Federation, Academic, Public and Private Sectors Align to Provide Japan's Olympians With Cutting-Edge Tech to Fight Paris Heat
The Paris Olympics, a celebration of top athletes who've refined their skills and bodies to the limit, kick off in a few hours. Technology to help enhance their already incredible performances continues to evolve, bringing changes to the frontlines of athlete development.
The Olympic triathlon is a hybrid sport consisting of a 1.5 km win, 40 km bike ride and 10 km run that takes around 2 hours total to finish. Winning it takes not only top physical condition but also technique and mental preparation. In May an international triathlon was held in Yokohama. Kenji Nener (31, NTT) finished 7th, the best-ever placing by a Japanese male. "I'm getting close to my ideal range of physical motion," he said afterward, sounding enthusiastic about his chances at the Olympics.
Temperature has a major impact on long-distance triathlons, so acclimatization is critical. Paris in July can be over 30˚, and in a heatwave even hotter. Core body temperature is a key element in keeping it together in conditions like those. If the body's core temperature goes over 38.5˚ blood flow to muscles and skin increases, resulting in lower blood flow to internal organs and the brain and the risk of damage to them. Sweating reduces the amount of water in the blood, and elevated heart rate puts strain on the heart.
The Japan Triathlon Union (JTU) has been carefully preparing strategies and techniques for mitigating heat in Paris. One of the catalysts for this was testing done at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics team's training camp. In the testing, athletes were directed to cycle for over 30 minutes in an indoor facility with the temperature raised to at least 35˚. Changes in their core temperatures were recorded. Even if drinking cold water every 10 minutes, some athletes's temperatures rose to 38.4˚ within 30 minutes. But this rise was slower when they consumed a sherbet-like "ice slurry" or wore an "ice vest" that held ice packs.
Based the results of this testing, the JTU will put a range of cooling strategies into play in Paris to suit the needs of each athlete. Team coach Kazunari Goto, a professor at Ritsumeikan University, commented, "The central issue is whether we can keep them in a condition where they can perform up to to 100% of their potential."
While on-site in Europe, Japan's triathlon Olympians will undergo heat acclimatization training. Low to moderate intensity exercise in a hot environment continued over the course of 5 to 14 days results in the body adapting to the conditions, suppressing the increases in heart rate and core temperature and increasing the water content of the blood. Team member Makoto Odakura (31, Mitsui Sumitomo Denko), said, "I'm training two hours daily at the hottest time of day."
Weather information company Weathernews has set up a special website called MiCATA specifically to give Japanese athletes information about the weather and temperature at each event venue. Athletes and coaches are checking this information regularly as their competitions get closer on the horizon. Commissioned by the Japan Sports Agency (JSA), nutrition industry partners have developed cutting-edge sports drinks to replenish minerals involved in muscular contraction. Special headbands have also been developed that assist in moisture evaporation to reduce the risk of overheating of the head.
Japan has never won an Olympic triathlon medal. "As an underdog, we have no choice but to put all of our knowhow into technical areas where we maximize our chances," said Naoki Moriya, director of athlete scientific support at JTU. Better scientific support means a better chance of bringing home a medal.
Along with the JTU and industry partners, the national government is also providing athletes with support in preparing for the conditions. The High Performance Sports Center (HPSC) in Tokyo, which serves as a training base for Olympic athletes, has developed a dedicated app called the Athlete Port. Athletes input data such as their weight, body temperature, fatigue level, and daily sleep, and this data can be shared with coaches in order to facilitate management of the athletes' physical conditions. This means that even if coaches can't go with their athletes to training camps, they can still work with them closely from a remote location. HSPC researcher Mariko Nakamura, 48, commented, "Coaches can objectively evaluate changes in the athletes' physical conditions and help bring out their best performances."
With JSA support, a research team from Juntendo University began an in-depth study last year to monitor the brain structure of track and field athletes using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to explore that variable's relationship with athletic ability. The hope is that this will help tailor training to suit individual neurological differences. Juntendo professor of physiology Hidefumi Waki explained, "The more complex the body's motion, the stronger the brain's involvement."
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translated by Brett Larner
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