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Running, cycling, and carbon: climate impacts of gear and amateur sports events
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DOI：10.1080/15022250.2026.2625307.png)
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Abstract
En 中文
There is growing interest among amateur athletes in participating in sports competition events, which can be seen as a form of “sports tourism”. The climate impacts of such practices have been relatively underexplored – particularly from a holistic perspective that includes the consumption of sporting goods. To address this gap, this study combines life cycle assessment (LCA) with survey data on the consumption practices of sport event participants, including expenditure on sporting goods, services and travel. The study contributes new insights into the climate impact hotspots of mass participation running and cycling events, highlighting car-based travel to events, air travel to training camps abroad, and the overall volume of sporting goods consumption. These findings support key strategies for reducing climate impacts. For event organizers, this includes offering or facilitating low-carbon transport options and developing alternatives to training camps abroad to support participant motivation and preparation. For individual participants, impactful actions include avoiding fossil-fuel-based transport, refraining from air travel to training camps abroad and embracing sufficiency-oriented and circular consumption practices of sporting goods. By presenting life cycle climate impacts for a range of sporting goods, this study provides a foundation for evaluating and mitigating the environmental impacts of similar events.
Keywords:
Sustainable events
sports equipment
sufficiency
event tourism
life cycle assessment
Journal
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3.6
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