Teenage cross-country running champion and climate activist Innes FitzGerald from Beer has won Young Athlete of the Year at the BBC Green Sport Awards 2023.

The awards celebrate individuals and organisations from around the world who are using their sporting profile to make change towards a more sustainable future.  

Innes hit the headlines earlier this year when she refused to fly to the World Cross Country Championships in Australia for environmental reasons.

In a letter to British Athletics she said: "I would never be comfortable flying in the knowledge that people could be losing their livelihoods, homes and loved ones as a result. The least I can do is voice my solidarity with those suffering on the front line of climate breakdown. Coming to a decision has not been easy, however little compares to the grief I would feel taking the flight."

Her stance led to her being called 'the Greta Thunberg of sport'.

On receiving the Green Sport Award on Monday, October 2, she said: “I feel like it's a real privilege to be receiving this award. I never set out to achieve awards from this. I just wanted to raise awareness about climate-related issues within the athletics and sporting world and try to get up-and-coming athletes to think about what they're doing and their impacts on the climate. It's really empowering when you get messages from other people saying 'I'm really grateful for what you've done' or 'I'm now changing this in my life'. It gives me confidence that what I'm doing is making a difference."

The Green Sport Awards nominations committee said: "Innes consistently puts her principles at the heart of every decision in her young running career, with her climate awareness being fundamental. She puts herself at considerable risk in terms of criticism and knows sport is important, but so too is a sustainable future for sport and society. For someone who is only 17, it is astounding. She is an example to all athletes everywhere."

The Australian cricketer Pat Cummins won Athlete of the Year for his leadership on climate issues in cricket and more broadly across Australia. He founded the Cricket for Climate Foundation and in the last 12 months he has supported the installation of solar systems at over four local cricket clubs, hosted the inaugural Cricket for Climate Impact Summit and backed the launch of the South Australian Cricket Association Sustainability Roadmap.