| Salt Lake City |
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| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
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| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
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| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
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| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
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| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
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| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
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| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
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| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
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| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
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| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
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Athletic researcher earns 'gold'
Findings on value of exercise lead to $500,000 prize
By Lois M. Collins
Deseret News staff writer
Scientists knew that muscles that aren't used shrink fast and metabolic activity decreases. They just didn't know how fast — or the impact on the cardiovascular system.
Until, that is, Dr. Bengt Saltin decided to document the effects, particularly on the heart. His lifetime body of work — including studies showing that muscles need oxygen the same way they need glucose and nutrients in order to function — just received an Olympic medal and $500,000.
The award, presented to Saltin by IOC President Jacques Rogge and IOC Medical Commission Chairman Prince Alexandre de Merode last week, was endowed by Pfizer and co-sponsored by the IOC Medical Commission.
Research — both to improve athletic performance and to broaden the general body of knowledge about health and fitness — is a big deal at the 2002 Winter Games.
Pfizer is sponsoring no fewer than nine research projects that are either health- or biomechanics-related. They're studying everything from nutrition to whether adjusting the klapskate pivot point can change a speedskaters' chance of winning.
Saltin, a co-founder of the European College of Sports Science and professor at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, documented the need for some exercise, regardless of injury or heart disease or whatever was keeping someone ill.
"As quickly as possible," he said. "It's important to move around."
Saltin applies the answers his research yields to everyday people, helping change habits of those with blood-related diseases such as anemia or those with cardiovascular conditions so that exercise becomes part of their routine.
The mission of research that's going on during the Games is to "improve human performance naturally, prevent injuries and promote healthy lifestyles," said Todd Allinger, a biomechanist at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital in Murray and coordinator of all the Pfizer-sponsored, Games-time research projects.
In ski jumping, for instance, there's a perception low body weight is a big plus, Allinger said. Some of the athletes may be giving up health to stay slim. One of the projects, though, will look at whether mechanics can accomplish it.
During competition, video will be taken of the athletes, then their body positions fed into a simulation. With it, researchers can adjust weight, length and width of the ski to seek ways to reduce injury and promote health.
Kelly Lockwood, an assistant professor at Brock University, is studying whether the best jumpers actually win in figure skating since jumping has taken on increasing importance.
She's taping the Olympic competitors, then looking at eight elements, three of them jump-related.
Meanwhile, Deborah King, an assistant professor of biomechanics at Montana State, is looking at the technical characteristics of certain figure skating skills, including the men's quad jump and the pairs split triple twist. She hopes to help athletes learn such moves more easily, perform them more safely and get better athletic results.
Salt Lake researchers are among the scientists sponsored by Pfizer. Nana Meyer, sports nutrition researcher, and Andy Subudhi, physiologist, are doing research with TOSH and the University of Utah, on how poor diet can hurt sports training and performance and lead to injury and illness.
They've spent six months gathering nutrition information related to winter sports, including one-on-one interviews, diet and activity records, blood draws, bone scans and more to learn how hydration, iron levels, carbohydrates and calories, sports nutrition supplements and training environment affect athletic performance.
Besides financially supporting the research, Pfizer will help distribute the results across the medical community, to athletes, coaches and others who might benefit from it, said Dr. Randall Kaye, senior director of Olympic Affairs for the pharmaceutical company.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com
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February 15, 2002
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