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Show notes

In this week’s Spotlight, we open with a brisk roundup of major stories from the world of sport and policy. We look at new developments following the UK Supreme Court ruling on the Equality Act, including the first tangible policy response. We also revisit the resolution of the tragic ice hockey case involving manslaughter charges, and World Athletics’ announcement of its “Ultimate Championship” event—an innovative idea, but not without flaws. Gareth raises some pointed criticisms about the competition format and the puzzling exclusion of key athletics disciplines.

Next, we talk talent. The NFL Draft always offers a window into the world’s most elaborate selection process—but also its inefficiencies. We reflect on how early selection often produces more busts than brilliance, yet remains largely unchanged due to structural inertia. A 14-year-old’s blistering 35-ball century in the IPL leads us to discuss a surprising link between cricket scoring and endurance pacing, and how this informs the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

From there, we shift to the core topic of the episode: scientific integrity. Gareth reflects on our recent Spotlight's deep dive into how scientific papers are made, and our most recent feature podcast on the Boston Marathon and Mike's experiences testing Puma's new shoe. The conversation expands into questions of independence in scientific research and evidence, with specific reference to Puma’s bold claim that their new shoe is “the fastest ever", and why that statement is, at best, premature. But we also give credit where it’s due, praising the transparency and almost certain publication of the results of the brand’s testing, as well as the researcher's realism about trust in their lab's research.

And amid it all, Ross shares some personal news—stepping away from his School Academy High Performance and development role, while reflecting on missed opportunities and unrealized HP philosophies.

Links

• The Scottish FA acts to protect women's football
• And the English FA are, apparently, considering it
• The case against ice hockey player Matt Petgrave is dropped
• An analysis of draft picks that shows how high the proportion of "busts" is
• Here's a preprint of the Hoogkamer evaluation of the Puma supershoe - this is not peer-reviewed yet, but I strongly suspect that a peer reviewed version of this is on the horizon
• The best community discussion you'll read on Supershoes, courtesy our Discourse members (Members only access - you know what to do!)

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In this round-up of the two big spring marathons—Boston and London—Mike and Ross rate the performances of the top athletes while debating whether pacesetters should be used in major marathon events. The team then delve into the ultra-competitive world of shoe tech, where Mike gets to do a running economy test in a pair being touted as the world's fastest running shoes.

SHOW NOTES:

• Results of the testing done by the University of Massachusetts Amherst on Puma's Fast-R 3
• Study on how shoe mass affects running economy
• The study we discussed that shows how a 1.1% improvement in metabolic cost of running translates into a 0.78% improvement in performance
• The original Vaporfly study that got the ball rolling on the 4% benefit, for comparison of methods

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Show Notes

Where do scientific papers come from?

In this week’s Spotlight, our main focus is a “birds and bees” conversation of the scientific world. Ross walks Gareth through how a research paper is conceived, conducted, and eventually delivered into the world through publication in scientific journals. We break down what is essential to how a paper fits into the larger sports science puzzle, and share some insider tips for reading research with a critical eye. We explore why the “why” behind a study matters more than most people think—and how every piece of research fits into a much bigger picture. Plus, we dive into the obligations and ethical requirements researchers face, and why transparency, study design, and disclosure are the foundations of real science.

But before we get to that deep dive, we tackle a mix of stories from the world of sport:

🏃‍♀️ A sub-4-minute mile for women?

There’s fresh talk of breaking the barrier—but Ross is sceptical. Is this genuine progress or just another gimmick? We explore what it would mean if it happened, and what will need to be thrown behind the world's best athlete to make it possible.

🚴‍♂️ Durability > sprint capacity?

From Remco’s win over Wout in Brabantse Pijl to takeaways from the Boston Marathon, we examine how this underrated concept—producing a fresh performance while fatigued deeper into a race—plays out in real-world results.

🎾 Doping rules, showers, and sample tampering.

A new controversy in tennis gets us talking about anti-doping protocols, and some of the wildest attempts in history to game the system

It’s science, scepticism, and sport—exactly how we like it.

Links

The two papers we discussed in our "Birds and Bees" section:

• Greg Roe's Rugby paper: Spot the Difference
• Nic Tam's Barefoot running paper: We don't all adapt like the story book said

• The Breaking 4 campaign launches
• Tennis on the defensive about the anti-doping shower policy

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We’ve got a blockbuster episode of Spotlight for you today.

We kick things off with an important discussion around women’s sport and transgender athlete policies, following a landmark ruling from the UK Supreme Court on the legal definition of “woman” in the Equality Act. We know this topic won’t be for everyone, so if you'd prefer to skip ahead to the sports performance and race insights, you can jump straight to that action at about 1:07:12 in the podcast.

For those looking for insight on this important topic, Gareth and I unpack the Supreme Court decision—a ruling with far-reaching implications. We’re joined by Helen Joyce, a leading women’s rights advocate who was in the courtroom for the verdict. She explains why the decision matters, what it means for sports governing bodies, and how it could reshape the future of competitive sport.

Then we shift gears into performance talk: world records fell in the pool and in the discus, and we explore how weather and tech have combined to break new ground. Paris-Roubaix delivered two standout races. In the women’s event, race savvy beat strong legs (for once) as Pauline Ferrand-Prévot stormed to a solo victory in the Roubaix Velodrome. In the men’s race, we got another much-anticipated clash between Pogacar and van der Poel. We break down the physiology behind their efforts, the tactics—including van der Poel’s composed response to Pogacar’s crash—and how plain bad luck robbed the race of a deeper duel.

Gareth also dives into the UK’s gym boom. With more people training than ever, we ask: is it all good news? Or is there more to the story? And finally, we celebrate our Discoursers—listeners and athletes around the world who’ve been tearing it up in races. Gareth shares some standout performances, and we invite you to join the community for world-class training insight and support.

Show notes

Join our Discourse community

If you enjoy the podcast, you’ll love our Discourse community. Become a member of “The Science of Sport” community by joining with a small monthly pledge on Patreon — and be part of the conversation behind the conversation.

Links to topics

The UK Supreme Court Decision discussed in the first part of the show

The FA's Transgender Policy, and the Appendix for Risk acceptance that trans men are required to sign

BBC piece discussion implications for sport

Article on Paul Biedermann's world record being broken

Discus records galore in Ramona

Gareth's discussion on Discourse about the gym membership increase (Members only)

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In this Spotlight episode, Ross and Gareth tackle a provocative question: should sports embrace fatigue to make the show better? We kick off with rugby union, where fresh legs off the bench and player welfare are fuelling debates about injury risks. But things quickly get philosophical. Some sports are basically designed to test how much fatigue you can take. Others are compromised when fatigue creeps in — skills drop, mistakes rise — yet fatigue also cranks up the drama and emotion. So, which sports thrive when athletes are running on empty, and which ones fall apart? And what would happen if you dialed up fatigue across the board — would it wreck the sport or make it even better?

We also take a quick spin through the opening Grand Slam Track meeting in Jamaica, and peek ahead to the LA Olympics, where a bunch of new sports and events just got announced. Plus, concussion protocols and management are in the spotlight: a study from Scotland provides the first results on the lowering of tackle height in the community game; cyclist Elisa Longo-Borghini was pulled mid-race at Flanders; and Aussie cricketer Will Pucovski retired after his 13th concussion. Finally, we throw out a few predictions for Paris-Roubaix this Sunday. Got thoughts on these topics? Come chat with us on Discourse — link’s in the show notes!

Show notes

To get stuck into these and other conversations in sports science, become a Patron of the podcast here, and then jump into the Discourse forum here

Links

• The Guardian article on the new events for the LA Olympics
• World Rugby announces no evidence that the forwards-backs bench split needs to be changed
• In 2023, I did a video presentation on the substitutes/fatigue injury risk issue, and you can watch that here
• Here is Discourse member Hamish Gornall's paper on the tackle height findings from Scotland
• Report on Longo-Borghini's Flanders crash and subsequent removal with concussion
• Will Pucovski's retirement due to repeat and worsening concussions

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Join the team as they dive into the complex world of event sports medicine with guest Dr Darren Green. The team talk about the complexity of setting up a medical facility for major sporting events while tackling the challenges of extreme weather, hydration, injuries and cardiac incidences. Dr Green explains how medical teams work with event organisers to ensure competitor safety and gives practical advice on how participants should look after themselves to ensure they don't end up in a medical tent.

There's also a detailed discussion on the infamous 'Bum Clinic' used at the Absa Cape Epic so be warned that this podcast does include some graphic content.

Dr Green heads up the corporate events department for Mediclinic Southern Africa, which entails oversight of all medical support to major events, setting up the pre-hospital and field hospital infrastructure with niche expertise and ICU capability in remote sites.

Dr Green functions as the Chief Medical Officer for many international sporting events including the World Cup Rugby Sevens, British and Irish Lions tour, Cape Town Cycle tour, Epic and Cape Town Marathon. He is an Alumnus of the University of Stellenbosch, where he completed both his undergraduate degree in Medicine and four years of postgraduate training in Neurology and, more recently, finished off a master’s in Sports and Exercise Medicine at the University of Stellenbosch.

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It's a heart-to-heart on Spotlight today, as Gareth and Ross kick off by discussing a Discourse question about whether running marathons is bad for your heart? Ross describes five cardiac "risks" that have been documented, giving context and a bit of reassurance in response to theory that excessive endurance training is damaging to heart tissue. We then talk about maximum heart rate, and why it's an imperfect anchor for training prescription and a poor comparison between people. We shift from heart to brain to briefly discuss whether coaches should be sanctioned when players tackle poorly in rugby, and end off with a brief look at two teen phenoms competing in Australia last week, wondering whether their trajectories are inviting unreasonable pressure at too young an age.

Discourse

As always, Spotlight is inspired by your engagement in our Discourse community, and you can become a member by visting the Patreon site, and pledging a small monthly amount that gets you access and an opportunity to engage with, and learn from, fellow listeners.

Show notes

• Ian's question about heart risk from marathon running, and some excellent Discourse replies - Members only
• The research paper on troponin elevation after marathons, which kicked off the Discourse discussion at the front of today's show
• Good insight and discussion on whether too much exercise is bad for you?
• Here's that article i mentioned where Tim Noakes punched some holes in the theory that marathon runners would be protected against coronary artery disease
• Ultimately, sudden cardiac death in marathon runners is rare. Here's a review that explores just how rare, and explains the risks
• A Discourse thread on max HR and why it's a limited anchor and set ceiling for training prescription and management
• Here's a paper that describes that sub-max HR test that can be used to identify training adaptation, overreaching and early signs of illness by looking at HR recovery after exercise
• Compound Score revisited and re-explained - following last week's Spotlight, Ross shared more thoughts to explain the Compound Score. Here's that article, available to all, but initially on Discourse
• 
  

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It's a bumper Spotlight in a bumper week of big sports news. To cover it comprehensively, Ross & Gareth are joined by Sean Ingle of The Guardian to discuss the election of Kirsty Coventry to lead the International Olympic Committee. We explore her path to victory, enabled by Thomas Bach's support, and how she might lead the organization through looming challenges, including the integrity of the IOC's bid/host city selection process, and women's sport. On the subject of women's sport, Sean also chats to us about World Athletics' announcement that it will introduce pre-clearance screening for athletes wishing to be eligible for the women's category. It's a move that forms part of Sebastian Coe's declaration to 'doggedly' defend women's sport. We explore how sex screening works, and issues it may raise, and solve.

We then shift to cycling to discuss a remarkable Milan-San Remo performance by Tadej Pogacar, showcasing superiority and versatility not seen in cycling for a very long time. It tees up the compound score, accounting for power output and performance in both absolute and relative terms. A few odds and ends thrown in wrap up a big show.

Show notes

To become a member of Discourse and be part of the conversation, including driving the content of these shows, here's your link to Patron (no wait, it's Patreon). A small monthly pledge gets you access to Discourse, and a whole lot more discussion that might make more sense than the pod! (sometimes!)

• Article by guest Sean Ingle on the big issues facing Kirsty Coventry as she enters the IOC fray
• Another by Ingle, this time on the process and dealings behind the IOC Election, including Thomas Bach's role
• Article on Sebastian Coe's announcement of World Athletics' introduction of pre-clearance testing for female eligibility
• Some analysis of the power numbers at the Milan San Remo race, as discussed on the podcast. Take the estimates with a pinch of salt - the high speeds introduce a lot of error
• Brief abstract that introduces the Compound Score in cycling, and how it has the best predictive power for race results
• More comprehensive research article on the compound score (needs access to journal for full read)
• The paper asking the question about "lactic acidosis", to which we all should know the answer
• The answer to the lactate question

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