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!
Athletics South Africa, the governing federation for Track and Field in South Africa, recently announced the SA squad for the upcoming World Athletics championships in London. An ambiguous mix of selection criteria and omissions has created controversy. I write an open letter to ASA calling for clarity, and a reversal of certain non-selections for the squad.
In 2015, the Court of Arbitration set aside an IAAF policy that required female athletes to have a Testosterone level below a cut-off threshold. Now, 2 years later, with the IAAF appeal imminent, new evidence has emerged, with possible implications for athletes like Caster Semenya. But will the IAAF's new evidence be enough. Here's a look at some issues.
The IAAF response to the doping scandal has hardly been reassuring. Nor was its position when the allegations first emerged. What is the solution, though? Maximum transparency, and a leading role in creating unparalleled transparency might finally break this orbit. Here's a few thoughts on how
The media have hyped the Bolt vs Gatlin 100m clash as "good vs evil". Hype aside, it should be a fascinating race, a clash of performance trajectories, with Gatlin trying to hold off an improving Bolt. Analysis and prediction of the race (doping set aside for now)
Usain Bolt vs Mo Farah is a match race between the two great athletes at opposite ends of the extreme. Who wins, and the physiology behind it?
The women’s 800m event deserves a post all of its own. I’ll post on the rest of the day’s action a little later, but the women’s 800m gold has just been won, and it wasn’t Caster Semenya winning it. Instead, it was Mariya Savinova of Russia who won in a very quick 1:55.87, edging Semenya […]
Six finals, and four nations won medals today, as the USA delivered a hat-trick of titles in what was a day of mild (and big) surprises.The USA’s medals came in the form of Jesse Williams in the high jump (least surprising – he was the world leader after all), Lashinda Demus in the 400m hurdles […]
This is a final post on the Bolt false start controversy, since as you’ll all know, there was some talk that Yohan Blake in Lane 6 (immediately to Bolt’s right) might have “twitched” while in the “set” position, and that perhaps he should have received the false start, that he “pushed” Bolt into the false […]
Day 3 of the IAAF World Championships brought more success for Kenya, in the form of David Rudisha’s anticipated gold in the men’s 800m. It was their third gold of these championships, but may be tempered slightly by the result of the Women’s steeple where they would have been hoping for another gold, but left […]