Olympic gold medalist Chris Boardman embarked on a 550-mile journey to raise awareness about the impacts of changing global temperatures on the sports the global community loves.
The WirralGlobe reported that the Hoylake, England, native would be cycling from Manchester to Paris, with the eight-day trek concluding July 23, three days before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in the French capital.
Boardman, who won gold in men's 4,000-meter individual pursuit in the 1992 Barcelona Games, invited organizations to sign the Pedal for Paris pledge as part of his initiative, encouraging the sports and physical activity sector to support a variety of planet-friendly actions.
Sport England, for which Boardman is the chair, shared the pledge's game plan for the sector on Facebook. The list includes reducing energy usage and conserving water; phasing out single-use plastics; recycling waste and repurposing sports equipment; and supporting less polluting modes of transportation when commuting to activities, such as walking or biking.
Paris 2024 has been widely hailed as potentially greenest Games in the modern era, but athletes are not immune from the impacts of rising global temperatures. For example, extreme heat can disrupt training and be deadly, while intense storms linked to a warmer climate have increased the risk of popular (and possibly threatened) winter activities.
As for Boardman, who also won a bronze medal in the individual time trial at Atlanta 1996, he was ultimately undeterred after his trek to Paris began with a hefty dose of rain.
"We've had a good sample of climate change already — really torrential rain," he told the PA news agency, per the WirralGlobe. "It's pretty warm, though, and now we're heading towards Ashbourne, which is our first overnight stop."
According to Sport England, Pedal for Paris' launch followed the organization's sustainability strategy announcement, including £45 million (around $58 million) for green innovation. Boardman believes taking action now can safeguard the future of sport and our planet.
"Summers that are very hot make it harder for children to run around outside. Pitches being flooded means they can't play football. Sport and activity as we know and love it now is under threat," Boardman said in the release. "But sport and physical activity is often at the heart of communities, which means it can lead the way in tackling climate change."
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