It’s been so long since I wrote anything here, I fear I’ve forgotten how. All I’ve written in the last few months is academic analysis of concussion data for scientific journals, so here’s hoping this doesn’t come out that way. But here goes… The failure to regulate “super shoes” hurts running. It undermines one of […]
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.
We need to talk about East African runners and general trust vs skepticism in performances
The London Marathon on Sunday will almost certainly be won by an East African. This group may be one of the most fascinating in all of sports science, such has their distance dominance been. But in a time when doping stories tarnish their success, what are we to make of their performances, and how should they be trusted or doubted? This article explores skepticism and trust in performances
On Transgender athletes and performance advantages
Ok, here goes. I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, but time and energy have not allowed it. But I’ve just been involved in some lively Twitter discussions, ultimately productive, so I’m going to try to share some thoughts around this issue of transgender females (male-to-female transitioning people) competing in women’s sport. It’s […]