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In today's show, we run the Spotlight over news stories from the past week, including:

• 4:32. The International Olympic Committee are reportedly going to move to protect women's sport by preventing trans identified males and athletes with DSDs from competing in women's sport. Will this come to pass? We discuss reports on the shift in policy, and raise some key questions. Will the IOC compel screening for sex and testing for advantage? Will they include DSDs in the policy? Will sports be obliged to comply, or remain able to govern eligibility as they please?
• 18:32. Antagonism in antidoping continues, with shots fired between WADA and USADA, this time over The Enhanced Games. WADA think USADA should be doing more to stop the Games, but USADA say they have no authority to act. We discuss their remits, and the damaging mistrust that now exists between them. We also talk about the threat of the Enhanced Games, and USADA's perceptions of why athletes are joining "the doping Olympics"
• 28:59. Staying on doping, US Sprinter Marvin Bracy-Williams has been banned for 45 months. The 2022 100m silver medalist got a reduced sentence for co-operation, and we wonder what he shared with authorities, and whether the investigative approach will produce future sanctions?
• 34:09. Chinese teen prodigy Yu Zidi has continued her ascent to the summit of swimming, with a 200m individual medley record that puts her into the conversation for future world and Olympic medalists. We wonder what her trajectory looks like, using a previous Chinese teen phenom to offer a dose of reality.
• 42:18. And Finally, tennis, with another "battle of the sexes" match in December between Aryna Sabelenka and Nick Kyrgios, with a few modifications to neutralize men's power. We talk about those changes, then finish up with a quirky look at the men's tennis rankings that reflect the extraordinary dominance of the current top two.

Links

• IOC moves to protect women's sport
• WADA reckons USADA can do more to stop The Enhanced Games from proceeding
• USADA does not agree, and respond with some hostility
• USADA statement on the 45 month ban for Marvin Bracy-Williams
• Yu Zidi's 200m medley performance sending waves into swimming
• Kyrgios is confident ahead of the gimmicky battle of the sexes match

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Endurance has been one of the most hotly debated topics in sports science for over three decades. From early research in the 1930s to the ground-breaking 1996 address by Prof. Tim Noakes to the American College of Sports Medicine, understanding the principles of what keeps the body going during prolonged exercise is more complex than you think. In this episode, Mike and Ross take a look back at the often controversial history, Ross's own research journey and experience with Noakes and find out if it really is possible to push beyond our own endurance limits.

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Discourse is our "sponsorship", our sole source of income. But it's way more than that - it's a community of experts and enthusiasts who share knowledge on everything sports science related. To become part of that, become a Patron of the site and join the conversation

SHOW NOTES

Tim Noakes' original JB Wolffe Lecture, that kicked it all off in 1996

The response by Bassett & Howley

Tim’s response to that rebuttal

By 2000, Noakes’ thinking had evolved, and he presented models for fatigue, published here

A paper by St Clair Gibson and Noakes on fatigue as a way to avoid “catastrophe"

Ross’ first study, in the heat, which was originally rejected because it contradicted prevailing wisdom

The final chapter on Anticipatory Regulation in Ross’ PhD Thesis, published as a paper in BJSM

The really cool Amman study of fentanyl and performance

Another Amman study, this time looking at how very high and low oxygen levels changed pacing strategy and muscle fatigue

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A Spotlight dedicated to the news, as we split the Spotlight show into a news segment and a science segment. Today is the news segment, which covers:

• 3:02 A look back at the New York City Marathon, won by Kenyans Hellen Obiri in a course record, and Benson Kipruto in a photo finish. We talk pacing micro-adjustments, late end spurts and misjudged fatigue and sprint finishes
• 17:44 Joe Klecker ran a 2:10 in NYC, but caught our eye because he planned to take in 175 g per hour of carbs in the form of almost 3 L of fluid. An insanely high intake, but one that he discussed in a recent podcast with The Coffee Club. We talk about that strategy, his experience of it, and how it fits in the new carbohydrate paradigm
• 35:22 WADA are making moves to consider banning Ozempic and drugs like it. Gareth and Ross discuss whether WADA are over-reaching, or whether they need to pay attention to the possible impact of the weight loss drug in sport, with Ross expressing doubts that it has long term performance benefits given how it works
• 44:53 Elite athlete Laura Hottenrott recently raised concerns about the frequency of blood testing doping controls she has been subjected to. We discuss whether that concern is legit, and whether performance might be harmed as a result of frequent blood sampling for doping control?
• 53:00 Gareth wonders how you could go about establishing who the greatest sporting nation in the world are? We discuss how you might weight sporting events and figure out who the ultimate all-round sporting champion is
• 57:27 Gareth's gears are grinding at the short short list for women's track athlete of the year - Femke Bol and Sydney McLaughlin Levrone, neither of whom had the seasons that Melissa Jefferson Wooden or Beatrice Chebet had. We wonder why the better performing, more regularly racing athletes got snubbed?

Links

• The Coffee Club interview with Klecker. It's cued to start on the carbohydrate discussion
• WADA has its eyes on Ozempic - the article with quotes from WADA on the possibilities of banning the drug

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