Why Did the Kona Ironman Leaders Collapse? Heat, Fuel and Failure / Chicago Marathon’s Underwhelming Fast Times - The Real Science of Sport Podcast | Lyssna här

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Show notes

This week, why Solveig Løvseth and Magnus Ditlev collapsed in the heat at the Ironman World Championship in Kona, whether sports science innovation plays a part, and a Chicago Marathon that was faster than it felt:

(00:01:52) Amos Kipruto and Hawi Feysa win Chicago in the fifth-fastest times in history, though with no splits on screen we were left guessing. Jacob Kiplimo’s hamstring leaves him off a road podium for the first time in 27 races, and treadmill-trained Vincent Mauri made a bid for the US record but also fell foul of hamstring issues
(00:07:40) Ross analyses the top 100 marathoners in history. How many races did it take them to run their best time, and what does a suspicious late PB look like?
(00:23:02) Paul Seixas wins Il Lombardia, after riders delay the start to protest vehicles on the course. Gareth wants more from the riders, for their own benefit
(00:34:05) Solveig Løvseth collapses within reach of a second Kona title, and Ditlev drops out while leading. Her manager blamed nutrition and salt, while she doesn't know what went wrong. We think heat is the likeliest suspect, and that these athletes are highly unlikely to be under fuelling. We ask whether carbs and super shoes have have raised every limit except body temperature, and allowed athletes to crash into it more often? Should races monitor core temperature, and pull staggering/falling athletes out?
(00:54:16) Two new carb studies (150 vs 120 vs 10 grams an hour, and 100 beats 60 for improved durability), and how much you really need
(01:00:02) Pieter Coetze breaks the 50m backstroke world record. Is he South Africa’s likeliest gold medallist in LA?
(01:02:29) And finally, Rwanda will host Africa’s first Grand Prix since 1993, and a FIFPro report shows Luka Modrić played 76 matches in a season, and Moisés Caicedo flew 25,000km for four matches in 14 days.