Along with two prominent scientists, we have recently called for the research study on testosterone’s effects in women athletes to be retracted. This research is part of the IAAF’s policy on hyperandrogenism in athletics, but we have analyzed aspects of the study, and discovered significant and numerous errors. This article describes those errors, and calls for scientific integrity and transparency from both the IAAF and the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Sports Science
Can we trust the Tour, Sky and Chris Froome: Le Monde Op-Ed
The French newspaper Le Monde asked me to write an Op-Ed on the 2018 Tour de France, specifically addressing the question “Can we trust Chris Froome and Team Sky”. This is the original, unedited piece that was submitted. It details the history of the Tour, which makes up the canvas onto which the words “Trust me” are written, and explains why that appeal must be accompanied by extraordinary actions to break a cycle that is now decades long. Froome and Sky fall well short of it.
The physiology of the cold: Why might women out-‘survive’ men?
Boston 2018 was one for the archives. A brutally cold, wet and windy day made for incredible, unpredictable elite races, and a whole lot of DNFs! There’s a theory that women did better in this regard than men, and this post explores cold physiology, and what factors MIGHT explain why women MIGHT be able to handle the extreme cold better than men
Pacing physiology and the limit to performance: A #fourminute mull
The latest four minute mull explores pacing strategies, physiology and fatigue. In so doing, I offer a theory for the limits to human performance existing at the point where the “reserve” that physiology maintains is no more, the endspurt disappears, and humans are at the limits of what is physiologically possible.
Team Sky and Marginal Games
UKAD sent a scathing letter to British Cycling, outlining a series of improper and sub standard processes and governance issues in the aftermath of their Jiffy Bag Investigation. The letter shatters the illusion of Marginal gains by the most professional, well run team in cycling, while the inaction by UKAD despite all the problems reveals the impotence of anti-doping bodies.