Outdoor sport in extreme heat: Capturing the personal experiences of elite athletes

Abstract

Heat stress from the environment can be detrimental to athlete health and performance. No research, however, has explored how elite athletes conceptualise and experience heatwaves and climate change. Utilising a qualitative approach, this study examined elite athletes’ perceptions, experiences and responses to extreme heat in relation to climate change and explored the use of their platforms for climate activism. Fourteen elite athletes from United Kingdom, Australia, United States of America, Sweden and Canada, who represented ten different sports including race walking, netball and cricket were recruited using snowball sampling. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed four broad themes. The first theme reflected uncertainty surrounding the causes of heatwaves and the impact of heat on athlete health and performance. The second theme reflected care and concern for sport and society, including concern for the well-being of athletes and spectators, the impact of heat on facilities and participation at grass-roots level and how the nature of sport may change in the future. The third theme referred to the implications of heatwave experience on athlete health and performance, and how experience affected individual and organisational preparedness. Finally, the fourth theme referred to enablers and barriers to successful climate change communication. This study contributes to the sport ecology literature by introducing the subjective heat experiences of elite athletes. Educating athletes and event organisers about the impacts of heat on sport participation is imperative to increase awareness, and hopefully limit illness for those training and competing.