– A shock to the system – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule

Last week, Karsten Warholm and his competitors were blocked on the athletics track by climate activists during the Diamond League vote in Stockholm. That even with one cursed Warholm and damage to the rival of the Norwegian Wilfried Happio. On Wednesday, oil opponents entered the biggest tennis scene – Wimbledon in England. It resulted in the tennis stars Daria Saville and Katie Boulter taking matters into their own hands and cleaning up the mess, as a kind of picture of what the activists want the politicians to do. But does the message hit when athletes are injured and competitions are interrupted – or does it work against its purpose? Climate researcher Borgar Aamaas at the CICERO center for climate research believes that there is a fine balance between success and failure when campaigning in sport. – It is difficult to answer whether it works, but there was a student who wrote a bachelor’s thesis on radical activism last spring. She came to the conclusion that if it becomes violent, it goes against the cause. Then it becomes negative. If it is not, the case will come out favourably. Then there is the question of where it spills over into sports, where people are injured, for example, says Aamaas, who does not think the actions will stop anytime soon. CONFETTI: Many small pieces of plastic were scattered around the court during the match between Boulter and Saville on day three of Wimbledon. Photo: AP Tennis stars cleaned up after climate activists Two matches were interrupted by climate activists on Wimbledon’s third day. First in the match between Grigor Dimitrov and Sho Shimabukuro, then in the meeting between Katie Boulter and Daria Saville. During the “tiebreak” in the first set between Boulter and Saville, an assistant ran onto the court. The man took out a puzzle box with confetti and pieces which he threw around. Then he took off his jacket and showed the box “Just stop oil” (Berre stopp olja). Security guards dragged the activist off the pitch after half a minute and the match was stopped midway through. DRAGGED OUT: Here the activist is removed from court 18. Photo: AP Then the tennis players themselves took action and cleaned the court of pieces of plastic. – These were the toughest circumstances I have had to deal with, I thought I should help pick up the pieces (of confetti). It was nice to focus on picking up the pieces instead of worrying about what my next move was going to be or how I was going to play the next point, Saville said of the clearing job. GARBAGE JOB: The competitors worked together to get the track cleaned in order to start the match again. Photo: Reuters It is the second time British Boulter has had to cancel a match because of the “Just stop oil” activists. She hopes it will be the last time: – I am quite sure that there will be a reaction to what has happened, and there will be more security in place, or what they have to do to ensure that it does not happen again, replied the UK’s best tennis player. – It was obviously a bit of a shock to the system. I think we both coped very well. It’s a really unfortunate situation for everyone, said Boulter, who eventually emerged victorious with the set numbers 7–6 (4), 6–2. news has contacted the activist group “Just stop oil”, but has so far not received an answer to our questions. STATED: British tennis ace Katie Boulter is hoping for more security in the future. Photo: AP Looking for cooperation – no injuries At the same time that rackets were being serviced and balls were being serviced, a new heat record was set for the fourth day in a row this week. With an average temperature of 17.23 on Thursday, the world has never been warmer. Both researchers and activists believe that this is the reason for the increase in climate demonstrations at sports arenas. SENIOR RESEARCHER: Borgar Aamaas works in CICERO and collaborates with the Norwegian Sports Academy on climate change in sport. Photo: CICERO – What you see is that activism is taking a new stage. In recent years, one sees climate action in the world of art and sport. That can perhaps be read as frustration over the lack of progress towards climate targets, says Erlend Andre T. Hermansen, researcher at CICERO. Colleague Aamaas emphasizes the breadth of the sport and the public when he has to explain why the number of climate actions has increased in the world of sport. – What strikes me is that it is very visible. Sport is popular and is seen by many and is therefore an effective way of getting the message out to many. Leader of Greenpeace Norway Frode Pleym agreed with the researchers about the background for the actions: – There is a deep frustration that the discharge is being cut far too slowly by those in power; politicians and society. Greenpeace is one of the organizations that has campaigned at sports events on Norwegian soil in the past year. In the season opening for the cross-country skiers last winter, they marked the climate action “Morgondagen smeltar”, a pun on cross-country sponsor Equinor’s program “Morgondagens heltar”. Then the environmental organization collaborated with the Swedish cross-country skier Emil Johansson Kringstad, who promoted the slogan. The Greenpeace leader says that precisely cooperation with sportsmen is something they strive for. NO TO OIL: That’s what Greenpeace Norway leader Frode Pleym says. Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – Activism is increasing in the whole of society, also in sport. For our part, we focus on climate activism in sports that are sponsored by oil companies. We believe that it is important to confront companies that wash their hands through sport, explains Pleym and asserts: – We prefer to do this in collaboration with sportsmen, precisely because the message of political action then becomes even more powerful. We know, for example, that many winter athletes are deeply concerned about the future of their sport. COOPERATION: Emil Johansson Kringstad and Greenpeace made it clear what they thought of Equinor sponsoring cross-country skiing at Beitostølen in November. Photo: Marthe Haarstad / Marthe Haarstad Desired effect? The experts are unsure whether the actions will have the desired effect, but hardly think they will stop. – It is a type of tactic that may appeal to someone in society, but it is also a risk. For the wider sections of society, actions may have had the opposite effect, especially when someone gets hurt, believes Hermansen, who has researched Fridays for Future (school strikes for the climate) which contributed to driving forward the EU’s green initiative. AGAINST THE PURPOSE SAY?: The campaigners against peat burning pulled out the banner and blocked the track for the 400 meter hurdlers, which led to Wilfried Happio sustaining a knee injury. Photo: AFP – In the coming decades, we will experience more and more climate change and the implementation of a number of climate measures that will lead us in the direction of a low-emission society. It leaves room for an ongoing social debate on climate about how much and how quickly, as we are seeing now, explains Aamaas. The Greenpeace leader confirms that they will not stop anytime soon. – The climate obviously needs more activism, but we always ask ourselves the question: Does the activity lead to people getting angry at the activists, or the politicians? The aim is to arouse commitment and action, Pleym explains. He points out that actions have led to concrete consequences in the cultural field. – If the actions are part of a larger strategy, they can be an effective tool in the longer term. This is how we work towards, for example, Equinor’s sponsorship of skiing. Mere activism, or mere meeting activity for the debt in that case, is hardly enough. Precisely the combination of actions and other influence work has been very effective in the cultural field. The oil company BP is now undesirable among a number of British cultural institutions. Pleym also underlines the importance of thorough preparations and safety assessments, so that no one gets hurt – such as during the Diamond League vote in Stockholm: – Greenpeace does not campaign if there is a risk that someone could get hurt. Actions are not something we take lightly. We always make careful assessments in advance. It is often a last resort when everything else has been tried.



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