Ed Ballard
The World Cup's hydration breaks have gone down about as well as eggnog on a baking-hot day.
Fans have booed the three-minute pauses, which are mandatory even in air-conditioned stadiums. Critics suggest they benefit broadcasters more than those playing in the heat.
But, much like the dried-out greens at the British Open, the interruptions are one sign of rising temperatures reshaping sports. I canvassed experts on exercise and heat stress for a sense of what to expect in the years ahead.
Shifting calendar
"The summer Olympics may not land in July and August," said Madeleine Orr, a professor at the University of Toronto, who wrote a book about sports and climate change. Holding the games later would minimize the disruption for northern-hemisphere host nations, she said.
These shifts are starting. The organisers of the Twin Cities marathon, which was cancelled in 2023's heatwave, are now moving the event a little later in October, when the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area is cooler. India's top cricket league could move to an earlier start date next year to avoid the worst pre-monsoon highs, an official said last month.
Heat prep will become an edge
"Differences will be seen in athletes who are more prepared," said Chris Minson, a professor of human physiology at the University of Oregon. Some runners and other athletes already use special heat chambers to acclimatize before events, much as they prepare for altitude. Minson, incidentally, worries about sports that require padding, and expects football games to be punted till later in the day.
Think of the fans
"I am always concerned about tennis tournaments, particularly the Grand Slams," said Riana Pryor, an expert on heat and exercise at the University at Buffalo. She frets about spectators, not just athletes. One solution, Pryor said, would be moving events like the increasingly sizzling French Open to shoulder season. Alternatively, she said breaks of 20-plus minutes between sets could protect players while preserving the schedule. But at open stadiums like Roland Garros that would leave spectators in the blazing sun.
Let's take this inside
Hyrox, a contest in which super-fit contestants push sleds and hurl medicine balls in air-conditioned halls, is growing fast. It could be a leading indicator. "We may see a trend towards other traditionally outdoor endurance sports moving indoors," said Oliver Gibson, an exercise physiologist at Brunel University of London. In the U.S., open-air NFL stadiums are already becoming dinosaurs.
A testing ground
"Sport has often been ahead of the curve," said Ellen Glickman, a professor of exercise science at Kent State University. Sport has driven advances in areas such as hydration planning and individualized monitoring, she said. But, as the World Cup's drinks breaks show, trade-offs can impede the application of that knowledge. Player safety is balanced against fans' expectations and economic imperatives.
"If I had the power I would change all the calendar and not race in July and August in hot places," said the cyclist Tadej Pogacar after Sunday's stage of the Tour de France had to be shortened because of the heat.
Moving the Tour would cause scheduling headaches and violate tradition, but I can't see 2,000-plus miles of French highways being air conditioned. I expect Pogacar's wish to be granted one day.
Pogacar may consider himself powerless, but as an elite athlete who dominates his sport he has more say over his working conditions than most. Many laborers face rising heat-related risks, from kidney damage to cognitive impairment. And, unlike a bike race, the next harvest or construction project can't be shifted to a cooler month.
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Today's email was written by Ed Ballard in London. Contact him at ed.ballard@wsj.com. Contact the team at climate@wsj.com.
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July 16, 2026 09:30 ET (13:30 GMT)
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