When Kenyan Ruth Chepng'etich took nearly two minutes off the women's marathon world record, the sporting world was aghast. How did she do it? Shoe tech, nutrition, race tactics? With a doping cloud hanging over Kenyan athletics, it's easy to see why so many are sceptical. Join Prof. Ross Tucker and sports journalist Mike Finch as they assess every aspect of the run in an effort to explain one of the most astonishing running performances in history. SHOW NOTES The paper by Mason et al on how...

After a post-Olympic break the team wrap up all the latest hot topics and news from our Discourse channel. We share details of how the rollout of rugby's smart mouthguards is going, discuss Jakob Ingebritgsen's crazy half marathon debut and how best to use sport science to help a small-budget cycling team. We also explain the ongoing doping saga of tennis world number one Jannik Sinner and ask if the world governing body for cycling, the UCI, is doing enough to ensure the safety of riders...

American trail star and coach David Roche not only won his first 100-mile trail race at the Leadville 100 this year but also broke a 30-year-old record. In this interview, Roche explains how he adapted to the high altitude using hot baths, trained his body to take in high concentrations of carbohydrates and planned out his race strategy. Roche also talks about how speed over shorter distances is the best predictor of ability of longer distances, why mega training mileage may not be the right...

We are back with a Spotlight show, and in this one, we discuss the case of Janik Sinner, who was cleared earlier this week of a doping violation after a panel agreed that his positive test for clostebol was caused by his physiotherapist's use of a banned substance to treat a finger cut while performing massage treatments on the player. We describe the timeline, the challenge faced by anti-doping authorities, and the controversial speed with which Sinner was able to continue playing after...

Dave Collins is a sports Performance Psychologist who has coached over 90 World or Olympic medallists and professional sports teams and performers. The team delve into the concept of what makes great sporting champions, whether trauma is an essential ingredient and how competition and disappointment play a role in long terms success. Collins is a Professorial Fellow at the University of Edinburgh and Director at Grey Matters Performance Ltd. As an academic, he has over 450 peer review...

One last time, we get the band together to bring you our bumper Olympic recap show. Sports editor Mike Finch joins daily hosts Prof. Ross Tucker and Discourse moderator Gareth Davies to look back on the Paris Games. We discuss and debate our highlights, lowlights, winners, losers, surprises and disappointments and offer perspectives on the medal tables and individual performances: Which countries outperform their resources, the great athletes and performances and the big stories. Finally we...

The "Zatopek" is complete, and while Sifan Hassan did not perfectly replicate the Czech legend's achievements, she did help close off the Athletics programme of the Paris Olympics in spectacular fashion, winning the women's Marathon gold. We review the race, and explain how once again, the course added great intrigue to create a great race and spectacle. We also look back on the final night of track and field from the stadium, where an historically fast men's 800m produced four of the top 8...

Tamirat Tola won the men's Olympic Marathon gold today, but it was the marathon course that we thought was the star of the show, as it threw two severe hills at the athletes, creating a dynamic, unpredictable race full of excitement. We explain how Tola conquered that course in remarkable fashion to break the Olympic Record with aggressive hill running. We also look back on the track action, which included relay medals for some athletes who came so close to individual podiums, as well as a...

The Paris 2024 Olympics were hyped as the Noah Lyles games, with the American's campaign to win four gold medals the anticipated storyline. That storyline was terminated by Botswana's Letsile Tebogo in the men's 200m final last night, and it was subsequently revealed that Lyles had tested positive for Covid on Tuesday. We discuss Tebogo's 19.46s victory, and contrast his approach to the brash approach of Lyles in a rivalry that may continue to produce fast times and good quotes. Another...

The men's 400m Olympic Champion is Quincy Hall, who produced a remarkable final 100m to reel in Matthew Hudson Smith. We discuss the historically fast race, with a focus on Hall's last 100m were a triumph due to survival, rather than a blistering kick. We also analyze the men's 3000m steeplechase, where el-Bakkali defended his gold and Girma's hopes crashed, literally, into the Paris track. A brief look at the team pursuit golds in cycling is followed by a news round-up including a...

Sport Climbing is one of the newest additions to the Olympic sporting menu. In Paris, climbers tackle two distinct disciplines - boulder/lead, and speed climbing. In this special episode, we are joined by Tim Cross, a science writer with The Economist, to reveal the hidden side of sport climbing. We talk about the differences between these disciplines, and how the competitions are scored and won. We also about the physiological demands of the sport, the ideal body types for climbing, and...

In one of the most hyped, anticipated track races in recent memory, it was Cole Hocker, and not the big favourites Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Josh Kerr, who emerged as the Olympic 1500m champion. The race lived up to its billing - Ingebrigtsen's aggressive pace-setting, Kerr hunting from behind, and Hocker, patient and poised, waiting to unleash what turned out to be the deadliest kick of all. We review the race, offering insights on Ingebrigtsen's pace selection, which truly was all or nothing as...

Keely Hodgkinson has her Olympic Gold. The pre-race favourite delivered under pressure with a commanding front-running performance to secure an elusive global title. We discuss the race pattern that delivered the gold with big margins behind, and explain why it suggests a lot more to come from Hodgkinson. Beatrice Chebet outclassed Faith Kipyegon in the women's 5000m, in a race marred by a clash between Kipyegon and another pre-race favourites, Gudaf Tsegay. Mondo DuPlantis did Mondo things,...

In a recent press conference, the IOC were asked why they believed sex eligibility tests done on the now controversial boxers were arbitrary? In response, they said "There's no reason for the test", and appeared to equivocate on what the purpose of testing might be. This is the latest in a series of side-steps in which the IOC are downplaying what those tests actually show - males in women's combat sport - and instead undermining why they were done. But for sport, the ability to assess who...

It's Noah Lyles. The big 100m showdown in Paris saw the top four separated by 0.03s, wity 5/1000th between gold and silver. Noah Lyles came out on the winning side of that margin, defeating Kishane Thompson, with Fred Kerley taking bronze ahead of SA's Akani Simbine. The winning time, 9.784s may not have been super fast, but the race was historically deep with positions 4 to 8 all running the fastest times ever recorded for those finishing places. We discuss the tension of the 100m, and look...

A new 100m Olympic Champion was crowned in Paris as Julien Alfred pulled of an upset of sorts (but not entirely!) to win gold in 10.72s, ahead of Sha'Carri Richardson. We assess the race, explaining how Alfred's 2024 season had hinted at this performance, and how Sha'Carri Richardson didn't manage overcome a series of poor starts to add Olympic gold to her World title. We also discuss a majestic 'hunt' relay leg from Femke Bol, to shock the USA in the mixed 4 x 400m relay final. Men's cycling...

Joshua Cheptegei is the Olympic 10,000m champion, after he beat a stellar field in a fast race to open the Track programme in Paris. We discuss that race, and the Ethiopian tactics that set it up perfectly for Cheptegei. We also discuss the BMX racing, where France reach new levels of euphoria with a clean sweep of the men's podium, while Australia dominated the women's race to win gold. BMX racers produce the highest power output recorded in the sport - over 2000W to get the first bend...

Simone Biles established herself as the world's best gymnast in Paris, but it wasn't without a challenge from Brazil's Rebeca Andrade. The first golds were handed out in the track and field programme, won by Ecuador and China in the 20km race-walking events. We talk about how race walking is judged, and whether high tech shoes make a difference to walkers as they do to runners? In the news, athletes aren't happy with the food in the village, tennis legends are out and retiring, and the IOC...

Simone Biles became the Olympic All Around champion for a second time in Paris yesterday. In doing so, she defeated her rivals, seemingly conquered gravity on some elements, and put to rest certain 'demons' from Tokyo 2021. Back then, she withdrew from competition citing a case of "the twisties". But what are the twisties? Often described as equivalent to the "yips" that affect golfers, the twisties can affect athletes in skill movement sports, effectively costing them the ability to know...

The controversial issue of males in women's sport has reared its head at the Paris Olympics. In this episode, the team discuss the case of two boxers who were disqualified after failing 'gender eligibility tests' by their international federation at last year's World Championships but, despite being biologically male, are competing in Paris. We discuss how this situation has arisen, including an explanation of the governance issues that led to their inclusion, and the biological factors that...

Leon Marchand gave France even more to celebrate as completed a unique double, winning both butterfly and breaststroke golds in the pool last night. Ross and Gareth discuss those performances, along with a World Record in the pool, and add some insights on how swimmers manage their races. Other highlights in this episode include analysis of the Men's and Women's Triathlon races, discussion about the wildly successful Sevens tournament in Paris, and a men's all round gymnastics competition...

Get an insiders views on the sprint events at the Paris Olympics with Stu McMillan, one of the world's top sprint coaches. Currently in his 25th year of professional coaching, he has worked with professional and amateur athletes in a variety of sports - with the focus being on power and speed development. He has personally coached over 70 Olympians at 7 Olympic Games; over 30 of whom have won Olympic medals. Since 2013, McMillan has been based in Phoenix, Arizona, at sprint academy ALTIS,...

Day 4 in Paris was meant to bring us a Triathlon conversation, but that was pushed back, maybe to today, by E.Coli levels in the Seine. We discuss the implications of the delay, and learn about some extreme training approaches (that we don't recommend). The swimming action is building, including a rare double attempt by Leon Marchand in the butterfly and breaststroke, and a stuttering gold medal campaign from the USA. News from Paris includes more dubious doping denials, less than elite...

Ross and Gareth look back on Day 3 action, which featured one of the great races of the Games - an all-time epic mountain bike duel. We also review the swimming golds, and round up the Paris news, from skateboarding the streets of Paris to surfing the corals of Tahiti. On the decks in this episode: Tom Pidcock duels Victor Koretzky in a race for the ages. Overcoming a puncture, the defending champion was initially patient, then powerful, and ultimately punchy as he denied France a men-women...