Beat the heat: How to become a gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics

Abstract

“Faster, higher, stronger” is the official Olympic motto and illustrates that participating athletes are expected to deliver extraordinary performances to entertain spectators and achieve the highest possible ranking. For this purpose, every athlete spent multiple years of hard training and intense preparations to succeed in their Olympic dream: become a gold medalist. The stakes are high. From fame and financial prosperity to the happiness of fulfilling a successful career. But the competition is tough and the difference between winning and losing is small, and seems to become smaller in every Olympic cycle. Therefore, Olympic performances are no longer a one (wo)man show, but a team effort instead. Athletes and coaches will develop the best possible training schedules to optimize endurance capacity, muscle strength, and sport-specific skills. But so does every Olympic competitor, making it difficult to be a step ahead on this level. Therefore, insights to enhance performance from neighboring disciplines gained significant attention in the past decade, such as providing mental support (psychologist), improve sleep quality (neurobiologist), consume sport-specific diets and supplements (dietician), and monitor training load and associated recovery (data scientist). Also, technological advancement and innovation in sports gear and apparel are now common strategies to boost performance, as was recently illustrated by the introduction of shoes with carbon fiber plates for track and field athletes. Such garment is exclusively available to athletes and teams affiliated with the producer, which may outrank competitors. Successful collaboration and interplay between athletes, coaches, and these embedded scientists is, therefore, key to deliver optimal performance. The Tokyo Olympics have an additional challenge compared to previous editions of the Summer Olympics. Tokyo’s local climate is extremely harsh with expected ambient air temperatures of >30°C and relative humidity of ±70%. This combination will presumably result in the most challenging environmental conditions ever observed during the Olympic Games [1], leading to significant heat stress for athletes competing in outdoor disciplines. Hence, significant performance decrements can be expected and athletes are at increased risk for the development of heat-related illnesses [2]. That these heat stress induced consequences are not purely theoretical became clear during the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha, Qatar. Despite the female marathon race was scheduled for a midnight start in an attempt to alleviate some of the heat stress, environmental conditions remained challenging (air temperature: 33°C, relative humidity: 73%) and comparable to the Tokyo summer climate. Importantly, only 40 of the 68 entrants (58%) finished the race, in the slowest winning time (2:32.43) in the history of the World Championships. These observations highlight a large window of opportunity to improve exercise performance in the heat but also underline the need for athletes to prepare for the challenging environmental conditions of Tokyo 2020. There is good evidence available about the efficacy of heat mitigation measures. Heat acclimation and acclimatization are known to induce beneficial physiological adaptations that increase heat tolerance at rest and during exercise [3]. Pre-cooling and per-cooling interventions attenuate core temperature during exercise and are known to improve exercise performance in the heat [4]. And a planned hydration strategy can prevent the occurrence of dehydration and associated performance loss [2]. Outcomes of these scientific studies are translated to various practical advices for athletes and coaches. The problem, however, is that such TEMPERATURE 2021, VOL. 8, NO. 3, 203–205 https://doi.org/10.1080/23328940.2021.1944005