Athletes warned of 'rings of fire' at Tokyo Games
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Athletes competing in a half-marathon earlier this month in Sapporo, where the Olympic marathon will be held from Aug 7-8. Games organisers had moved events like the marathon to the city as it will be cooler than Tokyo.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO • Covid-19 is not the only danger at the Tokyo Olympics.
Climate change is adding another risk as intense heat and high humidity threaten the health and performance of athletes, according to a UK-based association.
Athletes are increasingly being asked to compete in environments that are becoming "too hostile" for the human body, the British Association for Sustainable Sport (Basis) said in a report released last week titled: Rings of Fire: How Heat Could Impact the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
The impact is likely to be felt this summer in Japan, which has experienced record-breaking heat waves in recent years.
Tokyo's mean temperature has climbed by 2.86 deg C since 1900, more than three times as fast as the world's average, the report said.
"The message is clear - the number of situations in which we are exposing athletes and competitors to extreme risk, at all levels of sport, continues to grow as climate change intensifies," said Russel Seymour, founder and chief executive of Basis.
"Athletes can race against time and each other, but they cannot be expected to outrun climate change."
The Basis climate report comes as the Tokyo Olympics, already delayed by a year, are facing increased pressure because of the pandemic.
Japan can get dangerously hot in the summer. A heat wave saw temperatures surge to a record 41 deg C in Tokyo's neighbouring Saitama prefecture in 2018, causing thousands to fall ill with heat stroke.
Each year has more days when the maximum daily temperature exceeds 35 deg C, especially since the 1990s, the report added.
Temperatures in the Japanese capital are forecast to average between 26.3 and 27.4 deg C in August, reaching a high of 39.1 deg C on Aug 3. That compares with an average of 11.1 deg C for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, which took place in October.
Should there be no change in the weather, Tokyo will be among only a handful of Olympic hosts with temperatures higher than 25 deg C: Beijing (2008), Athens (2004) and Atlanta (1996).
With the Games scheduled to take place from July 23 to Aug 8, some events including the marathon and road cycling have been moved to cooler places near Sapporo, Hokkaido and Mount Fuji.
The Basis study has recommended measures be put in place across different sports and events to mitigate the risk of illnesses including heat stroke.
They include more developed guidelines for when events should be changed or cancelled due to weather, improved education about heat illness, additional cooling breaks and heightening medical provisions.
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