A morning look at the weather app doesn’t bode well these days in Budapest: weather warning. Extremely high temperatures. Plus the humidity. A maximum load for the organism, especially in the endurance disciplines. The question of how to deal with it is also a question of the future. World Association President Sebastian Coe sees a need for action.
Christopher Linke is an old hand in his business. After seven World Cup participations, he knows exactly what is important. On heat adaptation and heatmanagement for example. And so the Vice European Champion from Potsdam had several cooling scarves in his luggage when he started his 35 km walking competition on Thursday (08/24/2023).
Without his own creation with ice fans, the veteran would probably have failed over the long distance. “I definitely wouldn’t have gone that fast. I would have overheated and possibly not even finished.”said the 34-year-old in the sports show. “It was one of the toughest races of my career.”
The asphalt is already glowing in the morning
Maybe even the hardest. As early as 8.30 a.m., the temperatures in the Hungarian capital had climbed to 30 degrees and the asphalt was glowing. Despite the hardships (“The last seven or eight kilometers were absolutely borderline”) Linke secured fifth place with a German record over 35 km, just like at the start over 20 km. Be teamcolleague Carl Dohmann, who is not a fan of hot races anyway, had to because of it “Problems with the mugginess and with the circulatory system” exit.
The problem is not only the heat, but above all the humidity. An extreme strain on the organism, especially endurance sports get to feel it. Adjustments have therefore already been made to the World Championships competition schedule, and the women’s 5,000m heats scheduled for Wednesday (08/23/2023) have been moved from midday to the evening.
As with walking, the starting time for the men’s and women’s marathons at the weekend was 7 a.m. from the outset. The only German starter, Melat Kejeta, is nevertheless worried about her competition on Saturday. After all, the runner from Ethiopia sometimes gets sick of the heat in combination with the already demanding 42.195 km. In view of the weather conditions, very fast times are probably not possible anyway.
Decathlete Kaul: Look for as much shade as possible
The temperatures in Budapest have been well over 30 degrees every day since Saturday, and the decathletes are also thinking about their two-day competition. “It will be very important for us to seek as much shade as possible”said European champion Niklas Kaul. “The pole vault in particular will be in the blazing midday sun. You have to make sure that you cool down as much as possible and supply enough electrolytes and carbohydrates.” The 2019 world champion assumes that the heatmanagement will be decisive in the exhausting all-around.
Heat again a big topic
Four years after the World Cup in Qatar, the heat is again a big issue. The sun is beating down mercilessly on the athletes, sprinter Gina Lückenkemper posted a picture showing her hands after her run. She burned herself on the hot track while waiting in the starting block. Walker Saskia Feige finished 30th and shortly afterwards had to be treated medically for circulatory problems.
Climate change and the question of the future
However, the question of how to deal with the conditions is also a question of the future. Budapest is increasingly struggling with the climate, there are few green spaces that can counteract the rising heat. How metropolises can protect their residents in the course of climate change has long been a global issue.
Coe: competition calendar could change
Sebastian Coe is also very concerned, according to the world association president, the high temperatures due to global warming will also change the international competition calendar. For example, some of the endurance disciplines could potentially be decoupled from the World Championships in the summer months and moved to cooler seasons and other venues so as not to jeopardize the safety and well-being of the athletes. “That has to be our priority.”
It is very sad that we live in a world that politicians probably should have known 20 years ago was developing.
It will depend on the sport, said the 66-year-old in an ARD interview and criticized the political approach: “We will not solve climate change. Governments will not be able to do that. They have uniquely failed to really address the problem and are now even moving away from some targets. This will force global sport to adjust its calendar rethink.”
Will Tokyo 2025 get any better?
At the 2019 World Championships in Doha, the association was criticized for hosting the marathons, which posed significant problems for some starters despite the nocturnal date. The next World Championships will take place from September 13 to 21, 2025 in Tokyo, which was also very hot during the Olympic Games two years ago – albeit in July and August. “Hopefully planning the 2025 World Cup for mid-September in Tokyo means that high temperatures are not such a big threat”says Coe.
But of course that is not certain. The Olympic marathon and walk events had been moved 800 kilometers north to Sapporo at the Olympics to protect endurance athletes, but it wasn’t cooler there. At short notice, the races were brought forward by one hour to 6 a.m.
In the ARD interview, Coe referred to the unusual heat in Budapest as well: “We have to ask ourselves questions about what future host cities can look like. We have shown in the past as an athletics federation that we can make bold and difficult decisions. We may need to do the same with regard to climate change.”