PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 28: Rayssa Leal of Team Brazil competes at at round two during the Women’s … [+]
Getty ImagesParis 2024 Olympians have already brought us memorable moments on and off the field of play. Two athletes got engaged to be married at the Olympic Village ahead of the Opening Ceremony and USA Women’s Rugby Sevens bronze medallist Ilona Maher has become a social media viral sensation during this Olympic Games for her body positive and behind the scenes relatable content. Olympic athletes and medallists are also using their visibility and platforms to raise awareness for the environment, climate crisis and nature.
Rayssa Leal
Brazilian skateboarding prodigy, 16 year old Rayssa Leal won a bronze medal on 28 July for skateboarding in Paris. As well as being her nation’s sweetheart as the youngest-ever Olympic medallist at age 13 in Tokyo, Leal grew up near the Amazon rainforest and has witnessed its destruction first-hand.
For Paris 2024, Leal collaborated with the International Olympic Committee to compete on a specially designed skateboard to raise awareness about the importance of protecting nature, featuring macaws, her favourite species from the Amazon. Speaking about this recently, she said, “Humanity can only be healthy if we preserve nature – the quality of water, air and the environment. With the Olympic Games, I have a unique opportunity to share the importance of preserving the natural world.”
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 28: Rayssa Leal of Team Brazil competes during the Women’s Street Final on day … [+]
Getty ImagesR
USA Women’s Rugby Sevens player Alena Olsen who helped her team take a historic bronze medal, the USA’s first medal ever in the sport, is a self-proclaimed Ecoathlete. However, it was her parents that underlined her care for the environment during Team USA games against on Japan and Brazil. Olsen’s parents, Marissa and Olie wore bee antennae to the game. “They’re making a really beautiful homage to how much I care about the environment and climate action,” Alena said.
For Earth Day in April, the USA Women’s Sevens team visited a local bee sanctuary to learn about the importance of bees to our ecosystem.
PARIS, FRANCE – JULY 28: Alena Olsen of Team United States passes the ball during the Women’s Pool … [+]
Getty ImagesImogen Grant
“Everyone in sport loves and underdog, and at the moment that’s all of us fighting against climate change,” women’s lightweight double sculls Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist rower, Imogen Grant, told UN Climate Change in a video released Wednesday during the Games.
Great Britain’s Emily Craig and Imogen Grant during the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls Semifinal … [+]
PA Images via Getty Images“In sport we always talk about these huge crazy, scary, huge goals, but we always split them down into smaller steps and action that we can take each day.” Grant is vegan and passionate about sustainability, as The Rivers Trust Ambassador in the UK she has highlighted the need to clean up the pollution in waterways, and through sharing her experiences competing in extreme heat.
Before The Games
Athletes who qualified for Paris 2024 were championing environmental causes before the Games began. Earlier in July, twenty-two Paris hopefuls, including Nigerian shot-putter Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and American swimmer Jamal Hill, were part of a cohort of over 100 athletes who penned an open letter to CEOs of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. They asked for Paris 2024 to be used “as a launchpad for introducing more reuse at future Olympic Games and other sporting events.”
In June, more Paris-bound athletes wrote an open letter urging the International Olympic Committee to replace their sponsor Toyota with a “more technologically advanced, more transparent, and much lower emissions mobility partner.”