World Athletics warns Tokyo heat will challenge athletes at World Championships

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe warned that athletes competing at the World Championships in Tokyo will face "heat challenges" as Japan endures its hottest summer since records began.

The nine-day tournament, featuring the world's leading track and field athletes, begins Saturday. Japan's summer temperatures have been 2.36 degrees Celsius above average, and the opening day — which will host the 35-kilometre men's and women's race walk — is forecast to reach about 32 C. Both race walks are scheduled to start at 8 a.m. local time in a bid to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Coe recalled similar conditions at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, when organisers relocated the marathon and race walk events to the cooler northern city of Sapporo because of heat concerns. Unlike the pandemic-delayed Games, organisers have kept the marathon and race walk in Tokyo for this championship.

Keely Hodgkinson, the reigning Olympic silver medallist in the 800 metres, posted a photograph from her Japanese training base on Instagram this week with the caption: "Hot out here." Athletes and teams have been preparing for elevated temperatures in training and through adjustments to competition and recovery plans.

Speaking about the broader issue of rising temperatures, Coe said sports bodies have been forced to take responsibility after limited government action. "Governments have not stepped up to the plate and sport is going to have to take some unilateral judgments and decisions here," he said, adding that if organisers are committed to athlete welfare "we should probably be openly committed to that."

Event organisers have scheduled early starts for endurance events and introduced cooling and medical measures in competition areas, but organisers and teams have signalled that heat management will remain a primary operational focus throughout the championships.

The World Championships will test how international sports federations manage extreme weather in the era of climate change. Coe's comments underscore ongoing discussions within sport about altering schedules, venues and protocols to protect athletes as temperatures and unusual weather patterns become more frequent.

Officials, teams and athletes will monitor forecasts and conditions closely through the championships, which will run across multiple sessions over the nine days. Medical and competition staff have said they will adapt plans as needed to respond to heat-related risks, with an emphasis on hydration, shade, medical screening and modified recovery procedures.

The championships will provide a real-time assessment of whether the measures in place are sufficient to safeguard competitors and whether further changes to scheduling or venue selection will be required for future global events.