Should Doping Coaches Be Banned For Life? / Heat and Heart Rate / Tokyo Rivalries In Focus

Aug 21, 2025

This discussion dives into the intense world of athletics, spotlighting rivalries from recent races and predictions for the Tokyo World Championships. The debate on doping takes center stage, questioning whether coaching staff should face lifetime bans and unraveling the complexities of accountability. A controversial standoff in cycling addresses athlete safety versus data tracking, while innovative LED mouthguards emerge as a new tool for managing impacts in rugby. All this combines to paint a vivid picture of today's sports landscape.

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INSIGHT

Pacing And Heat Decide Record Attempts

Faith Kipyegon's near-miss on the 3000m world record shows pacing and small margins decide records.
Heat and discomfort matter even in shorter events and likely prevented an even faster time.

INSIGHT

Reckless Starts Can Be Tactical Weapons

Tactically reckless starts can disrupt rivals and be a viable path to victory in championship races.
Disruptors like Tsegay can force rivals into difficult split-second pacing choices that alter outcomes.

ANECDOTE

Hodgkinson's Fast Comeback

Keely Hodgkinson returned from a year out and won an 800m convincingly in 1:54.74.
Her rapid comeback suggests she may be capable of world record attempts this season.

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Show notes

In today's spotlight, our Discourse Digest looks back at some remarkable track & field performances and how they set up enthralling races in the upcoming Tokyo World Championships. We talk Kipyegon, Tsegay, Chebet, Hodgkinson and Lyles. Tensions between the UCI and cycling teams boiled over with a standoff around rider tracking the latest in the ongoing rider-safety struggles. We discuss how the failure of both sides to compromise and communicate is impacting rider risk.

Risk conversations continue with news that World Boxing will follow athletics' example by screening for sex to protect the integrity of the women's boxing category and the safety of its fighters. Finally, instrumented mouthguards now have an LED light, and we discuss how many are only now becoming aware of this innovation and system for head impact management in Rugby Union.

In Centre Stage (48:17) we turn our attention to doping. Gabby Thomas has called for lifetime bans for coaches whose athletes dope. We explain why it's not quite that simple, legally and philosophically. It's all part of the complexity of the anti-doping landscape, which we explore further with examples of recent doping cases and claims about who bears fault, when bans begin and which performances are tainted.

Listener Lens (1:01:58) involves discussion about heart rate as a guide to training intensity on hot days. Ross explains that we can measure, but not manage our training while our physiology does the necessary in the heat. That becomes a conversation about Zone 2 training in Ross Replies (1:09:47), as listener Niall shares questions about how to incorporate this training intensity into his journey towards fitness and performance.

And finally (1:13:16), Josh asks who you'd put on your Mount Rushmore of athletes? An impossible question, but Gareth and Ross share their thoughts, raising some eyebrows with picks and how they value sporting icons and their legacies.

Links

Vaughters interview about safety in cycling and the UCI standoff
World Boxing sex screening article
Listener Lens on HR in the heat - Discourse members only
Zone 2 thoughts - the mega thread from our listeners - Discourse only
Mount Rushmore of sport

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