'Could be fatal': report details deadly heat risk of Paris Olympics

The second Rings of Fire: Heat risks at the 2024 Paris Olympics report was published on Tuesday morning, making five recommendations to mitigate the impacts of extreme heat.

Athletes are bracing for the Paris heat to be one of their biggest hurdles when the Games begin next month as experts tip climate change inaction to have a significant impact on major global sporting events.

The Tokyo Olympics in 2021 were described as "hottest in history, with temperatures jumping above 34 degrees and 70 per cent humidity.

Paris is expected to be just as brutal. The average temperature in the City of Love in July and August has jumped 2.4 degrees and 2.7 degrees respectively over the past 100 years.

The Rings of Fire report, produced by the British Association of Sustainable Sport and FrontRunners, gathered opinions from experts and athletes leading into the Games.

Canberra's two-time javelin world champion Kelsey Barber said "the bigger picture of why we are experiencing it" while race walker Rhydian Cowley added "Absolutely, I'm concerned that extreme heat in competition could threaten the lives of athletes."

"This report puts a stake in the ground, showing that climate and sports scientists, along with athletes, recognise the risks and want sports governing bodies to take action," said FrontRunners chief executive Emma Pocock.

"If the planet continues to warm, sports we know and love are at risk.

"There's a real responsibility that falls to those who are in charge of managing and governing our games. This report is about the Olympics, but this transcends the Olympics.

"It would be great to see sports administrators taking more action in this area to protect athletes, officials and spectators from the impacts of climate.

"There is a lot risk here and we're seeing it unfold in real time, but the protection for participants probably aren't up to scratch."

Eleven Olympians took part in the report, which was jointly developed and follows on from the initial "Rings of Fire" study leading into the Tokyo Games.

The second edition details concerns about lack of action on climate change and burning fossil fuels and encourages athletes to feel comfortable speaking up after detailing their experiences.

The five recommendations were: smart scheduling to avoid extreme heat, keeping athletes and fans safe with cooling plans, empowering athletes to speak up on climate change, boosting collaboration between sporting bodies and athletes, and reassessing fossil fuels sponsorship in sport.

New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell said the heat on Tokyo was so oppressive he couldn't rehydrate properly despite going on to win a bronze medal.

"I felt like the heat was bordering on true risk - the type of risk that could potentially be fatal," he said in the report.

"We sometimes have to play in conditions where an egg can literally be fried not he court. This is not fun or healthy ... And the dangerous thing is that athletes don't know when to stop, because we're conditioned to push ourselves beyond limits as a rule."

In track and field events, 75 per cent of more than 350 athletes who took part in a World Athletics survey said climate change had a direct negative impact on their health and performance.

"I worry that not all athletes are offered information or strategies to manage extreme heat exposure and therefore aren't as well prepared or understand the risk in competing in high heat conditions," Barber said.

"This is definitely becoming a familiar trend and a familiar conversation when it comes to preparation for a major competition.

"I think it's concerning how quickly this has become a reality, and while we have adapted to the likelihood of competing in extreme heat, the bigger picture of why we are experiencing it isn't being addressed, it's just been accepted and planned for."

Barber relocated from Canberra to Brisbane after the Tokyo Games to help her better prepare for events around the world given training in a Canberra winter can't prepare her for summer events across the globe.

Pocock said inaction on climate change would lead to long-term effects on "sports we've loved for so many generations".

"There's a sense that people are starting to sit up and think about it," Pocock said.

"Athletes, particularly at the Olympics, push themselves past their physical limits. Unfortunately we're living in a climate where doing that has really serious health consequences. It's a challenge ... but this report hits home."