Heather Fell, Olympic Silver Medal-Winning Modern Pentathlete, Sportscaster Becomes EcoAthletes Champion
Heather Fell in the broadcast booth at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (Photo credit: Heather Fell)
As a world class modern pentathlete for Great Britain, a triathlete and ultra-marathoner, a co-host of the popular Global Triathlon Network YouTube channel, and a commentator at the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Heather Fell has visited all corners of the world. Those travels have allowed her to see the impacts of the global climate crisis up close and personal.
“I’ve gained a growing awareness of climate change and environmental degradation over time, seeing its effects on people in person,” acknowledged the silver medalist in modern pentathlon at Beijing 2008. “That the Rio 2016 Olympic triathlon swim was almost moved from Copacabana Beach due to pollution was a real eye-opener. Another time, I was covering a trans-Atlantic sail when one of the crew threw some rubbish overboard. My reaction was visceral: ‘What were they thinking?!’ Much more recently, I was deeply saddened by the massive amount of trash I saw on the beach at the Tokyo 2020 sailing venue. And then, of course there is the extreme weather resulting from climate change that has impacted sports all over the world, including triathlons and marathons in Tokyo. Personally, I struggle with the hypocrisy of my significant carbon footprint from my air travel. With all that, I feel like I need to, number one, learn more about climate change and, two, do something about it if I can.”
Those are just two of the reasons why Fell has become the newest EcoAthletes Champion.
Heather Fell as she wins silver medal at Beijing 2008 (Photo credit: Getty Images)
To Lew Blaustein, founder, and CEO of EcoAthletes, there are two key reasons why Fell is an important addition to the Champions roster.
“First, Heather’s humanity, passion and relatability will allow her to grow from ‘climate curious’ to climate leader in short order,” Blaustein offered. “And second, through the Global Triathlon Network, the world’s largest and fastest growing triathlon community, and her social platform she can reach an important and sizable audience with organic climate-focused content that will, at the end of the day, inspire followers to take part in the #ClimateComeback.
Building viewership for climate- and environmental-themed content among triathlon enthusiasts has not been easy so far but Fell remains resolute.
“We produced a story in 2019 about the cleanup efforts by Surfrider Foundation at a beach near San Diego where the swim portion of the Oceanside Triathlon took place,” recalled Fell. “The amount of plastic waste and other debris was shocking to me. Also shocking was the fact that this story drew less than half the viewers of an average GTN video. While we can’t turn people off, we are not going to give up on airing positive environmental content. I want to share stories from a variety of sources, including environmentally responsible brands, who champion the environment in ways that resonate with our viewers. I look forward to working with the EcoAthletes team to develop compelling climate content that engages our audience. It is a real honor to be an EcoAthletes Champion and I can’t wait to begin this next step of my climate journey!”
Follow Heather on Instagram and Twitter