Tomorrow it’s going to be 37°C in the UK. That’s hotter than some parts of the Sahara. The British public will, of course, lose their minds. And somewhere, Novak Djokovic might be muttering, “Told you so.”
You might remember back in 2018, Djokovic slogged his way through a match at the Australian Open in 39°C heat. Court surface? A toasty 69°C. That’s not a tennis court – that’s an oven. Even for Djokovic, who’s made of the sternest stuff, it was too much. Afterwards, he said what many were thinking: why on earth are we still sending athletes out in these conditions?
And here we are. Seven years later. Still doing it.
Heat? What Heat? Oh, Just the Kind That Melts Humans
Across Europe this week, athletes are competing in temperatures north of 36°C. Office workers are being told to hydrate and work from home. Athletes? Told to crack on.
The bizarre bit? We’ve got all the tech in the world to manage this. Wearables that track your core temperature. Stadium sensors that measure the heat bouncing off synthetic turf. AI that can predict whether your kidneys are about to wave a white flag. Honestly, it’s like we’ve invented a spaceship and decided to use it to go to Tesco.
Performance Tech? Try Protection Tech
We’ve poured millions into performance: cryo pods, sweat science, cooling garments, hydration apps. But when it comes to saying, “Actually, it’s too hot – let’s not start this match at midday,” the decision still rests on some 1950s industrial chart made for men in boiler suits.
It’s like putting an F1 car on the grid, ignoring the tyre temperature, and saying, “What could possibly go wrong?”
Time for Sport to Catch Up With… Well, Everyone Else
Aviation won’t let you fly if it’s too hot. Construction stops in many countries when the mercury hits a certain mark. F1 monitors every degree of track heat. But elite sport? Still winging it while athletes fry under the midday sun.
We’ve got the data. We’ve got the tools. But unless sport starts treating heat as a real, managed risk – not just something you tough out with isotonic hydration – we’ll keep making the same mistakes.
Tech has already transformed how athletes train, recover and push the limits. It’s time it helped set some too.
Because the future of performance in extreme heat isn’t about being hard. It’s about being smart. And frankly, we’re running out of excuses.
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