Olympic battles taken off the track and into the lab

Olympic battles this year won't just be won on the track, they will be won in the lab, with researchers from Loughborough University using controlled laboratory conditions to physically prepare TeamGB.

The lab is rapidly becoming sport's most precious battleground. But never fear, at Loughborough University TeamGB have one of the most technologically advanced sports laboratories in the world, with athletes competing for the country turning up at the base on a daily basis in preparation for the Games.

Tom Peck of the Independent describes the facilities as "a curious place", with facilities that allow athletes to breathe in artificially thinned air and to sweat themselves silly on "gravity altering" equipment in order to gain that scientifically-aided upper hand.

After the Atlanta Olympics of 1996, where Britain won just one gold, the facility was established in order to better prepare our athletes ahead of the Games. Now, every gold and silver medallist that was part of TeamGB's record haul in Beijing has worked with the EIS in some form or another.

Steve Ingham, the institute's lead physiologist, presides over the facility, which is home to some of the most groundbreaking sports technology in the world. The first piece Mr Peck examines is the 'Alter-G' gravity altering treadmill, which is placed in a nitrogen flooded chamber, thinning the oxygen in the air to create an artificial high-altitude environment.

Altitude training such as this is designed to increase 'EPO', which is the chemical that produces haemoglobin in the blood. Increased haemoglobin means more oxygen, and in turn more stamina. A year of such training can lead to a 0.5 to 0.6 per cent improvement. As Mr Ingham pints out: "Had Kelly Holmes been 0.6 per cent slower in Athens, she'd have come sixth."

There is a big emphasis on weightlifting, because virtually all Olympic sports from swimming, running, long jump and fencing are about driving force through the hips. No matter what an Olympian's discipline, the chances are he or she will spend time on the 'snatch' or the 'clean and jerk', Mr Peck explains.

Posted by Ben Evans