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ATHLETICS faces an uncertain future in the face of the changing climate, with the sport’s head, Sebastian Coe, warning that athletes are already suffering and some member federations’ countries might not even exist in the future.
Nearly 80 percent of athletes surveyed by World Athletics said they are seriously concerned about the climate crisis, and some 75 percent said their competition or training has already been affected, Coe said on the eve of the world championships, which began yesterday.
In a summer that has seen wildfires raging, record-high temperatures across southern Europe and relentless flooding in Asia, the World Athletics president said sports federations cannot rely on governments to avert the climate crisis.
“Where would I start?” the twice Olympic champion said.
“I genuinely don’t think governments are going to meet any of the targets that are being identified.
“And, this is very much a personal view, I am not speaking on behalf of World Athletics. It’s something that I have felt very strongly about for a long time.
“Constituent groups like sport are going to have to figure this out for themselves, because I don’t think we can rely on governments to remotely get to grips with what is going to be a massive shift in reality in the next few years.
“There are countries in our federation that will probably not be in existence in the next 20 years because of rising sea levels.”
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics marathon and race-walking events were moved 800 kilometres north to Sapporo to avoid a repeat of the 2019 world championships in Doha, where numerous athletes succumbed to the heat and dropped out of distance events. Rising temperatures forced the 10 000 metres to be rescheduled at the Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, in 2021.
“The temperature started out mid-30s, by the time I left those championships, it had got to 44 — and that’s the relatively equable climate of Oregon,” Coe said.
He added that scheduling competitions, particularly for endurance events, at times of the year when temperatures are more favourable is a consideration.
Scheduling of the 2025 worlds for mid-September in Tokyo will hopefully mean high temperatures are not as big a threat.
“We have a challenge everywhere we look. The welfare of the athletes for me always needs to be primary,” Coe said.
“Climate change is affecting everybody. Whether they are forest fires, flooding, landslides, we have got a problem here and it’s not limited to those areas that we were instinctively having to figure out 20 or 30 years ago.
“It’s on our doorstep.” — Reuters
Online Reporter