The Science of Sport has a podcast! In case you missed, we have four episodes already, and the plan is a fortnightly discussion on some sports science issue that journalist Mike Finch and I deem to be engaging and of interest. This post summarizes what we’ve done so far!
Running Physiology
On DSDs, the theory of testosterone, performance the CAS ruling on Caster Semenya
The Caster Semenya controversy, or more accurately, the issue of DSDs in women’s sport, is the most complex issue ever faced by sport. I share here my views, start to finish, in what I hope is a comprehensive overview of the concepts, the evidence, and the weighting of the factors that led to CAS’ decision to support the IAAF regulation.
A short thought on sport: Evaluating Eliud. Is Kipchoge a next-gen 2:02 marathoner, or a mid-2:04 runner in a technologically superior shoe? Who knows?
Eliud Kipchoge is a physiological marvel. The Nike Vaporfly is a technological marvel. Both improve marathon performance. Except these statements can’t both be true, and the implications for the integrity of running and how we evaluate performances, can’t be ignored. This is an article on why that is.
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 […]
The pursuit of the sub-2 marathon: Where to next?
Where do we go next? Now that Eliud Kipchoge has taken us to the brink of a sub-2 hour marathon, have the boundaries of human endurance been recalibrated? Can we expect a 1:59 soon? Or did the Nike staged event simply move some of the boundaries aside? This piece looks at potential benefits, and asks whether we should expect to see a speeding up, or a slowing down, in the foreseeable future?