Devices and protocols promising faster restoration between sessions rest on mechanisms that are plausible in outline and very difficult to connect to any competitive outcome.
Surfaces are specified to engineering tolerances that are genuinely measurable, and the performance effects attributed to them require a further step that is rarely taken.
Rules about how to distribute effort across a distance are passed on as settled, though the optimal distribution depends on the event, the athlete and the field.
Coaching promises to sharpen the response to a starting signal, but the interval being measured contains several distinct processes that respond very differently to practice.
The physiological reasoning behind training at elevation is sound in outline and considerably less settled once the details of dose, timing and individual response are considered.
World Athletics has improved under current leadership but fundamental governance flaws remain. The sport needs structural transformation, not incremental…
Team dynamics, baton exchange drama, and the possibility of catastrophic failure make relays the most entertaining events in athletics. Yet they receive a…
Older athletes competing as juniors distort youth competition results, steal opportunities from genuine juniors, and undermine the development pathway that…
Athletics' premier invitational series suffers from confusing formats, events chopped to fit TV windows, and an audience that has been driven away by constant…
An Olympic gold medalist in athletics earns less for their greatest achievement than a mid-table Premier League footballer earns in a single week. The…
Current policies attempt to balance inclusion with fairness using testosterone thresholds that the scientific literature suggests are insufficient. The debate…
The history of Olympic athletics is intertwined with the history of doping. Retrospective testing, whistleblower revelations, and statistical analysis suggest…
When the shoe matters more than the athlete, the sport has a technology problem. Carbon-plated super shoes have invalidated historical comparisons and created…
The anti-doping system catches the careless and the unlucky while sophisticated state-sponsored programs operate with near-impunity. Athletics has a doping…