Extreme heat forces World Athletics to change racing plans amid Seb Coe climate change warning

The road races at the Tokyo Olympics were moved to Sapporo in 2021 due to heat issues. Photo: Getty Images/Reuters

A heat wave in Budapest forced the organizers of the World Championships in Athletics to change the schedule for Wednesday after the government warned people to avoid physical activity from 11:00 to 17:00.

Most of the action takes place in the evening or, in the case of marathon races, early morning, but the women's 5000m race, which was supposed to take place at 11:00 on Wednesday, has been moved to the evening.

This will mean that athletes like Dinah Asher-Smith and Jarnel Hughes now start early in the 200m on Wednesday morning.

This follows World Athletics President Seb Coe's insistent warning that climate change and rising global temperatures could affect both the location of major championships and whether events like the marathon should take place at a completely different time. year.

The two marathon races in Budapest this week are set to start at 7am respectively on Saturday and Sunday mornings, when temperatures of up to 27°C are predicted. Natasha Cockram is the only British athlete to compete in both marathons. Daytime temperatures in Budapest are expected to reach 35°C in the coming days.

World Athletics uses a combination of heat, humidity and thermal stress conditions, and what is considered a «black flag» is achieved at 30°C. In Hungary, the chief medical officer also announced a second degree of heat danger for the country from 14:00 Monday to midnight Thursday. These days, people are being advised to stay cool and avoid exercise between 11:00 am and 5:00 pm.

Coe raised the issue of climate change again ahead of the championship. “This is something that I have been experiencing very strongly for a long time,” he said. “Constituent groups like sports will have to figure this out on their own because I don’t think we can rely on governments to remotely handle what is going to be a massive reality shift in the next few years.”

“There are countries in our federation that will probably not exist in the next 20 years. I think we'll have to spend a lot of time thinking about what the calendar looks like and maybe . . . separate some of the tougher endurance events from our World Championships in the summer months.”

The Tokyo Olympics Marathon and Race Walking events have been moved 800 kilometers north to Sapporo in 2021. Many athletes died from the heat and dropped out of distance competition at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.