Many Different Views On Olympic Altitude Problem

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31239, 10 December 1966, Page 11

Many Different Views On Olympic Altitude Problem

TT Is unlikely that the controversy surrounding the choice of Mexico City as the venue for the 1968 Olympic Games will be resolved before the Olympic distance events are held there. But there is little doubt that athletes not used to racing at 7349 ft above sea level will be affected. To what extent seems to be anybody’s guess. Some outrageous comments have been made about Mexico City since it was chosen —many by high ranking officials, some by doctors and some by prominent athletes, all of whom one would imagine should be in a position to know the possible effects of sustained maximum effort at high altitude. Unfortunately, their opinions have varied so widely that it is hard to draw any definite conclusions from them.

One former athlete predicted . there will be those that will die.” At the other end of the scale, New Zealand’s 1956 Olympic 50,000 metres walking cham-

By

pion, N. R. Read, considers that any fully fit athlete who goes to Mexico two weeks before the games will have no trouble at all. “The effects of the altitude at Mexico City are more psychological than physical,” says Read. He made these comments on his return to New Zealand after spending some time training at 10,000 ft in Mexico.

W. D. Balllie, another experienced international, has sharply contrasting views to this. He believes that athletes who only train at high altitudes are “fooled by its effects. Nobody will convince me that running at high altitude is all in the mind.” Baillie recounts how he struggled to run 14min 40sec for three miles in Kenya at 5000 ft a few months ago. Less than a week later he reduced this time by lsmin

running at sea level in Sweden. “I found I could train at seven-minute mile pace for 20 miles at 5000 ft and feel no different to when I do the same thing in Auckland. But when I put on the sustained pressure in the threemile race it was another story. There was an immediate detrimental effect,” Baillie says. One thing that everyone seems to agree on is the need for an acclimatisation period before the games—the longer the better. Obviously no nation can send its team there six months before the games for that would undoubtedly cut across the Ideals of the Olympic code. However, a few weeks—four seems to be the most popular figure quoted by administrators—could make all the difference.

A great deal of research has been carried out by medical experts on the possible effects of competition at Mexico City. An international sports meeting was held there some time ago to allow interested countries to investigate the effects of the altitude and doctors had a field day. The breath of athletes was analysed, their reactions noted, their pulses taken and thousands of pages were filled with statistics. It appeared likely that this would provide the answer. It did not Unfortunately, different doctors and different countries placed different Interpretations on the results of the tests and the situation was even more confused than before. The only thing really obvious to the ordinary observer was that nobody died. However, the organising body in Mexico is certain that athletes will not suffer because of the altitude. It considers that it is farfetched tn assume that the danger of death lurks for an athlete who practices sports at an altitude similar to that of Mexico City, even though those athletes may be accustomed to sea level performance.

The organisers recently reported to the International Olympic Committee, that no member of any of the hundreds of foreign teams that had visited the city’s plateau had ever had a cardiovascular accident that could be attributed to performing at high altitude. The thousands of Mexican athletes who had competed up on the plateau had not suffered unduly either.