Abstract des Autors

Climatic heat stress measurements were made during 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1995 at the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Stadium construction site, using three commercially available heat stress monitoring devices. This venue will be the site of opening and closing ceremonies, as well as all of the athletics competition. The measurement periods were during late July and early August, the period corresponding to the planned 1996 Games competition days. Whereas the 1992 data were of a more general nature, and thus preliminary, in 1993, 1994, and 1995 detailed measurements were made at 5-minute intervals during selected 4-hour periods. The potentially high temperature, humidity, and radiant heating in Atlanta during the Games perido to which athletes, spectators, officials, and media could be exposed warranted such detailed studies. Measurements included dry bulb temperature, wet bulb temperature, and black globe temperature. From these values, the heat stress index temperature was calculated. The time periods were in the morning (7:00 through 11:00 AM), in the afternoon (12:30 through 4:30 PM), and in the evening (6:00 through 10:00 PM). Also, in 1994 data were obtained during the 50 km Pan American Race Walk Cup held in September as the first official pre-Olympic athletic test event. Considerable variablility in weather occurred during the 4 identical calendar year periods of July and August, which is described. From these data, it is also possible to estimate and compare the average heat stress encountered during specific time periods. In turn, this permits consideration of whether the heat stress during one period might be preferable to another (for example, early morning versus early evening) regarding the staging of an outdoor endurance event that requires a few hours to complete, such as a marathon or walk. Verf.-Referat