Basically, IOC paid tens of thousands to show that a small slice of the female population overlaps in performance with a small slice of the male population, and now try to spin it as proof of no advantage. Could’ve watched Boston yesterday to see overlap. It is totally irrelevant
If that slice of the female population happens to come from further towards the “high” end of athleticism, and the male slice is further to the “low” end, of course you’ll find similar performances. Look at the VO2, BMI, Fat %, and you know exactly how this “similarity” was made
And so look at the most crucial section of the paper - participant recruitment & eligibility. It says basically nothing of value for matching 2 populations of interest. I fit these criteria, and I have no expectation that anyone would reasonably compare me to F to assess M adv
What this study will be used to argue, is that sports should use case by case assessments. But that remains utterly unworkable, as laid out before by @runthinkwrite, and even World Rugby. It would still be unfair, mind, because the circumstance that allows M performance to equal
@runthinkwrite …to F performance is when you compare higher ranked (better, relatively) F to relatively inferior M. So it is allows relative inferiority to appear equal to relative exceptionalism, in one direction only. The absurdity of this concept is evident when you ask whether 25 year old
@runthinkwrite …should be allowed to compete against 16 year olds? Daft and unfair? Obviously.
“But what if the 25 year old is weaker, heavier, less aerobically fit, and fatter than the 16 year old? Then it’s ok, right”, would be the IOC application of its own research to the question.
@runthinkwrite There is, of course, a possibility that those findings that make the groups unmatched is the outcome after T suppression (such that lower VO2max, higher BMI/fat, are part of the change), rather than the indicators of relative rank in the M population. But that can only ever be
@runthinkwrite …assessed in a longitudinal study. Instead of that, though, what will happen, as it already is, thanks to some sports biological denialism, is PRE vs POST performances will continue to prove the retention of male advantage, and to undermine the integrity of women’s sport. As for
@runthinkwrite …the case by case approach the study will be used to support, pick any one of the TW in the study, say, “participant 9”, and make a case for allowing that athlete into women’s Sport X (athletics for ease), in a way that’s fair & practically possible. I’m interested in the “how”
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
@Nakabuleluwa @drjamesdinic @ProfTimNoakes This desire for a bottom line is what creates a 'market' for the kind of reductionist, over-simplified & selective thinking espoused in that review. Physiology is complex - there are many ways to achieve some outcomes. But if the outcome is performance, low to zero CHO is not one
@Nakabuleluwa @drjamesdinic @ProfTimNoakes Also, very little that has been discussed here is actually new. You could've had lectures in 2002 and heard the same discussions and debates that are now being "debunked" by the paper. Only, the review leaves out dozens of papers that contradict its desired thesis. Can people...
@Nakabuleluwa @drjamesdinic @ProfTimNoakes ...exercise on low CHO intake? Of course? Does fatigue co-incide with EIH? Yes, of course. It's been known for years. Thus, does CHO ingestion prevent EIH and thus delay fatigue? Yes, obviously. None of this argues that high performing athletes can perform OPTIMALLY on low CHO
One thing about this, aside from it being typical academic circle-jerk insecurity (so needlessly, too), is that the integrated model proposed by @drjamesdinic doesn't actually make the same claims that many people (including Tim) proposed as far back as 2001. What James' model is
...explaining (correctly) is that both peripheral and central carbohydrate stores matter to exercise performance and fatigue. It's still a relatively narrow view on exercise, isolating one of many 'homeostats' that regulate or limit fatigue & performance, depending on context.
What Tim et al have argued (as per James initial tweet here ) is that "brain energy balance" matters, not peripheral glycogen levels, and so athletes can get away with very low CHO intake, 10g/hr levels. The bizarre irony is that to make this case,...
There's a whole interview with Malcolm Gladwell that I hope you'll listen to (it's great! link below), but part that is getting a lot of attention is this clip right near the start, and I thought I'd share some context & thoughts
So context, he's talking about a panel that happened in Boston at @SloanSportsConf a few years ago. I was a panelist, and he was the moderator/chair. I was significantly outnumbered on that panel, and my main recollection was that it was a bit of a car crash! speaking for myself!
I recall murmurs & dissent to just about everything I said (male advantage is real, enormous and should be excluded from women's sport, testosterone suppression doesn't take it away, no such thing as meaningful competition), and cheers when trans advocates spoke! I wasn't happy!
Two things these men (& very occasionally women) have in common when offering these 'insights' are: 1) Ignorance (perhaps chosen) of the policy leads them to criticize a straw man or fiction 2) They never offer a solution of any kind for women's benefit 🧵 theconversation.com/world-athletic…
For example, he writes the following. But the WA policy, from its origin, has been CLEAR that it's not simply the SRY gene, but the complete journey from that gene through to androgenization that is being excluded. That's why WA explicitly states the exception, as shown (blue)
He doubles down on his simplistic understanding of the process - SRY is step one, and then "further medical assessments" establish a diagnosis, which would very quickly identify the detail he asserts as if nobody has thought of it. He appears not to understand how 'screens' work
At some point in the future, I'll share a presentation that goes through male vs female physiological differences and the biological reality of sport, to explain what some have (wilfully) misunderstood. But for now, here's a pen review of this absurdity promoted by @BJSM_BMJ
Number 1 (summary conclusions only, mind)
Number 2. This might be the most egregious straw man ever erected. As if anyone really believes it is all muscle size and strength
The IOC appear unsure of why sport would test the sex of athletes. In a bonus (short 16min) podcast, I explain the reasons, how categories only work when excluding some people and why screening is not arbitrary but essential to fairness & safety for women: open.spotify.com/episode/0nhX9D…
It strikes me that the IOC response to the controversy is to ignore the test results, instead choosing to criticize the reason for testing. This enables them to deflect the implication of the test results. The reasons for testing, more generally, is what I cover in the podcast 1/
An organization that is sincere about the integrity of women's sport would deal with BOTH issues. By all means, criticize targeted testing & seek a better way to do it (also in the podcast), but recognize that those test results are telling you that males are fighting females 2/