Supporting a uK SucceSS Story: The impacT of - Research Councils ...

London 1948 established Olympism’s ability to bring together
people from different nations living in an increasingly divided
world. For Emil Zatopek, the Czech 10,000 metres gold medalist
representing a country which had recently been incorporated into
the Soviet bloc, his world view was transformed by participation
in London 1948. He said: “I went into the Olympic village and
suddenly there were no more frontiers, no more barriers, just the
peoples meeting together.” Professor Beck believes this rich history
suggests that London 2012 will help develop the UK’s longstanding
relationship with the Olympic Movement, to rebuild and strengthen
Olympism and to support new directions for Olympism like legacy.
History of sports medicine
The Olympic and Paralympic Games provide a unique opportunity to examine
athletes and the impact of high performance sport on their bodies. Dr Vanessa
Heggie, a Wellcome Trust-funded Teaching Associate at the University of Cambridge,
has looked into the history of sports medicine and how it has evolved. In her book
‘A History of British Sports Medicine’ she highlights that it wasn’t until 1928 when the
Association Internationale Médico-sportive (AIMS), was founded that it was possible
for an international team of doctors and scientists to examine athletes. In that year,
two doctors from Manchester, Crighton Bramwell and Reginald Ellis, noticed that
marathon runners had exceptionally stable resting pulse rates, something we now
attribute to the high fitness level the marathon requires. At the time, they suggested
this might be because of the phlegmatic temperament of the marathoner, compared
to the more ‘highly-strung’ sprinters. It was through examinations like these that the
extraordinary nature of the elite athlete became apparent. They have unusually low
resting heart rates, massive lung capacities and phenomenal muscle development.
AIMS still exists to this day, but in 1934 changed its name to the Fédération
Internationale de Médicine Sportive. In 1948 when Britain hosted the Olympics for
a second time in London, rationing was still in place. Athletes were given special
dispensations to consume more calories than the average physical labourer, and
special restaurants were set up to provide the extra food, and so research began into
the effect of food on an athlete’s diet.
The 1968 Olympic Games took place in Mexico City. At 7,500 feet above sea level this
caused fears about the altitude, with one Gold medal winner Chris Brasher claiming
that some athletes might even die in Mexico. Further research was commissioned
into what effect altitude might have on health and performance. This research found
that some high-profile events might actually be positively affected, as the lower air
resistance improved performances. However, the research also found that endurance
events would be negatively affected by the lower oxygen partial pressure in Mexico
City. With increasing security at the Olympic Games, it has become far less common
for research to take place at the Games themselves. However, the events have
continued to provide the inspiration for thousands of clinical and scientific studies,
which have has an impact on medicine much wider than just within sport.
SECTION FIVE : THE GAMES: past, present and future 53