(Ph. By IOC)

In the Athletes category were awarded to Imogen Grant (rowing, Great Britain) for her instrumental role in launching the Clean Water Sport Alliance; and Lina Taylor (beach volleyball, Bulgaria) for her non-profit climate coaching.

We would also like to mention the award to the Swiss National Olympic Committee, which reduced its CO2 emissions by 66% in 2023 compared to the previous year, mainly for choosing the train instead of the plane for travel in Europe; but also for financially supporting national federations and their associations through the ‘Swiss Olympic Climate Fund’ in their efforts to reduce emissions.

More interesting from a technical point of view is the prize awarded to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which has reduced the use of water on its pitches by around 60 per cent from London 2012 to Paris 2024 through the development of the innovative ‘Dry Turf’ technology, which reduces the amount of water required for elite hockey pitches. The ultimate goal is to replace the approximately 2,000 water-based artificial hockey pitches worldwide with dry turf, saving approximately 7.6 billion litres of water per year.

It was in Paris 2004 that the first carbon-neutral artificial turf by FIH was inaugurated.

In its activity against carbon emissions, the IOC contemplates, among other things, the publication of the ‘Carbon Footprint Methodology for the Olympic Games’, an exceptionally detailed guide to which the National Olympic Committees should refer: as Paris did, with mixed results, since the energy savings of the Games seem to have been mainly felt by the athletes hosted in the Olympic Village, who complained about the low-energy food, the lack of air conditioning in the lodgings and the uncomfortableness of the (cardboard) beds.

As for Italy and the next Winter Olympic Games, announced at the time of the bid as the most ‘sustainable’ ever, it seems there is still a long way to go.