The Real Science of Sport Podcast

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Show Notes

The Spotlight today is heavily focused on an historically fast Boston Marathon, which saw an incredible 2:01:52 for defending champion John Korir. It obliterated the course record, with the podium all going under Geoffrey Mutai's 2:03:02 from 2011. It's been called one of the "truly great" marathon performances, but Ross isn't so sure. We try to put it into context, given Boston's occasional propensity to produce exceptional conditions, with a tailwind that not only cancels out the impact of its hills, but overcomes them to create freak times. We dive into both the men's and women's performances, discuss some of the remarkable stats of the day, and ponder exactly where Korir's performance lies?

Also out of Boston, Tim Noakes watched the race, and because he didn't see Korir or Sharon Lokedi, the women's winner, take in any carbohydrates during the race, the obsession with carbs is misplaced, and elites don't use them the way we are told. We discuss that theory, offering a grain or two of truth, based on what we actually saw the elites do in the race, to point out that "science by TV watching" is a pretty bad idea, unless you want to show how little you care for facts.

Also in the show, England's Red Roses Rugby team dominate the sport more than perhaps any other team in history. But this has become a potential issue for the growth of the women's game, and we wonder how any other nations will catch up given Englands enormous first-mover advantage in the professionalization of the women's game?

There's a fascinating doping story emerging in women's tennis, where former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova revealed the she refused a doping test last year because of a combination of the Doping Control Officer failing to identify himself, and anxiety and an acute stress reaction. All is not necessarily as it seems, and we look back at that incident in the light of Vondrousova's own telling of it last year. On the subject of anxiety and mental health, AFL player Elijah Holland had a mental health episode leading up to, and during a game last week, and is now receiving treatment. We wonder how such cases occur in elite sports environments where the player's are so closely monitored, and what it means for duty of care of athletes?

And finally, Gareth has some observations about robots that now run half-marathons faster than humans, and Ross has thoughts on tech use in sport, drawing from some great innovation in fencing.

Timestamps

Boston - 01:52
Fuelling - 23:10
Womens Rugby - 42:39
Doping 52:25
AFL Duty of Care - 01:06:35
And Finally Some Tech - 01:14:17

Links

Letsrun discuss the wind, and how the elite men made the most of it to run extraordinary times in Boston 2026
Letsrun analysis of the men's race. And the women's race. Both full of interesting stats as discussed in the show
The tweet that sparks the analysis of what elite runners actually did during the race, and why "science based on TV watching" is a pretty bad idea
Article on the dominance of the Red Roses: Great for them, not so good for the global game
For supporters only: Discussion of the Vondrousova doping case
How was Elijah Holland allowed to keep playing?
Record breaking robots. But can they do it on the cobbles...?
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Show notes

This week, we kick off in Roubaix, where Wout van Aert and Franziska Koch won the prestigious cobbled Monuments. For van Aert, in particular, it was the culmination of a "life's work", in a dramatic, very fast, and very eventful race that featured multiple technical issues for leading contenders. We look back on the races, and at the tech issues that befell the riders, and the tech that was disallowed from even being used. Staying on cycling, the UCI threatened podcaster Benji Naesen with the possibility of 'criminal action' for posts and comments they suggested were injurious to them, without specifying those posts. We discuss the letter, and why the UCI's actions have backfired so badly, with thoughts on how engagement with the community should and could look for constructive dialogue.

We then shift gears, and chat briefly about Rory McIlroy's Masters defence, and some data on performance and physiology that lay behind his victory. Weather doping comes up because once again, Ramona produced record-breaking discus performances, and in Australia, Gout Gout (and six other men) used perfect conditions in the final of the Australian 200m championships to run PBs, Gout leading the way with an exceptional 19.67s. We talk about that time, and why everyone may need to calm down and manage expectations despite the expected breakthrough from sprintings teen phenom.

We end on the roads, as Boston looms large and London follows on, to discuss the elite fields, and one athlete in particular - Sebastian Sawe - who has made it a personal mission to restore credibility to his performances by requesting and funding much more regular drug testing.

And finally, an amateur turns elite to chase a swimming time set by his fathere in 1976. We discuss Adam Wilkie's campaign, and wonder what the chances of success are?

Links

Why did the UCI ban Visma's tyre inflation technology?
Benji Naesen gets a letter from the UCI with a not-so-friendly warning to rein in the criticisms
Performance analysis of McIlroy's Masters win, despite way worse than average driving
Some of McIlroy's Whoop data from the final round at Augusta
Gout Gout runs 19.67s, but any reasonable discussion seems impossible
A good Letsrun analysis of Gout's performance and progression
Another good Letsrun article on Sawe's self-funded doping controls and pursuit of performance credibility
Adam Wilkies' son attempting "the impossible"
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Norway is one of the most advanced sporting nations in the world, thanks to a unique structure which allows athletes to access the latest science and coaching. The team speak to Oyvind Sandbakk, the Sports Director at the Norwegian School of Elite Sports and a Professor at the School of Sport Science at the UiT The Arctic University of Norway. A former World Cup cross-country skier himself, Oyvind has worked with many of Norway's top athletes in Nordic sports and talks in detail about the famed 'Norwegian Method', how the best minds combine to produce some of the best sportspeople in the world and what the future of sports training may look like.

SHOW NOTES

STUDY: Training session models from Norwegian coaches
STUDY: Best Practice Training Characteristics Within Olympic Endurance Sports, As Described By Norwegian World-Class Coaches
STUDY: The Evolution of World-Class Endurance Training: The Scientist’s View on Current and Future Trends
STUDY: Perspectives of World-Class Endurance Coaches on the Evolution of Athlete Training and Performance
STUDY: A paper Oyvind did on double-day training compared to single session

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In this Spotlight, we start on the cobbled roads of Belgium to explore why riding on cobbles is so hard, and how not so good vibrations compromise mechanical power, cost more energy and require more exertion to produce the same power output. It's Pogacar vs van der Poel, Round 3 this week on the cobbles of Roubaix, and we wonder whether smart tactics will be enough to overcome the Slovenian's firepower, and whether van der Poel's larger size may tilt the balance in his favour?

We discuss Jimmy Gressier's return, in Decathlon's own version of a super-shoe, as he runs an exceptional 5k road time. Speaking of Decathlon, a good week for the brand with Paul Seixas continuing his rise, this time with dominance in the Tour of the Basque Country, and hope for a challenger to Pogacar.

A new research paper suggests doping prevalence among University students of 13.7%, but it uses novel statistical methods to get there, after only 3.4% of the athletes admit to PED use. We discuss that study, and what it means for anti-doping knowledge. Less covert (but only a little) about doping are the athletes of the upcoming Enhanced Games, recently valued at $1.2 billion, but now being transparently spoken about as a 'product launch' for longevity and performance enhancement drugs. The recently disclosed peptide stack of one competitor, world's strongest man Mitchell Hooper, is the basis for a chat about the grift those Games.

Finally, our teen phenom watch list has two more names, 14-year old girls who broke 23s last week. Ross and Gareth wonder if the gap between adults and children is narrowing, or whether we're just caught in a cycle of noticing more and more such performances.

Links

Study on the effect of vibrations on physiology during cycling
Another study simulating vibrations, this time showing how much oxygen cost goes up
Article on Gressier, including his struggles with chocolate after his World title last year
World Athletics concept on the Marathon as a standalone event
The Performance Enhancing drug survey that inspired our Bayesian stats discussion
Zero positives in the 2026 Olympics - the clean games?
Mitchell Hooper's peptide stack
Forbes article on The Enhanced Games
WADA's prohibited list
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Show Notes

In this Spotlight, we kick off with cycling, and wonder whether we're seeing a tactical evolution in cycling in response to long-range attacks. We also talk about Group 2 syndrome, and why elite cyclists could be a behavioural economist's ideal cohort. Cycling safety is in the Spotlight, after the inquest into the death of Muriel Furrer concludes, and new devices over-promise on risk reduction and head impact measurement.

In athletics, Josh Kerr is going for a mile world record, and it'll actually be legitimate, while teen phenom Gout Gout is in the news, though not for winning this time. We discuss how misplaced the general expectation of teenage progress is, and why we may be setting young talent up to fail, no matter how it succeeds. Speaking of failure, Albert Korir failed three drugs tests and confessed, and is now serving a ban. Do we even care?

And finally, another teenage phenom is in the news, as Indian 15-year old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a 15-ball half century to go with a 35-ball century last year. He's now old enough to play for India. But should he? That's a different question...

Links

Article on the Muriel Furrer inquest
A device claims to measure head impact to protect MTBers
Josh Kerr going for the mile World Record
Gout Gout beaten in what is described as an "upset", but that betrays unreasonable expectations
Article on Albert Korir's positive tests and ban
Why Sooryavanshi should not be fast-tracked into the Indian T20 squad
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