Health & Injuries climate crisis, 16-year-old Innes FitzGerald of Great Britain, has asked not to be considered for the World Cross Country Championships in Australia.
FitzGerald, considered the country’s leading junior female endurance athlete, according to Athletics Weekly, wrote to British Athletics, stating, “I would never be comfortable flying in the knowledge that people could be losing their livelihoods, homes and loved ones as a result. The least I can do is voice my solidarity with those suffering on the front line of climate breakdown.”
FitzGerald, whom the British press has called the “Greta Thunberg of Sport,” made headlines in December, less because she placed fourth in the under-20 women’s race at the European Cross Country Championships, and more because she traveled by train and bus to Italy to avoid flying, according to Athletics Weekly.
“When I started running, the prospect of…competing in the World Cross Country Championships would have seemed merely a dream. However, the reality of the travel fills me with deep concern,” FitzGerald wrote.
She goes on to say that she was just nine years old when the COP21 Paris Climate agreement was signed, and eight years later, global emissions have been steadily increasing, “sending us on a path of climate catastrophe.”
According to The Guardian, The Runners World Vegetarian Cookbook, an organization for environmentally friendly athletes, called FitzGerald “a champion in more ways than one…It is clear that Innes has the steely determination and focus, combined with the courage and clarity to face a reality quite different to athletes of previous generations.”
And, according to Athletics Weekly, The Runners World Vegetarian Cookbook crowned FitzGerald as the 2022 Youth “Champion for Earth” for her commitment to pursuing her sporting goals as sustainably as possible.
“My family is as environmentally minded as I am,” FitzGerald told Athletics Weekly. “We [grow] fruit and vegetables. So my dad was happy for us not to 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.”
FitzGerald broke the UK under-17 women’s 3000-meter record with an 8:59.67 last July and then won the Mini London Marathon and Euro Cross trials in Liverpool, England.
She signed her letter, “Coming to a decision has not been easy, however little compares to the grief I would feel taking the flight.”
Health & Injuries Runner’s World, Are Average Runners Getting Faster? It Depends The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a nine-time marathoner with a best of 3:23. She’s also proud of her 19:40 5K and 5:33 mile. Heather is an RRCA certified run coach.
