In 2019, a dome of smoke enveloped a cricket match being played in Australia, rising from the bushfires that choked the vicinity of the stadium. While the rains have disrupted the ongoing World T20 tournament, it is the heavy downpour across south-east Australia, which forced thousands away from homes and witnessed water overrunning across 16 rivers in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, as well as western suburbs of Melbourne, that have brought home the truth of a climate crisis on the periphery of sport. In Egypt, world leaders have gathered to discuss the climate crisis and compensating poor nations suffering climate disasters.
Elsewhere, seaside golf courses are facing threats of being overrun by invading seas. Beijing had to cart in synthetic snow for the Winter Olympics after temperatures wreaked havoc with the quality of the snow and ice formation last year. At the Tokyo Olympics, Spanish tennis champ Paula Badosa had to leave the match in a wheelchair after suffering from a heat stroke.
From cancelled tournaments to the deteriorating impact on players’ health, whimsical rain patterns and rising temperatures across the globe have raised concerns over the future of sports.
Ooty faces wrath of rains
A case in point is Ooty, India’s favourite high-altitude training centre for long-distance athletes. Treasured for its climate that helps improve lung capacity, supports recovery and allows comfortable high-intensity training without draining out, Ooty, however, has faced the brunt of unexpected intense rainfall – wrecking training patterns.
Mohamed Azarudeen, the assistant coach for middle and long-distance running for the Senior Nationals Athletics Coaching Camp, told indianexpress.com that in recent times, high rainfall has become very common at the hill station.
Azarudeen explained that after the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Ooty became a “main base for middle and long-distance running”.
Mohamed Azarudeen, the assistant coach for middle and long-distance running for the Senior Nationals Athletics Coaching Camp
“Other high-altitude centres such as Dharamsala and Shilaru were not as successful because the seasonal climate and oxygen levels are apt in Ooty,” he said.
However, “due to the global climatic changes, in recent times, we have been facing a lot of rainfall. We have high rainfall in January and February also… you can’t say it only rains in particular months. Last year, we only got 40-50 per cent of the normal winters. You can’t predict now, what will happen. Ooty is facing sudden climatic changes — sudden storms. It’s a major drawback,” Azarudeen added.
According to data provided by the Tamil Nadu government on its website, the Nilgiris district experienced ‘above normal’ rainfall in the years 2019-20 and 2020-21. From June 1 to July 14, this year, the Nilgiris received 125 per cent above normal rainfall, according to a statement by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin. The intense rainfall caused minor landslides, damage to houses and crops, and uprooted trees.
For athletes, it meant a change in their training programs. “You may want to do higher intensity training program or run with spikes but you can’t because, for that, your muscles should be warm… they should be activated. Rainfall has a negative impact — you can’t train at a higher intensity as you’re more likely to get muscle cramps and pulls,” Azarudeen stated.
“So, to keep an athlete’s training alive, we switch to light activations, core activations and mobility drills. You change the day of your schedule if it rains, but you can’t skip the training,” he added.
Changes in the rainfall pattern have also played spoilsport for Citadel Sports, a sports events and management company. They had to cancel a planned cricketing event in August due to erratic rainfall in Hyderabad. “We wanted to market the event at least a month in advance. In July, however, it started raining unexpectedly and we weren’t sure what it would be like in August so we had to postpone the event,” Prudhvi Kolaventy, the founder and CEO of Citadel Sports said.
Prudhvi Kolaventy, the founder and CEO of Citadel Sports
An ex-professional football player, Kolaventy also flagged lapses in infrastructure that make the organising of sporting events more vulnerable to erratic weather. For sports such as football, which can be played in the rain, but only if the ball doesn’t float, the grounds need to be designed in a way that the water runs off. “Here, we have grounds which become swimming pools — there will be puddles,” Kolaventy said.
“In summer, when it’s really warm you can’t do much. We don’t have a lot of indoor facilities in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Abroad, they control the weather problem by having indoor facilities,” he added of unplayable conditions.
Heat taking a toll on fitness
Extreme temperatures in summer have been a cause of concern for coaches and fitness trainers from across sports. Rajesh Nagar, the head coach at Delhi-based Bal Bhavan Cricket Academy, who has also trained the likes of Yash Dhull, noted, “When there’s heat, a pace bowler is more likely to get cramps. They wouldn’t be able to bowl the ball with speed in continuity. When it’s too humid, the players sweat more and get tired easily, especially at a young age.”
The Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its recent report flagged a continued rise in temperatures if measures are not taken urgently to limit global warming to 1.5 C. With the consequent increase in flash floods, prolonged droughts and other disasters, the issues faced by the sporting industry are only set to get worse.
Is there a way to cope with the changing climate? The answer requires an overhaul of policies and rules across sports. Greater concern and respect for environmental flashpoints and warnings, without waiting till the last minute for disaster to strike, is also the need of the hour. In fact, in February, the United Nations also examined how sports can become integral to climate action by leveraging their popularity to create awareness and also reduce their carbon footprint by encouraging sustainable practices.
In the meantime, sports administrators have tried to introduce changes to deal with the change in temperatures. This year, the Premier League and EFL introduced midway water breaks amid extreme heat warning in England. Across sports, players are encouraged to don ice vests during breaks. Fitness trainers are also placing importance on individual health to minimise the impact of extreme weather conditions.
Adil Mistry, the director of Hyderabad Football League (HFL) which organises semi-pro matches across the city, said that rising temperatures can also result in strokes and injuries, “The silver lining is that our technology in terms of injury management and injury prevention has improved. Compared to some five years back, we now have a lot of new equipment and data analysis methods. There are devices that can track your movement and fatigue and predict injury.”
Adil Mistry, the director of Hyderabad Football League (HFL)
Track and field coach Eric Dixon, who has trained athletes across the US and India, recounted how he asked athletes in the US to do their core exercises at a sauna while they were training for a Masters Championship in Puerto Rico. “They said, ‘You’re crazy’. But they did it. When we got to Puerto Rico, the temperature was over 100 (Fahrenheit). People were passing out because they weren’t used to competing in that hot environment. None of our athletes passed out because they went to the sauna and got their bodies acclimated to the temperature change.”
Dixon asserted that the need of the hour is to improve coaches’ education. “They need to know their athletes and the athletes’ bodies. And as we learn more about the human body, the more our training programmes need to change.”
In a bid to reduce vulnerability to sudden weather changes, Azarudeen pitched for indoor facilities. “In Europe, there are six months of summer, which will see outdoor training and competitions, while in winter, they will train and compete indoors. It will be good if, in India, the government is willing to provide such facilities. We can’t just rely on outdoor training. The Odisha government is doing a very good job – it’s coming up with an indoor track in Bhubaneswar. We have to set up our indoor stadiums and track for athletes wherever they are required.”
