World Athletics president Seb Coe has said the Olympic sports calendar needs to be “re-engineered” as a result of the ongoing impact of the climate crisis.
This month’s World Athletics Championships, which concluded in Tokyo, Japan, made headlines for the oppressive heat and high humidity of the conditions as much as for the sporting prowess on show.
Several of the road race events, including both marathons, were moved to the earlier start time of 7.30am local time to avoid the worst of the heat, while water stations were in use in some of the longer races.
Temperatures exceeded 30C for several days, with humidity in the 90 per cent range contributing to the temperature feeling closer to 40C, leading to concerns over athletes’ well-being.
This year the World Championships were moved to September rather than their usual high summer slot in a bid to beat the heat. But Japan has experienced its hottest summer since records began in 1898, with temperatures 2.36C higher than average. More than 3,300 people were hospitalised for heatstroke in Tokyo alone last month, according to the fire department.
Coe told BBC Sport that “governments haven’t really stepped up to the plate” on the issue of tackling the climate crisis, and suggested that the onus would fall on governing bodies to adjust the sporting calendar.
“I can't see beyond the inevitability of having to collectively, as Olympic sports and probably the Olympic movement, really re-engineering what the international calendar looks like,” Coe said.
“I’m not sure that we can go on asking some of our endurance-based athletes to be competing at times of the year which are really are going to hit their performances and are probably putting them at risk as well.
“This has to be addressed.”
Coe raised the possibility that long-distance events such as the marathon may need to be held later in the year than other events to avoid unsafe conditions for competition.
“That's not easy because you're going even into the autumn, early winter months to cities that are still very hot,” he added. “But I do think this is probably going to have to happen at some stage, and sooner rather than later.”
The delayed 2021 Olympic Games, held in high summer in Tokyo, saw the marathon and race walk events relocated 800km north to Sapporo in search of more hospitable conditions, although on the day temperatures were similar in the two locales.
The next World Championships will be held in Beijing, China in September 2027.
Georgia Hunter Bell delighted to beat roommate Keely Hodgkinson at Worlds amid GB gloom at no golds
Triple Olympic champion Nafi Thiam under ‘black cloud’ after withdrawal from World Championships
Katarina Johnson-Thompson soothes ‘Covid Games trauma’ with Tokyo bronze
Georgia Hunter Bell’s future race plans linked to those of Faith Kipyegon
Georgia Hunter Bell delighted to beat Keely Hodgkinson at Worlds amid GB gloom
World Athletics Championships: Britain face ‘reset’ after failure to land gold
