Mega sports events like the Olympics caught on horns of climate change dilemma

PARIS - A leading sports ecologist believes the climate crisis has left organisers of

mega sporting events like the Olympics

facing a truth uncomfortable enough to make them squirm.

Golf courses are sliding into the sea, snow is vanishing from alpine resorts, football grounds have flooded, and wildfire smoke is choking athletes as rising temperatures disrupt events.

Some sports at the Paris Games have enacted extreme heat protocols as temperatures climb, while unseasonal heavy rain has led to high pollution levels in the River Seine that forced a rescheduling of the men’s triathlon on July 30.

“(Climate change) is clearly having an effect,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams said on July 30.

“We have to live in the world that we have. As they say in sport, you have to play with what you have in front of you.”

Critics say extravaganzas like the Olympics, which will welcome an estimated 14 million visitors to Paris, contribute to climate change through a massive carbon footprint.

Author and sports ecologist Madeleine Orr said: “These competitions need to be smaller. It’s not athlete travel that’s doing the damage, it’s all the fans.

“These are conversations I’ve had with the International Olympic Committee, focusing on the local population for ticketing and reducing the size of venues.

“Some people squirm at that.”

Economic benefits

On the other side of the scale is money.

All those visitors mean the Paris Games are projected to generate between €6.7 billion (S$9.7 billion) and €11.1 billion in net economic benefits for the region.

The Paris organising committee set a target of halving the carbon footprint of the 2024 Games compared with earlier editions, excluding Tokyo where spectators were banned due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paris is using a host of measures to achieve this, but the footprint is still an estimated 1.58 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) equivalent, according to its own calculations.

For comparison, a single tonne of CO₂ is equivalent to 138 meat-based meals or a one-way flight from Paris to New York.

“Instead of a 60,000-seat stadium for football, say we’re playing in smaller facilities and there’s 10,000 tickets,” added Dr Orr, whose book Warming Up, How Climate Change Is Changing Sport was published in May.

“It’ll still be an awesome environment for athletes. It’ll look like a full crowd for the cameras. It just won’t be a tourism spectacle.”

Meanwhile, the future of the Games themselves is at risk.

“If we’re talking winter sports, (climate change) is an existential crisis,” Dr Orr said.

“If we’re talking summer sports, we’re still within the window of adaptation. The problem is there’s very little attention being paid.”

The IOC would disagree.

Its “reduce, compensate, influence” climate commitment includes a target of 50 per cent reduction of carbon emissions by 2030, compensating more than 100 per cent of the residual emissions, and encouraging stakeholders and fans to act against climate change.

‘Dramatic impact’

It is also considering introducing a rotation of the Winter Games among a permanent pool of host nations that have a reliable winter climate needed for the Olympics.

IOC president Thomas Bach said in October 2023: “We need to address very quickly this dramatic impact of climate change on winter sport. By mid-century, there will remain practically just 10 to 12 (countries) who could host these snow events.”

On the summer side, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe warned that athletes are suffering, with 75 per cent reporting that competition or training had been affected by climate change.

“There are countries in our federation that will probably not be in existence in the next 20 years because of rising sea levels,” Mr Coe said in 2023.

The heat could cause issues at endurance events in Paris, particularly once athletics gets under way on Aug 1.

The World Championships marathons in Doha in 2019 started at midnight to avoid the searing Middle East heat, and, even then, 46 runners did not finish.

Dr Orr said heat was a threat to sports all over the world and an “existential crisis” in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and parts of China.

Uncontrolled wildfires

North America is also reeling. Hundreds of uncontrolled wildfires are burning across western Canada, forcing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

The smoke from North American wildfires has wreaked havoc over the last few years, forcing the postponement of Major League Baseball games, a National Women’s Soccer League match and an indoor Women’s National Basketball Association game to protect fans and teams.

Mr Christopher Blevins, who came in 13th place in the Olympic mountain bike race on July 29, said checking an air quality app on his phone had become routine.

“There’s typically a fire somewhere on the West Coast and as an endurance athlete, air quality is obviously important,” said the American, an athlete spokesman for environmental group Protect our Winters.

“It’s just a new reality,” he added. “It’s not just sports, it relates just as much to someone who wants to enjoy the outdoors, go for a hike in the park.”

Canadian rower Jennifer Casson recalled training under the “apocalyptic” red sky caused by Canada’s wildfires, and the algae bloom on Vancouver Island’s Quamichan Lake being so dense that she could not see her oar below the surface.

“Athletes care about the planet,” said Ms Casson, who is competing in her second Olympics in Paris.

“We rely on this planet to do our sport, and I don’t need to be an expert to know that it’s getting frickin’ hot outside and I can’t breathe.” REUTERS