(CNN) Intense heat and high humidity could pose a serious risk to athletes at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, according to a new report. The report, published Wednesday by the British Association for Sustainable Sport, details the concerns of leading athletes and scientists about the health impacts of soaring temperatures in Japan.
According to the report, the average annual temperature in Tokyo “has increased by 2.86 degrees Celsius since 1900, more than three times as fast as the world’s average.
“The Olympics are due to run from July 23 to August 8 — a time when Japan usually experiences its highest annual temperatures, which are soaring even higher in the warming climate.”I think we’re certainly approaching a danger-zone,” Great Britain rower and Olympic hopeful Melissa Wilson told the study’s authors.”It’s a horrible moment when you see athletes cross the line, their bodies fling back in total exhaustion, and then not rise up.”
Some events at the upcoming Summer Games have already been moved away from Tokyo amid heat concerns, including the marathon, which will take place nearly 500 miles north of the Japan capital in Sapporo where temperatures are expected to be much cooler.