Climate change threatens the very existence of top-of-the-line sports today – a radical proposal from an expert that would turn big games into something completely different

– The study had assessed where it would be safe to host the Winter Olympics from a climate and conditions perspective. It was stated that if emissions increase at the rate they have now, we will have one of these 21 at the turn of the century, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT), assistant professor Ville Uusitalo told in a discussion at the Sports Studio.

– But if we act now and are able to stick to that 1.5-degree target, we would still have 8-9 targets at the end of the century.

If this were to happen, the Winter Olympics could be held at the turn of the century, in addition to Sapporo, in Albertville, Calgary, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Salt Lake City, and the latest winter venues in Pyeongchang and Beijing.

Instead, Sochi, for example, is far too hot a place for winter sports, and the situation in traditional venues such as Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Grenoble and Chamonix looks bad.

The new climate report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) underlines that climate change is happening now and the effects are already visible. About three billion people live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate change. There is still something to be done about this, but Uusitalo says the rush is fierce.

Environmental and responsibility expert Jaana Helminen infrastructure and transport have the greatest impact on the climate at sporting events. He thinks the naive thinking that races can be granted anywhere should be stopped.

Already, the situation is such that there are only ten cities in the world where major winter sports events, such as the World Cup and the Olympics, can be held, even in a somewhat sustainable way.

– So you could think that in the next 30 years you would only compete in these cities, and not even give competitions to anyone else, Helminen said.

– But moving is another matter.

Weightlifter Anni Vuohijoki acknowledges the problem of air transport. However, Goat River thinks athletes can make a lot of good choices.

– It has been seen that some athletes fly private jets and the like. One thing could be that it would be condensed for teams to fly at the same time, and not on different planes, Vuohijoki reflected in the Sports Studio’s discussion.

In his view, in ball sports, consideration could be given to playing games more than once, so teams would not have to travel to localities multiple times.

The Goat River reminds that athletes can also influence climate change through their diet.

– Athletes eat quite high-protein foods, which means they could take in more vegetable protein. I have been trying for a long time to move my diet to carbohydrate-based and vegetable-based, Vuohijoki said.

Ville Uusitalo thinks that now is a good opportunity to think on a species-by-species basis how to achieve such a reduction in emissions. He points out that one of the prerequisites for top sports is that the competitors are in the same place. Could you compromise on crowds on site, would that help? Uusitalo believes that completely excluding the public would not necessarily be the solution.

– We have an example of the Rio Olympics. In it, less than 20% of the audience came from afar, and they caused 80% of the emissions from the movement. Traffic coming from nearby is not so problematic, and it is much easier to handle it by public transport or otherwise with different sustainable modes of transport, Uusitalo said.

If we think radically, Jaana Helminen thinks that it would be an environmental act if a foreign or distant audience were excluded from competitions.

– The movement of people from nearby areas can in fact be organized very emission-free if desired, but flying is a problem. And that’s a big problem, Helminen said.

– One could radically think about, for example, the Olympics or the World Cup with a local audience. In any case, most follow the competitions through the media. That is, if you think radically, the athletes will get in, but the audience will not go any further.

The corona pandemic has had a strong impact on sports over the past couple of years and when concrete encounters were banned, many sports experimented with virtual races. Among other things, the cheerleading world championship medals were handed out in virtual competitions. The PM competitions in weightlifting were also held virtually, but Anni Vuohijoki did not warm up for this experiment.

– It was a nice event, but the competition also includes entertainment. When it is deprived, it takes away part of why you train and why you play sports. It does these things to get in the limelight to show how good it is, Vuohijoki said.

In the opinion of Goat River, we need to think about what we want to give up because of climate change and what not.

– Maybe the individual big races, the World Championships and the European Championships, could be in front of the audience, but not every village Grand Prix race would be held for the public.

According to the Goat River, individual athletes can make a big difference, whether it’s fighting climate change or helping others. His own world of values ​​has changed with recent events and he has been helping Ukrainian refugees in Finland, among other things. According to Goat River, athletes can do a lot of good and find that top sports are as much collaborative as possible, both in team and individual sports.

– A sports career only lasts a certain amount of time. Yes, at least I would like to be remembered as a good person rather than a good athlete, he said.

The value of the medals is no longer the same for the Goat River, but he reminds that sports also give successful athletes the key to being listened to.

– For example, if you think about how much Teemu Selänntä monitored, it has significance. In my opinion, it is an injustice if that significance is not used to do good, Vuohijoki said.

Doing good is not just on the shoulders of individual athletes. For example, the hockey league club Pelicans in Lahti achieved their goal in December (you will switch to another service) to be the world’s first carbon-neutral hockey team. During the project, more than 70 percent of the league team’s emissions were eliminated through energy repairs to the ice rink and changes in the team’s movement. Ville Uusitalo calculated the league team’s carbon footprint for the seasons 2017–18 and 2020–21.

– This is a good example and a demonstration that we can systematically think about where those emissions come from and then think about how they can be avoided. For example, can flying be avoided and switching to renewable energy or renewable fuels, how can the public be encouraged to arrive by public transport … These many but big factors make up the whole, Uusitalo said.

Nor can sport alone tackle climate change, but it must play its part.

In Helminen’s opinion, the situation in the world is by no means lost, although it sometimes seems so.

– There is always hope. All it takes is action and an understanding of their challenges. That sometimes there are problems and you just have to try to tackle them. Together, it will succeed, Helminen assured.