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“Distressing” Australian bushfires kick-started BBC Green Sport Award’s World Athlete of the Year Rhydian Cowley on a “journey” to climate-change advocacy.<\/b><\/p>\n
The race walker, who won a bronze medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has had to learn how to balance life as a professional athlete alongside work to promote environmental sustainability.<\/p>\n
“Climate change has been something I was aware of growing up for a long time, but in 2019 and 2020 in Australia we had these massive bushfires that raged for months and months,” Cowley told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n
“We called it the ‘Black Summer’. Cities like Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane were just choked in smoke for a lot of days and it was almost toxic to just set foot outside, which was really distressing as an athlete.”<\/p>\n
In the past 12 months, the 33-year-old has become a spokesperson for the Rings of Fire report, external<\/span><\/a>, sharing his personal experiences with heat and competition to highlight the impact of climate change on athletes.<\/p>\n “During Covid, when we were stuck inside with time to think about things, I realised climate change isn’t going to solve itself,” he said. <\/p>\n “I can’t just wait for someone else to do it. I need to get out there and help.<\/p>\n “That time started my journey.”<\/p>\n