Rings of Fire

In June, alongside the British Association for Sustainable Sport (BASIS), we launched a report, Rings of Fire: Heat at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The report is the second iteration of its kind, following Rings of Fire: Heat & Tokyo 2021, looking at the implications and likelihood of extreme heat at the Paris Olympics. 

The 2021 Tokyo Olympics were the hottest in history, with athletes, spectators, support staff and volunteers all suffering. This new report pairs climate science alongside the lived experience of current and former Olympians, including Australia’s very own Olympic racewalker, Rhydian Cowley. 

We love to see athletes pushing themselves to be their best, especially at major global sporting events like the Olympics. We’re used to seeing athletes pushing themselves in extreme conditions. But, what we’re now seeing with rising temperatures is that those conditions are becoming dangerous. 

The report has stories from athletes like tennis player Daniel Medvedev, talking about the risk of athletes dying from the heat. It also includes Yusuke Suzuki, a Japanese racewalker who was a favourite for the Tokyo Olympics, who was unable to compete after sustaining a heat stress injury, and India’s top triathlete, Pragnya Mohan, who can no longer train in India because of the intensity of heat conditions in her home country. 

Key recommendations from the report have had input from the athletes, including: 

1. Smart scheduling: avoid the hottest parts of the day for exposed sports, and reschedule when required. 
2. Keep athletes safe: organisers need to invest more in protecting competitors, fans, support staff, workers and volunteers. 
3. Support outreach: empower athletes to speak up about their experience with the ongoing and future impacts of climate change. 
4. Commit to collaboration: sporting bodies and athletes have the power to work together towards climate action. 
5. Reassess fossil fuel sponsorship: the long-term cost of such partnerships must be reassessed.