close_game
close_game

Fever pitch: See how the climate crisis is changing the world of sport

BySukanya Datta
Jan 17, 2025 08:12 PM IST

Marathons are being run at midnight. Winter sports are being moved. The Summer Olympics may eventually become the Autumn Games, one researcher says.

In 2019, in Doha, the World Championships held their first-ever midnight marathon, to minimise the impact of heat on runners.

(Clockwise from above) Swiss triathlete Max Studer collapses at the Tokyo Games. Tennis’s Novak Djokovic tries to cool off during the 2018 US Open. Danish cyclist Christopher Juul Jensen at the 2022 Tour de France; roads had to be hosed down to keep them from melting. Canadian runner Berhanu Degefa at the midnight marathon in Doha, in 2019. (Photos: Getty Images, Shutterstock) PREMIUM
(Clockwise from above) Swiss triathlete Max Studer collapses at the Tokyo Games. Tennis’s Novak Djokovic tries to cool off during the 2018 US Open. Danish cyclist Christopher Juul Jensen at the 2022 Tour de France; roads had to be hosed down to keep them from melting. Canadian runner Berhanu Degefa at the midnight marathon in Doha, in 2019. (Photos: Getty Images, Shutterstock)

In 2022, in another first, artificial snow entirely fuelled the Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Also in 2022, the organisers of the already gruelling Tour de France had to spray water on the roads to keep them from melting, as temperatures crossed 35 degrees Celsius.

At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, and the Paris Games in 2024, athletes crashed out of events, or collapsed at finish lines, as a result of heat-related conditions. (Temperatures in Tokyo crossed 34 degrees Celsius; in the first week of the Paris Games, they crossed 36 degrees Celsius.)

As the planet warms — last year was the hottest on record, at 1.55 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial 1850s levels — organisers, federations and athletes are beginning to account for altered climate and extreme weather events.

Some athletes are adding heat acclimation to their training, and altering pre-event routines to lower core temperatures and pre-empt rapid dehydration (Click here to read racewalker and Olympian Rhydian Cowley’s account).

There is talk of changes in tournament schedules; tracks incorporating more hydration stops; and extended-play games such as hockey, football and tennis incorporating more breaks.

Sports and sportspeople are attempting to reduce their own considerable emissions footprints as well, though there is much ground to be covered here, and no sign of the drastic changes that would be required (less air travel, less disposable gear, smaller footprints for the large venues and events themselves).

Meanwhile, studies are highlighting a key long-term impact among athletes — anxiety. “Especially when I must adjust race strategies and pacing on the fly, I cannot tell if I am making the right decision,” says Indian triathlete Pragnya Mohan, who has battled heat illness on the track.

Artificial snow fuelled the entire Winter Olympics in Beijing, for the first time ever, in 2022. (Getty Images)
Artificial snow fuelled the entire Winter Olympics in Beijing, for the first time ever, in 2022. (Getty Images)

***

“It sounds like science fiction, but we could be heading into a reality where major tournaments, the way we’ve known them, might change completely,” says Mike Tipton, professor of human and applied physiology at the Extreme Environments Laboratory, University of Portsmouth.

“There will possibly be places on the planet where one simply cannot hold Summer or Winter Olympics, or Test cricket matches anymore. It’s also possible the Summer Olympics may become the Spring or Autumn Olympics.”

Ahead of Paris 2024, Tipton co-authored a research report, commissioned by the non-profit organisations British Association for Sustainable Sport and FrontRunners, that predicted the Games would be the hottest ever. (Official confirmation of this is still awaited.)

Rings of Fire: Heat Risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics included accounts from athletes across 15 sports, including 11 Olympians, on the growing strain caused by rising temperatures.

It’s “scary”, “like your whole body is shutting down” and “fighting you every step of the way,” Mohan, British rower Imogen Grant, Japanese race-walking world champion Yusuke Suzuki and others told Tipton and his fellow researchers.

***

Around the world, other reports are raising similar alarms.

Heat, drought, and extreme storms are among the top three risks affecting cricket and cricketers, noted a 2019 report titled Hit for Six: The Impact of Climate Change on Cricket, by researchers from the universities of Leeds and Portsmouth (commissioned by the British Association for Sustainable Sport, along with the universities of Leeds and Portsmouth).

A 2019 study in RICYDE (the Spanish International Journal of Sports Sciences) found a correlation between higher temperatures and a higher number of penalty shoot-outs.

Skiing, curling, skating and ice hockey are seeing event dates move, to account for thinning, delayed or simply not enough snowfall.

“In the Swiss Alps I experienced seasons with inadequate snow like never before... Because there weren’t enough layers of snow laid down in early winter, the base never forms properly and a painfully short season follows. It is less stable under the skis and it may not fully cover rocks and plants... It is dangerous for an athlete if take-offs and landings are formed from sheets of ice,” British freestyle skier Laura Donaldson noted, in a 2022 report titled Slippery Slopes, compiled by researchers at Loughborough University, London, and the non-profit organisations Sport Ecology Group and Protect Our Winters, UK.

***

Sprinklers near the Eiffel Tower during the 2024 Games. These Games were likely the hottest ever (official confirmation is awaited). The hottest before Paris: Tokyo 2021. (Shutterstock)
Sprinklers near the Eiffel Tower during the 2024 Games. These Games were likely the hottest ever (official confirmation is awaited). The hottest before Paris: Tokyo 2021. (Shutterstock)

What should the sports industry do?

In her book Warming Up: How Climate Change is Changing Sport (2024), journalist and sports ecologist Madeleine Orr writes that a key responsibility will be “to reduce its (sports’) footprint and increase its brainprint — the amount of attention we draw to climate change and other global issues.”

The carbon footprint and contribution of sport to waste are too massive and irresponsible to ignore, she adds, particularly as climate affects “everything from scheduling to on-field performance, from mental health to the financial bottom line”.

“It is time for federations, venues, institutes, athletes — and fans — to ask: What resources am I consuming? What by-products am I creating? How am I contributing to the community and space in which I operate, the community and space from which I draw such benefit?” says Walker J Ross, who teaches sport management at University of Edinburgh and is director of Sport Ecology Group, a collective of academics working at the intersection of sports and environment.

Some small shifts are occurring. Attempts at net-zero hockey astro-turfs include the Poligras used at the Paris Games last year. SailGP’s newest championship, the Impact League, awards points for speed and sustainability (by accounting for aspects such as innovative technology, promotion of clean energy, waste reduction and recycling).

A lot more will need to be done.

***

“It can help to remember that sport and the natural environment have always been interlinked,” says Ross. “Most sports have had a link with the environment in which they were born. Surfing came out of indigenous practices in Polynesia; golf was formalised in the countryside of Scotland. Over time, we’ve begun to take this relationship for granted.” The truth is, we can’t any more.

Event schedules will need to be altered. Even course distances may eventually need to be reduced, Ross says.

“Keeping athletes safe will involve offering them support and outreach too, so they can speak out about heat risks and be part of the conversation and advocate for better decisions.”

Hear from those who are speaking out: Olympic runners, mountaineers, sailors, skiers. And see how heat, already a grave threat to the human body, affects athletes very, very differently.

What can you do, as a sports-lover and a worried human? There’s more on that too.

rec-icon Recommended Topics
Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.
See More
Catch your daily dose of Fashion, Taylor Swift, Health, Festivals, Travel, Relationship, Recipe and all the other Latest Lifestyle News on Hindustan Times Website and APPs.

For evolved readers seeking more than just news

Subscribe now to unlock this article and access exclusive content to stay ahead
E-paper | Expert Analysis & Opinion | Geopolitics | Sports | Games
SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Sunday, February 09, 2025
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On