Olympic bronze medallist Rhydian Cowley recognised for climate advocacy at BBC Green Sport Awards

Australian race walker Rhydian Cowley, a bronze medallist in the marathon race walk mixed relay at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, has been named the Green ‘World Athlete of the Year' at the 2024 BBC Green Sport Awards.

The award (formerly the Young Athlete of the Year award), presented in London earlier this week, recognises Cowley’s climate advocacy and promotion of environmental sustainability at both local and global levels.

Cowley, who supports leading environmental organisations and is an ambassador for EcoAthletes, Champions For Earth, the Sports Environment Alliance and collaborates with Bush Heritage Australia, has, over the past year, elevated his contributions in sport and climate advocacy while qualifying for his third consecutive Olympics, including the 20k walk and the inaugural Olympic mixed race walk relay.

In June 2024 he was one of 14 athletes to sign an open letter urging the International Olympic Committee to drop Toyota, accusing the Games’ major sponsor of greenwashing.

Commenting on receiving the award, which as presented in partnership with the Sport Positive Summit, Cowley stated “taking action on climate change is the best way to respond to its impacts, which are already affecting our lives and our sports - impacts that I have experienced first hand in competition and training.

“Winning this Green Sports award helps me to feel like the route I've taken is making a valuable contribution and supports me to continue my own climate action journey.”

As a spokesperson for the Rings of Fire report, Cowley shares personal experiences with heat and competition to highlight the impact of climate change on athletes. In June 2024, he was one of 14 athletes to sign an open letter urging the International Olympic Committee to drop Toyota as a major sponsor.

The BBC Green Sport Grassroots award was presented to Pledgeball, a research-driven charity that aims to help eliminate waste and encourage fans to think about their carbon footprint whilst travelling to and from football matches, as well as in their everyday life.

The Evergreen Athlete of the Year (lifetime achievement) was received by professional surfer Adrian ‘Ace’ Buchan. Ace is a passionate climate advocate, playing a significant role in environmental activism. Not only is he a founding board member of Surfers for Climate, an Australian charity dedicated to combating climate change, but he is also an ambassador for WSL Pure, a non-profit working on climate crisis mitigation, coastal and marine conservation and addressing plastic pollution. In 2020, when he won the WSL Pure Award for Outstanding Ocean Advocacy, he donated the $25,000 prize money to the Climate Council.

World Athletics scooped the award for Elite Organisation of the Year after launching their Athletics for a Better World (ABW) Standards, which set a number of environmental, social and governance obligations that host cities or venues need to adhere to if they want to run a World Athletics-sanctioned event.

The ABW Standard consists of 55 action areas that address all levels of event delivery-including procurement, waste management, energy, food and water management, travel and accommodation planning. In April 2024, The World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24 became the first event to be awarded platinum level recognition against the ABW Standard.

Image: Rhydian Cowley. Credit: Athletics Australia.