ＬＡ山火事、２０２８年五輪開催めぐり議論も

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】米カリフォルニア州ロサンゼルスで大規模な被害を生んだ山火事が、同地で行われる２０２８年の五輪の準備に影を落とし、安全に大会が開催できるか疑問視する声が出ている。（写真はロサンゼルス・メモリアル・コロシアムで行われた１９８４年ロサンゼルス五輪の閉会式の様子）
　これまでのところ、五輪が開催される予定の８０以上の会場に直接的な影響は出ていないが、一部の専門家は、今回の山火事はロサンゼルスで世界最大のスポーツイベントを開催することの課題を浮き彫りにしていると指摘している。
　仏パリのスケマ・ビジネススクールで、スポーツと地政経済学の教授を務めるサイモン・チャドウィック氏は英紙「ｉ・ペーパー」に対し、「状況は明らかに深刻で、気候変動の見通しを考えると、現在の状況が再び起こる可能性があり、五輪期間中にも起こるかもしれないと考えざるを得ない」と述べ、ロサンゼルス五輪が保険の対象外になる可能性もあると指摘した。
　山火事の火は、ゴルフ競技が行われるパシフィックパリセーズのリヴィエラＣＣに迫ったが、大多数の会場は高リスクの火災区域外に位置している。
　過去のデータによると、２０２８年の五輪期間中に同様の災害が発生する可能性は非常に低い。
　カリフォルニア州森林保護防火局が提供した統計によると、先週までにロサンゼルス郡で発生した火災は、カリフォルニア州の歴史上最も大きな被害を出した２０件の火災のリストには含まれていない。
　また、ロサンゼルス五輪が行われる７月は、今回の山火事の最大の要因と広く見なされている強力な季節風「サンタアナ風」が吹かない。ロサンゼルスは１９３２年と１９８４年の２度、五輪を成功裏に開催した実績もある。
　ペンシルベニア州立大学のマーク・ダイアソン教授は、ロサンゼルスで五輪が開催できない場合は、２０２４年大会が行われたパリに会場を移すアイデアを提案している。
　一部の保守派の評論家は、ロサンゼルスから五輪の開催権を剥奪すべきだとすぐさま主張し、右派活動家のシャルリー・カーク氏はＸ（旧ツイッター）で「ロサンゼルス五輪は中止すべきだ」と書き込んだ。
　ＡＦＰは大会組織員会にコメントを求めたが、回答はなかった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2025/01/29-17:57）

The Los Angeles wildfire disaster has cast a shadow over preparations for the 2028 Olympics, raising questions over whether the city can deliver a safe and successful Games.
So far, none of the more than 80 venues due to stage Olympic competition in Los Angeles have been directly affected by the infernos that have left at least 24 people dead and reduced entire neighborhoods to smouldering ruins.
But experts say the ongoing disaster has underscored the challenges of staging the world's largest sporting event in a region increasingly under threat of wildfires.
The situation is clearly grave and given the prospect of significant climate change, you do have to wonder whether the current situation might be repeated, possibly even during the Games, Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in Paris told British daily The iPaper.
This raises very serious questions, not least about insurance, and whether Los Angeles' big-ticket 2028 attraction might be about to become an uninsurable mega-event.
While the flames that razed Pacific Palisades came uncomfortably close to the Riviera Country Club -- which will host 2028's Olympic golf tournament -- the overwhelming majority of venues are situated outside what would be regarded as high-risk fire zones.
Historical data, meanwhile, indicates that the chances of a similar disaster erupting during the 2028 Olympics are highly unlikely.
Prior to last week, no fire in Los Angeles County had appeared on a list of the 20 most destructive fires in California history, according to statistics provided by CalFire, the state's fire agency.
The 2028 Olympics will also be taking place in July, a time of year when there are no Santa Ana winds, the powerful seasonal gusts widely seen as the biggest factor behind the unprecedented scale and scope of last week's carnage.
And Los Angeles has already staged the Olympics successfully on two occasions -- in 1984 and 1932.
- 'Lessons learned' -
Bill Deverell, a professor of history at the University of Southern California, said the ongoing disaster could provide important lessons for 2028.
Once this is over ... there's no question that we would expect that there would be lessons learned about ways we could presumably try to mitigate cataclysmic disasters like this, Deverell told AFP.
Pennsylvania State University professor Mark Dyerson has floated the idea of the Olympics being moved to 2024 hosts Paris if LA was unable to deliver the games.
They could go back to Paris, the academic told the New York Post. It would be unfortunate, but I'm sure they have some kind of committee -- the IOC is a huge bureaucracy -- that allegedly looks at contingencies.
California Governor Gavin Newsom, however, told NBC's Today morning program that planning for the 2028 Olympics and the FIFA World Cup in 2026 -- where eight matches take place in Los Angeles -- was on track.
Newsom said the flurry of major sporting events in Los Angeles over the next few years -- the city will also host the Super Bowl in 2027 -- should be seen as an opportunity.
My humble position, and it's not just being naively optimistic, (is) that only reinforces the imperative (of) moving quickly, doing it in the spirit of collaboration and cooperation, Newsom told NBC.
Conservative pundits however have wasted no time in demanding that Los Angeles be stripped of the Olympics.
The Los Angeles Olympics should be cancelled, right-wing provocateur Charlie Kirk wrote on X last week.
If you can't fill a fire hydrant, you aren't qualified to host the Olympics. Move them to Dallas, or Miami, so the world?s athletes can compete in a place capable of actually safely building and running something.
USC expert Deverell however said there was little chance of the games being cancelled or moved because of the disaster
The general assumption this means we should cancel the Olympics -- I don't buy that premise, and that?s not going to happen, he said.
Los Angeles 2028 organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.