Tennis player Marcus Daniell, who won a bronze medal for New Zealand in the men’s doubles at Tokyo 2020, told the report’s authors how he had feared for the worst during the competition.
“I felt like the heat was bordering on true risk – the type of risk that could potentially be fatal,” he said. “One of the best tennis players in the world [Medvedev] said he thought someone might die in Tokyo, and I don’t feel like that was much of an exaggeration.
“We sometimes have to play in conditions where an egg can literally be fried on the court. This is not fun or healthy. Heatstroke is relatively common in tennis.”
He added: “I don’t believe there should have to be a series of heat-related deaths for us to put reasonable limitations in place.”
Need for ‘radical reassessment’ of fossil-fuel sponsors
The report contains five recommendations for sporting authorities: smart scheduling to avoid heat extremes; keeping athletes and fans safe with better rehydration and cooling plans; empowering athletes to speak out on climate change; boosting collaboration between sporting bodies and athletes on climate awareness campaigns; and reassessing fossil-fuel sponsorship in sport.
On the latter, the report highlighting partnerships including that of TeamGB with British Gas, adding: “If sport is going to take its sustainability and environmental commitments seriously to minimise the climate-change impacts experienced by athletes and spectators during sporting events, it will need to conduct a radical reassessment of its relationship with fossil-fuel companies as an essential component.”
Coe, meanwhile, cited the threat posed by rising sea levels as one consequence of global warming, writing in his foreword: “At least a dozen, probably more, of our member federation countries will no longer be inhabitable by 2060.
“Climate change should increasingly be viewed as an existential threat to sport.
“We are in a race against time. And this is one race that we simply cannot afford to lose.”
Athletes face ‘particular kind of risk’
Basis is a sustainability hub for the UK sports industry, members of which include Arsenal, Chelsea, Celtic, the Rugby Football Union, the England & Wales Cricket Board, Marylebone Cricket Club, the All England Club and the Jockey Club.
FrontRunners was founded by former Australia rugby star David Pocock and his wife, Emma, who are leading campaigners for action on global warming.
Pocock, who serves as a senator in the Australian government, told Telegraph Sport: “This new report shows the serious impacts of climate-fuelled extreme weather on the Olympics. We know the climate is changing and increasing the frequency and intensity of extreme heat events and other climate disasters. Of course, this impacts all parts of our society – all of the people and places we love, and the highest levels of sport are no different.
“Reading the testimony of so many athletes who have already experienced the impacts of extreme heat is alarming. So, too, is the likelihood of these impacts worsening as the world fails to take the necessary action to keep warming to well below two degrees. In the field of contest, where athletes are taught to push themselves beyond physical limits, this has a particular kind of risk that must be managed by those who govern the games we love.
“As the Olympics approach, I’d urge the organisers to take every step necessary to protect competitors, officials, and spectators. Importantly, I’d urge all of us to do what we can to end the expansion of the fossil-fuel industry and rapidly transition to renewable energy to give us the best chance of protecting the people, places, and games we love.”
