When Kenyan Ruth Chepng'etich took nearly two minutes off the women's marathon world record, the sporting world was aghast. How did she do it? Shoe tech, nutrition, race tactics? With a doping cloud hanging over Kenyan athletics, it's easy to see why so many are sceptical. Join Prof. Ross Tucker and sports journalist Mike Finch as they assess every aspect of the run in an effort to explain one of the most astonishing running performances in history.

SHOW NOTES

The paper by Mason et al on how the shoes have boosted women’s distance runners more then men.

The Joubert & Jones paper that compares different shoes, including Figure 2 that shows the individual variation between models of the same brand.

Another similar paper on individual variability by Knopp et al.

For analysis of the performances since super shoes were introduced.

A piece by Toni Reavis in defence of Chepngetich’s performance.

The article by Amby Burfoot that Reavis mentions. Amby does not hold back.

The AIU list of Kenyans currently serving doping bans. You can count the drug type to see if the show conversation was accurate. 

The CAS Decision on Rhonex Kipruto, in which his doping is described as a “sophisticated doping regime.

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After a post-Olympic break the team wrap up all the latest hot topics and news from our Discourse channel. We share details of how the rollout of rugby's smart mouthguards is going, discuss Jakob Ingebritgsen's crazy half marathon debut and how best to use sport science to help a small-budget cycling team. We also explain the ongoing doping saga of tennis world number one Jannik Sinner and ask if the world governing body for cycling, the UCI, is doing enough to ensure the safety of riders after the death of an 18-year-old at the World Championships.

SHOW NOTES

Jon Wertheim's excellent piece on the Sinner doping scandal from SI.com

The Guardian's piece on the death of Muriel Furrer

Ingebrigtsen's crazy half marathon debut

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American trail star and coach David Roche not only won his first 100-mile trail race at the Leadville 100 this year but also broke a 30-year-old record. In this interview, Roche explains how he adapted to the high altitude using hot baths, trained his body to take in high concentrations of carbohydrates and planned out his race strategy. Roche also talks about how speed over shorter distances is the best predictor of ability of longer distances, why mega training mileage may not be the right strategy for mega-distance races and the impact of super shoes on trail racing.

SHOW NOTES:

Follow David on Instagram and Youtube

Follow David and wife Dr Megan Roche's podcast Some Work, All Play on Apple Podcasts.

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We are back with a Spotlight show, and in this one, we discuss the case of Janik Sinner, who was cleared earlier this week of a doping violation after a panel agreed that his positive test for clostebol was caused by his physiotherapist's use of a banned substance to treat a finger cut while performing massage treatments on the player. We describe the timeline, the challenge faced by anti-doping authorities, and the controversial speed with which Sinner was able to continue playing after appealing provisional suspensions on two occasions. We also shine a spotlight on risk in sport, after a tragedy at the CrossFit Games in Texas, where a 28 year old participant died during a swim item. The team explain why swimming is where the danger exists, and then discuss the philosophy of risk and the tension between the core values of a sport, and the duty of care of the sports to protect athletes from foreseeable and unnecessary risks.

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Show notes

Janik Sinner Spotlight

• Summary of the Janik Sinner decision by the ITIA
• The Full Decision of the case can be read here
• The study showing clostebol positive tests through contamination, cited in the defence
• Edmund Willison's article on clostebol positives, primarily in Italy

CrossFit Games Spotlight

• Study on deaths in triathlon, showing the high proportion that happen on the swim leg
• Paper that proposes Swimming Induced Pulmonary Edema as a cause of swim-related deaths
• Lay article that explains SIPE and interviews researchers who study it, including discussion of how risk is mitigated and managed by events

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Dave Collins is a sports Performance Psychologist who has coached over 90 World or Olympic medallists and professional sports teams and performers. The team delve into the concept of what makes great sporting champions, whether trauma is an essential ingredient and how competition and disappointment play a role in long terms success. Collins is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director at Grey Matters Performance Ltd. As an academic, he has over 450 peer review publications and 90 books or chapters.  As a practitioner, he has worked with over 90 World or Olympic medallists plus professional teams and performers. Collins has coached to national level in three sports, has a fifth dan in karate, has worked as Director of the Rugby Coaches Association and is a Fellow of the Society of Martial Arts and BASES, Associate Fellow of the BPS and an ex Royal Marine.

SHOW NOTES

The Rocky Road paper that introduced the “talent needs trauma” concept

Champions vs Super Champions: Expanding on the concept of challenge to create champions

A lay article on the concept outlined in the Rocky Road paper

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One last time, we get the band together to bring you our bumper Olympic recap show. Sports editor Mike Finch joins daily hosts Prof. Ross Tucker and Discourse moderator Gareth Davies to look back on the Paris Games. We discuss and debate our highlights, lowlights, winners, losers, surprises and disappointments and offer perspectives on the medal tables and individual performances: Which countries outperform their resources, the great athletes and performances and the big stories. Finally we rate the Games, and take a moment to thank all of you for the fantastic interactions on Discourse, and for listening and enjoying these Olympics with us.

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The "Zatopek" is complete, and while Sifan Hassan did not perfectly replicate the Czech legend's achievements, she did help close off the Athletics programme of the Paris Olympics in spectacular fashion, winning the women's Marathon gold. We review the race, and explain how once again, the course added great intrigue to create a great race and spectacle. We also look back on the final night of track and field from the stadium, where an historically fast men's 800m produced four of the top 8 times ever, and France got its first athletics medal. Kipyegon did the expected in a fast women's 1500m, and Ingebrigtsen did the obvious in winning a slow men's 5000m. The relays, as always, capped off a great night with a near world record for the USA women, and an epic race between USA and Botswana in the men's race.

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Tamirat Tola won the men's Olympic Marathon gold today, but it was the marathon course that we thought was the star of the show, as it threw two severe hills at the athletes, creating a dynamic, unpredictable race full of excitement. We explain how Tola conquered that course in remarkable fashion to break the Olympic Record with aggressive hill running. We also look back on the track action, which included relay medals for some athletes who came so close to individual podiums, as well as a double gold and bronze in the women's 10000m, and an impressively fast women's 400m. Finally, we talk breaking, boxing and the IOC's disgrace, and look ahead to the final night of track action from Paris.

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The Paris 2024 Olympics were hyped as the Noah Lyles games, with the American's campaign to win four gold medals the anticipated storyline. That storyline was terminated by Botswana's Letsile Tebogo in the men's 200m final last night, and it was subsequently revealed that Lyles had tested positive for Covid on Tuesday. We discuss Tebogo's 19.46s victory, and contrast his approach to the brash approach of Lyles in a rivalry that may continue to produce fast times and good quotes. Another rivalry produced a mismatch, where Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone destroyed both the world record, and a field including Femke Bol, in another remarkable 400m hurdles race. We talk about Bol's all-or-nothing race that ultimately cost her silver. We also discuss the latest salvo in the WADA-USADA dispute, which threatens to undermine the credibility of anti-doping, as the power struggle and allegation game continue. Finally, we look ahead to the second-last night of track finals, and even remember that there's a marathon happening in Paris tomorrow!

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Here's that WADA statement that we discuss on the show

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The men's 400m Olympic Champion is Quincy Hall, who produced a remarkable final 100m to reel in Matthew Hudson Smith. We discuss the historically fast race, with a focus on Hall's last 100m were a triumph due to survival, rather than a blistering kick. We also analyze the men's 3000m steeplechase, where el-Bakkali defended his gold and Girma's hopes crashed, literally, into the Paris track. A brief look at the team pursuit golds in cycling is followed by a news round-up including a fascinating wrestling weight loss controversy, and some drama around lane draws for Olympic finals, with some implications for tonight's action. Finally, we preview the big track finals tonight, and Ross the Octopus makes his gold medal picks.

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Here is the story of the Indian weightlifter, Vinesh Phogat, discussed on the show

A graphic showing the change in lane draw allocations for the track finals - better than listening to Ross try to explain them

Kenny Bednarek's tweet and the resultant discussion that he protested

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Sport Climbing is one of the newest additions to the Olympic sporting menu. In Paris, climbers tackle two distinct disciplines - boulder/lead, and speed climbing. In this special episode, we are joined by Tim Cross, a science writer with The Economist, to reveal the hidden side of sport climbing. We talk about the differences between these disciplines, and how the competitions are scored and won. We also about the physiological demands of the sport, the ideal body types for climbing, and how route design presents new challenges for climbers that means that climbing excellence is both art and science, mental and physical.

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The IFSC Policy for RED-S, as discussed on the podcast

For Discourse members only, Discourse Member Julia Littlefair shared some really interesting thoughts on the RED-S issue. This thread also includes links to other interesting material on this issue.

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