase trade and promote public relations. For example, after the 2008 Beijing Olympics, when the World Trade Organization finally opened trade for China.

Hosting the Olympics can create new jobs opportunities. According to Statista, the 2024 Paris Olympics created approximately 150,000 jobs worldwide.

Building new infrastructure for the Games can benefit nearby communities as Olympic villages can be turned into residential complexes. The Paris 2024 Olympic residential village will become a part of the surrounding region of Seine-Saint-Denis and is set to house 6,000 residents.

However, many countries also suffer from hosting the Olympics. This includes debt, white elephants, potential environmental harm and more. The 1976 Montreal Olympics ended up with a US1.5 billion deficit which took a tedious three decades to pay off. After the 2016 Rio Olympics many of the original venues were abandoned and not put to use.

Citizens in the surrounding areas of the events are often forcibly evicted from their homes with little compensation. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, an estimated 1.5 million citizens were forced to leave in order to make way for Olympic infrastructure.

Giselle Lee, West Island School

Formula One, the high-risk sport, has long been considered male-dominated. 20 men race against each other in rocket ship-like vehicles in a battle of speed and strategy. However, since the rise of viewership and investment in women’s sports, Formula One has been investing resources into closing the gender gap.

Susie Wolff, the managing director of the F1 Academy, is pioneering gender equality in the sport. The academy is a female-only racing championship founded by F1 in 2022 and launched in 2023. It provides a pathway for women to hone their skills, providing individuals with mentoring, training and access to resources so that they get the same chances as men to compete in Formula One racing. F1 Academy mirrors the regular F1 calendar, providing a similar experience for female drivers. Wolff herself started as a development driver, taking part in an F1 race – 22 years after the last female to do so – during the 2014 British Grand Prix.

Statistically, women are more likely to be quicker in the F1 cars, as their body weight is usually lighter than men. Cognitive abilities are crucial, and if given the proper training, women possess the same potential as men to excel in the sport.

Paris Olympics: Camera operators told to avoid filming women in a ‘sexist’ way

However, there is a lack of recognition of female drivers’ potential, paired with the societal gender bias in motorsports racing. Sponsorships for women in F1 racing were scarce before the F1 Academy aimed to change that.

In recent years, the demographics for Formula One’s fan base have shifted, with 40 per cent female fans in 2022, an 8 per cent increase from 2017. The F1 Academy drivers become role models for young female aspirants, which is also a way of growing a new market audience. Charlotte Tilbury, a major beauty brand founded by a female entrepreneur, became an official partner of the Formula One Academy this year.

Women are seen on the grandstands as spectators and behind the scenes as engineers. Notable women engineers include current Principal Strategy Engineer at Red Bull Hannah Schmitz, and Margarita Torres Diez, Trackside F1 Power Unit Engineer for Mercedes.

F1 is stepping in the right direction by creating equal opportunities in motorsports racing. Another project, titled Formula Equal, will be launched in 2026 in a bid to make an F1 team with a 50-50 gender split. With the momentum building with the sport, it is clear that Formula One is leaving no one behind.