The Real Science of Sport Podcast

Professor Florentina 'Fleur' Hettinga loves speed skating. Not only has she competed as an athlete in the discipline, but she has also researched many elements of the sport, from the physiology of the top athletes to the technical expertise and equipment needed to be among the best. Based in Amsterdam, Hettinga is at the centre of Dutch speed skating excellence, serving as Head of Department of Human Movement Sciences at the Vrije Universiteit and as a professor at the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences. Hettinga talks Mike and Ross through the fascinating equipment used in modern speed skating, the technical skills that need to be honed to be competitive, and the unique, non-event-specific training that many of the top speed skaters employ. If you're watching the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Games, start here.

SHOW NOTES:

Fleur Hettinga’s research profile

The training insights of Nils van der Poel
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Show Notes

On the Spotlight this week, we wrap up the Australian Open where dramatic semi finals saw Alcaraz overcome cramp (to Zverev's dismay), Djokovic overcome Sinner (to Ross' prediction dismay), and then Alcaraz overpower Djokovic to win a career Grand Slam. Elana Rybakina won the women's title, powered by a dominant serve and a few harsh, but helpful words from her coach.

Then it's a concussion and head injury discussion, with a Spotlight on football and rugby. Should young children be tackling and heading a football? We explore those debates and discover that bans and delays don't play out quite the same way in the two sports, but that many unanswered questions remain. A recent paper by Ross and some colleagues finds that rugby players wearing headgear are more likely to suffer injuries than those not wearing headgear. An odd finding, but confounded by history and bias, as a lesson for how research limitations play out.

And finally, does Karsten Blummenfelt really have a VO2max of 101 ml/kg/min? The Norwegian triathlete published that number earlier in the week, and it was met with skepticism bordering on ridicule. We discuss why the number isn't physiologically believable, what it means, and how errors in measurement might occur.

Finally finally, if you enjoy the show and want to show your support, then become a Supporter with a small monthly donation, and you'll also get access to our Community Chat, and, as discussed in this show, upcoming Live Event Coverage.

Links

The Contact Conundrum: Are We Introducing Contact at the Correct Time in Youth Sports?

Wearing Regulation Soft-Padded Headgear Does Not Reduce the Risk of Head Injuries in Professional Men's Rugby Players: An Observational Cohort Study

The Spennymoor Heading Trial Article

Article on Blummenfelts 101 VO2max

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Norwegian Oyvind Sandbakk is a specialist in the brutally tough world of cross-country skiing and biathlon. He is Sports Director at the Norwegian School of Elite Sports and a Professor II at the School of Sport Science at the UiT The Artic University of Norway. A former World Cup cross-country skier himself, Oyvind has worked with many of Norway's top athletes in Nordic sports. We delve into the technical details of both disciplines (including the dark art of waxing!), the gear involved in both sports, the physiology required to be one of the best in the world and what to watch for at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Show notes

The article referred to in the show about the importance of waxing, and the number of skis the athletes have
Here is Oyvind's research profile page with his university
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Figure skating is one of the most popular sports at the Winter Olympics as it combines world-class athleticism with dance, choreography and music. Jackie Wong is one of the world's leading experts on figure skating and takes us behind the scenes of what it takes to be among the best in the world. From blade sharpening to music choice (the Back Street Boys will be the most popular band in Milan 2026!), figure skaters are defined by their ability to pull off daring manoeuvres with grace against the backdrop of judges watching for the smallest mistake. Wong shares some of his favourite stories from the ice, the routines and stars that have defined the sport and who, and what, to watch for in 2026. Wong is a figure skating analyst and blogs and tweets as Rocker Skating on both his website and podcast. He was a novice skater but has worked as both a judge and coach before covering the sport as an analyst and blogger from 2009.

SHOW NOTES
Jackie's website

Jackie's Podcast with co-hosts Michelle Ellis and Tara Nichols

Jackie Wong (born April 11, 1982) is a figure skating analyst.[1][2] He blogs, tweets and sells merchandise as Rocker Skating as well as hosting the Ice Talk podcast at Ice Network.[3] He is based in New York.[4]
Wong has worked for architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and is currently an associate consultant at McKinsey & Company.[5] A former novice skater who has passed the U.S. Figure Skating juvenile tests and worked as a coach and a judge, he began covering figure skating for Examiner.com in 2009.[6]
He created Rocker Skating as a graduate business school project at the University of Pennsylvania in 2015 and began attracting sponsorships.[7] His commentary ranges from offering technical play-by-plays[8] to sharing his opinions on a skater's choice of costumes and music.[9]
Wong has a bachelor's degree in economics and urban studies from Stanford University, a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Design and an MBA from Penn's Wharton School.[6] He contributed to the University of Pennsylvania's biomedical research department by analyzing the movement and positions of the arms, legs and head of ice skaters and presenting them as 3D models.[10] He was selected to compete in Season 36 of "Jeopardy!"[11] and came in second place on the episode that aired May 19, 2020.[12]
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On the show, we mention our Supporters Club a lot, and reference discussions of various sports science subjects that inspire and inform our own conversations. You can be part of that, by making a monthly pledge here, which gives you access to the best sports science discussions on the interwebs!

This week’s Spotlight opens in Melbourne, where brutal heat nearly derailed Jannik Sinner’s title defence. The Italian was hobbled by cramps and looked down and out before the heat index policy triggered a delay, a roof closure, and some much-needed air con. That leads us into a deep dive on cramping: why it happens, what Sinner could be doing to address this weakness, and some of the less than credible methods tennis players are using to prevent them. We also unpack another Australian Open storyline — the request for players to remove Whoop devices — exploring both credible and dubious motives for such a ban.

Carbohydrates are in the news again, though this time, it's not about how much athletes are consuming, but rather how little they actually need - 10g per hour. That, according to a review headed by Prof Tim Noakes, is all that is required to prevent fatigue during exercise. We break down the paper, question its scientific robustness, explore some of the gaping holes, and explain why it diverges so sharply from real-world practice, and even from Noakes' own previous work on fatigue and performance.

A rapid-fire round sweeps through listener feedback on whether ChatGPT could ever replace a coach, the retesting of decade-old samples that’s led to bans for seven athletes, more eye-catching performances from teenage phenoms, a pair of world records, and a winter Olympic controversy.

And finally, we turn to Alex Honnold’s jaw-dropping, rope-free ascent of Taipei 101 — a climb that lit up the internet. Where does it sit in the history of the sport, and what made it so utterly unmissable?

Links

Article on heat issues in Melbourne
Reaction to the Whoop ban Down Under
Noakes et al's review article on carbohydrate requirements during exercise
One of many articles that suggest that muscle glycogen is also important for performance, this time not as part of failure, but rather regulation. Noakes was himself an author on this one
Another article where Noakes correctly identifies the role of glycogen in the muscle as part of how performance is regulated and improved
We mentioned the efforts of Dr James diNicolantonio to rebut some of the poor science of the low carb review. Here is one of many threads that offer counterpoints
A good study from friends of the pod Louise Burke and Jaime Whitfield on what actually happens to performance on a low carb diet
One of a few systematic reviews on the low carb vs high carb nutrition models for exercise performance
Athletes test positive ten years after the 'crime'
"I'm going to burn the whole of track and field down". Well, do it already, stop hinting
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