By John T. Wendt and John J. Miller
Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizers selected the dates for the Summer Games promising an “ideal climate” for competition despite a history of notoriously hot summers (Foster, 2019, para 20). However, in the three years prior to their application to host the Games, Tokyo had 60 days of temperatures near 90 degrees Fahrenheit (Japan Today, 2013). Between 2006 and 2013 the annual number of heatstroke cases exceeded 20,000 (Yabuki, Onoue, Fukuda, & Yoshida, & Yoshida, 2013). And it was predicted that the conditions for the 2020 Games would be worse than four of the previous five Olympic Games (Hosokawa, Nagata, & Hasegawa, 2019). These temperature assessments cultivate increased likelihood that Olympic athletes participating in outdoor endurance events such as triathlons, marathons, or open-water swimming (OWS) may be subjected to extreme heat during the competitions resulting in exertional illness during the Games, which have now been rescheduled for the summer of 2021 (Bergeron, 2014).
The OWS competition is a 10-kilometer marathon event scheduled to be held in Odaiba Marine Park in Tokyo Bay. According to international federation rules the warmest temperature allowed to conduct a race is 31 degrees Celsius (Federation Internationale De Natation, 2019). In the summer of 2019, water temperatures in the Tokyo venue were consistently in the warm 29-30 degrees Celsius (84-86 degrees Fahrenheit) range and with high E. coli levels. To reduce the levels of E. coli, underwater screens and filters have been installed, but these seem to have raised water temperatures (O’Kane, 2019). Hence, if organizers open the screens in an attempt to lower water temperature, it may result in an increased presence of E. coli.
Tokyo 2020 organizers conducted a test event in Odaiba Marine Park on Aug. 11, 2019. Despite moving the starting time of the men’s event from 10 a.m. (local) to 7 a.m. to coincide with the start of the women’s event, and despite shortening the distance of the race from ten to five kilometers, swimmers finished in water temperatures of 30 degrees Celsius with many complaining of the heat in the water (Munatones, 2019, para. 6).
One of the catalysts for the regulation for a maximum temperature of 31 degrees Celsius was the death of United States open water swimmer Fran Crippen who died during a FINA approved race in 2010. At that event, the air temperature was nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit , and the water temperature was about 30.5 degrees Celsius (87 Fahrenheit). These temperatures made it very difficult for athletes to dissipate heat, and the salt content of the water added greatly to the dehydration risk. Ultimately, it was reported that Crippen died from exertional heatstroke (EHS), considered the most severe type of exertional heat illness (Federation Internationale De Natation, 2011). When EHS happens, the metabolic heat production and the environment overwhelm the body’s ability to thermoregulate (Lopez, Tanner, Irani, & Mularoni, 2018). As a result, multi-organ dysfunction may occur, which may result in irreversible and fatal damage (Epstein, Roberts, Golan, Heled, Sorkine, & Halpern, 2015). One of the first signs of EHS is confusion and delirium as the brain begins to dysfunction (James, 2010).
OWS competitors face a number of challenges including, but not limited to, currents, rogue waves, dangerous sea life, wind conditions, or even E. coli. However, none of these challenges represent the potential life-threatening element of the heat levels in the air and water at the time of competition.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has stated that “Athletes’ health and well-being are always at the heart of our concerns. A range of measures to protect the athletes have already been announced. The new far-reaching proposals to move the marathon and race walking events show how seriously we take such concerns” (International Olympic Committee, 2019, para. 14). While those events were moved because of weather-related conditions that could compromise athlete safety, OWS was not. As one OWS athlete surmised, there is no Plan B venue for OWS athletes to compete (Hart, 2020). Given these foreseeable issues, a question to consider is, should the OWS athletes assume the risks to compete in conditions that are potentially life-threatening when there is no alternative?
The basic concept of assumption of risk is that “A plaintiff who voluntarily assumes a risk of harm arising from the negligent or reckless conduct of the defendant cannot recover for such harm” (Restatement (Second) of Torts: Assumption of Risk, 1965, § 496A). A standard comment regarding injured athletes has been that “they knew the risk of playing a sport.” Like many other Olympic athletes, OWS competitors “compete within a hierarchy where willingness to gamble with physical safety is the coin of the realm.” (Horton, 2004, p. 628). This perception presents a struggle as to whether an OWS Olympian assumes a risk, especially if the full extent of that risk is unknown. Do they or can they truly understand the risks that may occur to them in a venue that can affect them physically and mentally? Further analysis should be conducted to answer this question.
The Crippen case illustrates that even the fittest swimmers may succumb to life-threatening heatstroke during physical exertion in open water swimming. If these athletes do not or cannot comprehend the potential risks in OWS, is there is an increased ethical and legal responsibility for FINA and the IOC to develop safer strategies and implement policies for the safety of the participants? At the time this article was written, the 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed to July 23-Aug. 8, 2021, again the warmest time of the year. As a result, FINA and the IOC have more time to consider a second possible venue, such as the Five Lakes area of Mount Fuji that is cleaner and cooler. FINA and the IOC must at least have a Plan B, a possible change of venue that will not compromise the health due to potential heat-related illnesses of OWS Olympians at the Tokyo Games. Lives may depend on it.
John T. Wendt, Professor Emeritus, Ethics and Business Law, University of St. Thomas
John. J. Miller, Professor, Sport Management, College of Business & Economic Development, The University of Southern Mississippi
References
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