‘We have to do something’: athletes speak up as climate change threatens sports and health
Indian triathlete Pragnya Mohan, New Zealand footballer Katie Rood among the athletes to speak on the issue at the UN climate summit in Baku
Pragnya Mohan has been a professional triathlete for almost a decade, but summers in her native India are now so hot that she cannot train there any more. She escaped the heat to train in the United Kingdom, but worries about a day when a warming world kills her sport entirely.
American discus thrower Sam Mattis described temperatures as high as 44 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) at the 2021 US Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, causing some fans, officials and athletes to pass out.
And New Zealand football player Katie Rood recalled training in heat chambers to prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, and warm-ups cut short in high heat and humidity.
All three spoke at the United Nations climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan to talk about the threat that climate change poses to them, to fans and to sport itself. With billions of fans worldwide, they are among athletes and leagues trying to get more people to care about, and act on, climate change.
“In the future, if climate change is not addressed and is not thoughtfully handled, triathlons can cease to exist,” Mohan said at a panel discussion.
It’s not all about heat. Mohan noted that this year’s Paris Olympics had to delay some triathlon events because heavy rains – which have increased as a warming atmosphere holds more water – contributed to high bacteria levels in the Seine River.
