The Climate Question3 Jul 2024

How are athletes adapting to extreme heat?

The Paris Olympics are less than a month away. The last games in Tokyo were one of the hottest on record, with more than a hundred athletes suffering heat-related illnesses. And France, the host of this year’s Olympics, is no stranger to heatwaves – the country has seen 23 since 2010.

So how are top athletes training their bodies to not only perform at their best in high temperatures, but also to protect their health? Presenter Qasa Alom heads inside a sweltering, state of the art heat chamber at Leeds Beckett University to find out how one of the fastest marathon runners in Britain, Phil Sesemann, is maximising his chances of success in his Olympic debut.

Other athletes are more used to these conditions. We join India’s top triathlete, Pragnya Mohan, for a training run and hear what it’s like to compete when the thermometer climbs above 45 degrees Celsius.

More and more athletes are adopting heat training strategies in a warming world - but do they affect men and women the same? Dr Jessica Mee, Research Fellow at the University of Worcester tells us about her pioneering research into the impacts of heat on women’s bodies.

Featuring: Phil Sesemann, Team GB Olympic marathon runner Pragnya Mohan, Indian National Champion and South Asian Champion triathlete Dr Jessica Mee, Research Fellow in female health and heat strain at the University of Worcester Dan Snapes, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sports and Excercise Physiology at Leeds Beckett University

Email us at: theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Presenter: Qasa Alom Producer: Sophie Eastaugh Editor: Simon Watts Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown

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