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