Australian sports scientists have devised a way for their athletes to master the heat and humidity at this month’s Beijing Olympics, reports said yesterday.
Competitors will drink “slushies” made of crushed ice and electrolytes in a bid to battle the 30˚C-plus temperatures that the Australians believe will be a bigger threat than Beijing’s chronic pollution.
“It is a concentrated way to eat ice. It’s going to act as a heat sink and make the athlete’s body much cooler,” said Louise Burke, chief dietician at the Australian Institute of Sport.
“A glycerol component is going to act as a sponge for water. So rather than weeing out all that sports drink, as you’d normally do if you over-drink, the athlete is able to keep it in his or her body,” she told ABC Television.
Burke said the formula lowers an athlete’s initial core temperature to 36˚C, giving the competitor a 1˚C head start in beating the heat.
“The science shows that drinking a slushie helps keep you cool and it’s easier than vests and towels and that sort of thing,” women’s field hockey coach Frank Murray told the Australian newspaper.
Murray said the “slushie science” had been perfected after the men’s and women’s hockey teams went to Beijing for a test event in August last year.
“We have to take every opportunity because the competition is so close,” Murray said.
Burke said they had even worked out how to prevent “brain freeze,” the headache that occurs when you consume cold foods.
“You put your tongue on the top of your mouth,” Burke said. “We’ve got all angles covered. Hopefully, when it is all over, we’ll load up the slushie machine with margaritas and celebrate all the gold medals.”
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