A 16-year-old competitive endurance runner has been nicknamed the “Greta Thunberg of sports” because of her refusal to travel. Australia To participate in the World Cross Country Championships.
Ines Fitzgerald of Devon wrote an open letter to British Athletics on 20 January, asking to be excluded from her team selection for the World Cross Country Championships. The event is due to take place on February 18 in Bathurst, New South Wales.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to compete for Great Britain in Australia,” Ms Fitzgerald wrote in the letter.
“When I started running, the prospect of competing in the World Cross Country Championships seemed like a mere dream. However, the reality of the journey fills me with deep anxiety.
“I am never comfortable flying in the knowledge that people may lose their livelihoods, homes and loved ones as a result.
“The least I can do is express my solidarity with those suffering on the front lines climate Breakdown. It hasn’t been easy to come to a decision, although it pales in comparison to the amount of pain I’ll feel while flying.”
Travel from the UK to New South Wales involves a 22+ hour flight, with current options limited to connecting flights stopping in the Middle East, Singapore or elsewhere in South East Asia.
A return flight from London Heathrow to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith International could produce 6101 kg of carbon per person, according to Clivell’s carbon calculator, based on passengers flying in economy.
Ms Fitzgerald finished fourth at the European Cross Country Championships in Turin in December, where it emerged she had decided to travel from the UK by train because of her concerns about the climate crisis.
Last July, she broke the UK Under-17 women’s record for 3,000 meters in Belfast by clocking 8:59.67.
Ms Fitzgerald has said her family is equally committed to avoiding carbon-heavy travel, with the group taking an overnight coach to Lille and then a train to Turin for the European Championships, with stations along the way Packing a folding bicycle to ride.
“My family is as environmentally conscious as I am,” she said athletics weekly,
“We live in a passive house Growing fruits and vegetables on a small holding. So my father was happy that we did not fly.
“Aviation is the most energy intensive activity we can do and explodes a person’s carbon footprint. I don’t want that on my conscience.
Collective Champions of Athletes for the Earth Explained athletics weekly,[Innes] is looking for sponsors and supporters who can help her with the more expensive public transport, accommodation and eco-friendly kit she needs.
“It is clear that Ines has the determination and focus, combined with the courage and clarity to face a reality quite different from athletes of previous generations.
“As a young man growing up during a climate and ecological emergency as an Olympic dreamer, she is balancing her dream of one day becoming champion of the world, with her determination to be a champion for the Earth.”
British Athletics declined to comment on this story.