Athletics chief Coe admits ‘heat challenges’ at Tokyo worlds
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — World Athletics president Sebastian Coe on Tuesday admitted that the world championships starting in Tokyo this weekend face “heat challenges”, after Japan sweltered through its hottest summer on record.
Japan’s average temperature between June and August was 2.36C above “the standard value”, making it the hottest since records began in 1898, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has said.
It was the third consecutive summer of record high temperatures, the agency noted.
The world championships begin in Tokyo on Saturday, four years after the pandemic-delayed 2021 Olympics were held in the Japanese capital.
Coe told reporters that temperatures, which were still as high as 33C on Tuesday, would be an issue for the athletes.
“I don’t think it’s any great secret, we do have some heat challenges in Tokyo,” he said.
“We had them actually at the time of the Games in 2021.”
Marathon and race walk events at the 2021 Olympics, which were held that year from July 23 to August 8, were moved to the cooler northern city of Sapporo because of heat concerns.
Both events are set to stay in Tokyo for the world championships.
Coe said after a meeting of the World Athletics Council that the sport’s leaders were discussing the future risks of global warming.
“These are not transient, they’re here to stay,” he said.
“Governments have not stepped up to the plate, and sport is going to have to take some unilateral judgments and decisions here.
“And we have reflected in the past, if we are committed to athlete welfare, then we should probably be openly committed to that,” he added.
Coe believes that World Athletics is better equipped to deal with the challenges of global warming than other sporting bodies.
“I’m very proud to be able to say with full justification that we have the most accomplished and the most capable health and science team in any international sport, and frankly any sporting organisation,” he said.
