Pure agony in the sunshine

Sportsmen and women are known to get hot and bothered at times but in recent days rising mercury has seen the blood boil.

‘I thought I was going to die’ are not the first words you expect to hear from a professional player as they leave a tennis court. However, those were the sentiments expressed by Croatian Ivan Dodig after retiring just under 2.5 hours into his tie with Damir Dzumhur.

France’s Alize Cornet needed treatment after lying down on the court during her defeat by Elise Mertens. Gael Monfils claimed that he suffered a minor heatstroke against Novak Djokovic who described the conditions as ‘brutal’ and ‘right on the limit’.

All of which has led to significant criticism of organisers of the Australian Open for failing to care for the health of players. Monfils was seeking shade at every opportunity and was pushing the 25-second limit between points, advising the umpire that he needed longer.

Temperatures were nudging past 40 Celsius outside the Rod Laver Arena yet with the radiated heat from the stands the playing conditions reportedly exceeded 69 Celsius.

Director Craig Tiley stated that the Australian Open ‘is an outdoor event… and wanted it to remain so’ while adding that it would be unfair to change mid-competition.

Officials said that they ‘came close’ to implementing the Extreme Heat Policy (EHP), although chose not to exercise their right to suspend play or close the roof on the main court. 

The EHP was last applied in 2014 resulting in a subsequent review. The EHP uses the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature measure, which combines air temperature and humidity. However, given the number of players experiencing excessive physical discomfort this clearly needs to be modified, particularly accounting for actual playing conditions if the reported temperature is accurate.

Expecting players to fully acclimatise to such conditions is myopic while blankly refusing to make adjustments mid-tournament places health concerns secondary to commercial arrangements. 

Much is made of the need to make conditions fair for all players. The umpire is tasked with monitoring and managing this. If he or she deems that one player is adversely affected by these tortuous conditions (and this can easily be verified medically) then surely they can be empowered to make that decision. Such competitions should aim to induce sporting excellence rather than add excessive physical endurance over and above normal competition.

At least tennis has developed an EHP, unlike many sports.

England cricketers may have been feeling the heat from the Australian pace attack although it was the ambient temperature at the Sydney Cricket Ground that was more stifling as the mercury rose past 42 degrees with measurements as high as 57 pitch-side.

Despite extra drinks breaks being permitted, Joe Root was forced to retire hurt as a result of severe dehydration to compound his Ashes hurt and had to be hospitalised.

Dr Kenneth Graham, principal scientist at the new South Wales Institute of Sport, believed that Root’s desire to push himself meant that he risked serious heatstroke.

With the body effectively consisting of 70 per cent water, excessive exposure to heat can result in the thickening of the blood and loss of blood pressure. There will also be a reduction in the amount of sweat produced (detrimental as sweat is the most effective means a body has of reducing its temperature) and, ultimately, a chemical imbalance that can be harmful to the major organs.

George Havenith, professor of Physiology and Ergonomics at Loughborough University, believes that umpires should be allowed the discretion to take players off for excessive heat in the same way that they do for bad light. Both policies would have player welfare at heart.

Of course, in the Middle East this is an issue that we are all too familiar with. Indeed it was the subject of great debate while commentators condemned the decision to play the football World Cup in Qatar in the summer of 2022.

FIFA’s initial evaluation of Qatar’s bid said that the ‘heat has to be considered as a potential health risk’ while a technical report described a summer tournament as ‘high risk’. A subsequent FIFA taskforce recommended the date be moved to November and December 2022.

Qatar promised air-conditioned stadia keeping pitches and fan zones to 23 Celsius although architect John Barrow, designer of the Sports City Stadium, argued that such plans were ‘not good from a long-term sustainability point of view’.

Of course, if athletes do wish to push their bodies in extreme conditions there are events that they can enter. The Marathon des Sables is held in the Sahara Desert with temperatures exceeding 50 Celsius while Death Valley in California hosts the ‘Heatstroke Open’.

Times are not fast and scoring not particularly low. The point is to push the body to the limits of endurance.

While the best sports stars must learn to be adaptable to different conditions around the globe, the emphasis should be on allowing them to showcase their talents in more normal circumstances.