Various things have piqued my interest over the last few days. First one was a story circulating about Iga Swiatek (The current WTA No1) practising with tape over her mouth. I found this article in The Washington Post amusing / curious / interesting – from it’s headline, through to it’s generally positive coverage: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/08/12/nasal-breathing-mouth-tape-exercise/
Part of me wonders exactly why Swiatek has her mouth taped shut – as it is completely possible to exercise at this intensity, for short periods of time (sprint repeatability) with your mouth kept shut. I’m curious if it is due to ensuring that she does keep her mouth shut, is it making a point for competitors / the public to be aware that she’s doing this? Either way it is a positive thing to see the current women’s world No1 working out in this way. Making it all harder, to adapt and in time make it all easier. I’d also be curious to know how she structured the session, how long she kept the tape on for (which is one reason for not using tape, just shutting the mouth so you can then switch to mouth breathing to more effectively offload CO2), what intensity her coach is getting her to work at, etc.
The next thing I’ve been really drawn into has been the World Athletics, which started on Saturday in Budapest.
Things that have made me think:
- The 2 falls on day 1 – Hassan in the women’s 10,000m. Desperately trying to hold off Tsegay’s finishing charge, Hasan seemed to drift into Tegay’s lane – it looked like she was trying to force her wide – which spoke of an athlete who was less confident about her ability to hold her speed and win without needing to push Tesgay wide. Unfortunately Hassan was at her limit, brushed Tsegay with her arm / bumped into Tsegay’s arm. The end result – hitting the track around 10m from the line. The post race interview that Hassan gave was great for her candid feedback, claiming that she was pushed, but doing all with a smile on her face and not bearing any ill feeling or resentment.
- The second fall was Femke Bol, at the end of the mixed 4 x 400m. This seemed down to pure fatigue / pressure. The line wasn’t there soon enough for Bol. The pressure the American athlete put her under too much, her lean for the line too much and down she went.
- The performance of Joshua Cheptegei in the 10,000m final was brilliant. Hot, humid so not the quickest race the athletes have run, but when he went around 450m he was just too strong to be caught. Wonderful to watch him in full control, crank the pace and win. 3 in a row – I can;t wait until he gets on the roads permanently.
- Just how much affection and joy was shared between the female heptathletes at the end of the 800m. Regardless of how won, where they all came it seemed that this was secondary to sharing in the experience of competing at the World Championships together. It felt unusual to see this – and humanised the athletes and was something that adds a different dimension to watching the sport.
- Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s rather self-absorbed motion, to the crowd, to make noise and lift the arena. If Iw as running alongside him I’m not sure how glad I’d be for that. Any race is as dependent on those you run against, to make it competitive, as it
