Air Pollution in Sport: Would You Pay $5,000 Not to Breathe It?
October 6, 2026
We've written an article about air pollution and sport for LAPS: Life After Professional Sport, the careers platform for current and former professional athletes.
It looks at why the world number three in badminton, Anders Antonsen, chose to pay a $5,000 fine rather than play in Delhi's January air. It also covers the smog that stopped a cricket Test and the wildfire smoke that hung over this summer's World Cup final. It explains why athletes breathe in so much more pollution than the rest of us, and what the research shows about footballers making fewer passes on polluted days.
The risk doesn't retire when the athlete does, so the article also covers what former pros can do to keep training in cleaner air. And it looks at why clean air could be the next career move for some of them.
Read the full article on the LAPS website.
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