For winter athletes, climate change is no longer an abstract policy debate. It is reshaping the landscapes on which their sports depend. The letter points to mounting scientific evidence that, by mid-century, only a small number of traditional Winter Olympic host locations will remain climatically viable. Training venues are becoming less reliable, snow cover is increasingly artificial, and competition calendars are being pushed into narrower and more precarious weather windows.

“The biggest threat to the Olympic dream is fossil fuels,” the athletes wrote. “As athletes, we are asking you to help remove their influence.”

Winter athletes on the frontline

Among the signatories are some of winter sport’s most recognisable names. Sweden’s Olympic alpine skiing champion André Myhrer and Dutch speed skating gold medallist Esmee Visser have built careers on the reliability of winter conditions that are now becoming increasingly fragile. They are joined by current cross-country skiing stars Gus Schumacher and Julia Kern of the United States, alongside Britain’s Charlie Guest, all of whom depend on consistent cold-weather environments to train, compete and progress through the elite pathway.

Biathlon – a sport uniquely sensitive to snow reliability and temperature stability – is also strongly represented. Three-time Olympian Susan Dunklee (USA) has added her voice alongside emerging athletes such as Maya Cloetens (Belgium) and Ukaleq Slettemark (Greenland), highlighting how climate volatility is already affecting winter sport in both established and emerging regions. For these athletes, the erosion of winter conditions is not a future risk but a lived reality, with training schedules disrupted and venues increasingly dependent on artificial snowmaking.

Science, sponsorship and sporting integrity

The appeal is grounded in climate science. The athletes point to the widening gap between commitments to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 and planned fossil fuel production, which is projected to exceed safe limits by more than 100 per cent by 2030. Fossil fuels remain the largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the total. Against this backdrop, the coalition argues that commercial partnerships with fossil fuel companies undermine the IOC’s sustainability commitments and risk using the prestige of the Olympic rings to deflect attention from environmental harm.

“We believe it is a contradiction to celebrate human achievement while being funded by the industry that threatens the fundamental conditions – from reliable snow to safe temperatures – upon which all Olympic sports depend,” the letter states.

Learning from sport’s own history

The athletes also point to precedent within the Olympic Movement. The 1988 Calgary Winter Games became the first “smoke-free” Olympics, triggering a permanent ban on tobacco sponsorship.

“Just as tobacco was deemed incompatible with the physical health of athletes, fossil fuels are fundamentally incompatible with the survival of our sports,” the coalition argues, urging the IOC to adopt a clear sponsor eligibility policy, embed it within its “Fit for the Future” framework, and open a formal dialogue with athlete representatives grounded in independent climate science and lived experience.

A test of leadership for the IOC

The timing of the athletes’ appeal is striking. As Global Sustainable Sport has reported, Milano Cortina 2026 is already being framed as a stress test for whether winter sport can adapt to a warming world. Despite commitments around venue reuse, renewable energy and circularity, the Games face scrutiny over transport emissions, biodiversity impacts linked to venue redevelopment and increasing reliance on energy-intensive artificial snow to guarantee competition conditions.

At the same time, the IOC is under mounting pressure over its governance and values. The recent decision to bar Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych from competing after he refused to remove a remembrance helmet has triggered widespread criticism from athletes and political leaders, reopening debates about athlete expression and the limits of Olympic “neutrality

Together, these controversies sharpen the stakes for the IOC. Winter athletes are not only demanding stronger climate leadership; they are testing whether the Olympic Movement is prepared to align its commercial model and governance with the environmental and ethical realities now shaping sport. For those who depend on snow and ice to compete, the question is increasingly existential: can the Winter Games remain credible in a warming world if the industries most responsible for that warming remain among their sponsors?