Welcome to the Science of Sport where we bring you the second, third, and fourth level of analysis you will not find anywhere else.
Be it doping in sport, hot topics like Caster Semenya or Oscar Pistorius, or the dehydration myth, we try to translate the science behind sports and sports performance. Consider a donation if you like what you see here!
US sports // Posts categorised as US sports
The aging of elite performance: “Geriatric champions” and have the rules for getting older changed?
Yesterday, I was sent this link. It says that Dwain Chambers, he of THG and a doping ban in 2004 (!), is making a comeback, hoping to qualify for Team GB at the European Indoor Championships. At the age of 40. Well, almost 41. My first thought was “Of course he is”, and then upon […]
Talent ID & Development: IAAF Level 5 and USATF Level 3 lectures
I’ve spent the last week, a very stimulating one, at the IMG Academy in Brandenton Florida, where I’ve lectured on the IAAF Level 5 and USATF Level 3 coaching courses. The specific theme of this year’s Academy was Youth Sport, and I did four lectures in total – three on Talent ID and Specialization issues, […]
Doping news and insights
Tomorrow I will begin the first major series of 2010 – Exercise and Weight loss, which is mainly in response to Time Magazine’s article last year, which explained “Why Exercise won’t make you thin”. Exercise and weight loss is a topic that we absolutely had to cover, because for all the focus we’ve had on high performance, elite […]
Doping, management and inquisitions
It’s been a pretty controversial last 48 hours for US sport, with the revelations that Alex Rodriguez, the owner of baseball’s richest ever contract ($275 million over 10 years with the Yankees) has admitted to using steroids during a period from 2001 to 2003. It means that one of baseball’s great heroes is now tainted with the same […]
The Mitchell Report at a glance
Former Senate majority leader George Mitchell’s report on drug use in baseball was released on Friday afternoon, and sent the pundits and talking heads venting over the airwaves this past weekend. It is a behemoth of a report at 409 pages, and for all of those with some spare time this holiday season, you can […]
Mitchell Report due today
Eighteen months ago, former US Senator George Mitchell launched a probe into steroid use in baseball. The probe is the result of an unprecedented shake-up in Major League Baseball that started as far back as 1998, when reporters noticed a tub of androstenedione in aspiring home run champ Mark McGwire’s locker. McGwire went on to […]
Arena Football – Lessons for Twenty20?
Southern-hemisphere nations and other rugby lovers are probably familiar with American, sometimes called “Gridiron,” football. The National Football League (NFL) is a dominant entity in professional sports in the USA, and the league is a money-making behemoth for the cartel of team owners, the players, and even for a number of peripheral merchants and entrepreneurs […]
Bonds breaks the record, but for how long?
After all the hype, all the pressure, and all the steroids, Barry Bonds finally surpassed Hank Aaron as the all-time home run leader in Major League Baseball. On Wednesday night, as the Giants squared off against the Washington Nationals, Bonds stepped up to the plate in the fifth inning. With the count loaded at 3-2 […]
Correction: Baseball’s most current drug testing penalties
Recently in a post about quest to break the home run record, we listed the schedule of penalties for baseball’s drug testing policy. However, it has been brought to our attention that Major League Baseball (MLB) has since strengthened their drug-testing policy. The penalty schedule we published was introduced for the 2005 season. The current […]