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!
Track and Field Analysis
An Open Letter to Athletics South Africa: Address the non-selection controversies for the sake of athletes
2017-07-25: 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…
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Testosterone, performance & intersex athletes: Will the IAAF evidence be enough?
2017-07-05: 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. …
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On the recalibration of world records: Brief thoughts
2017-05-03: A proposal to recalibrate the track and field world records by removing all records set prior to 2005 has caused considerable controversy. I offer…
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On the Jamaican clenbuterol positives: A procedural failure and credibility black hole
2017-04-03: An explosive new investigative report has revealed that numerous athletes have tested positive when their samples from Beijing 2008 were retested. They include Jamaican male…
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IAAF to-do list: Invite in, step aside & break the orbit
2015-11-10: The IAAF response to the doping scandal has hardly been reassuring. Nor was its position when the allegations first emerged. What is the…
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Denial plus shock, divided by the tip of the iceberg. A recipe for mistrust
2015-11-10: The WADA report into the IAAF’s alleged doping cover-ups came out yesterday, and Twitter was rocking. So many journalists and commenters wrote excellent summaries and…
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Paula Radcliffe, off-scores and transparency
2015-09-11: Another week, another doping story, and this one is a big one. You surely haven’t missed it, and by now you know that in response…
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Bolt vs Gatlin: Two stories, two trajectories. Beijing prediction
2015-08-21: 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…
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The Gatlin dilemma
2015-05-19: Justin Gatlin is the world's fastest man, shrouded in controversy and a PR-disaster waiting to happen. In the wake of his 9.74s performance, and a…
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