Extreme heat has become one of sport’s toughest opponents. This summer’s Fifa World Cup has once again raised concerns about players competing in dangerous temperatures. But football is far from alone.

Tennis players have battled through extreme heat at Grand Slam tournaments. Marathon races have been cancelled because of soaring temperatures. Wildfire smoke has disrupted sporting competitions across North America and Australia. Winter sports face an increasingly uncertain future as reliable snow becomes harder to find.

Climate change is no longer a distant environmental issue for athletes. It is becoming an occupational hazard.

But that also creates an opportunity. Professional sport stars are often seen as unlikely climate advocates, because most elite sport depends on frequent flying, commercial sponsorship and resource-intensive events.

Yet this gives them something unusually powerful: first-hand experience of how climate change is affecting the sports they have devoted their lives to.

Our work at the University of Oxford’s Climate Leadership Research Centre, building on research from the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations at the University of Bath, explores how influential people can help accelerate climate action.

One consistent finding is that people with lived experience can become trusted and effective communicators. Sport stars are no exception.

When they speak about climate change, they are not commenting on an........

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