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Scientists add punch to TV athletic contest
The work of two University of the Sunshine Coast sport scientists will feature in Series 3 of Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete competition starting on Channel 7 on Sunday 13 February at 4.30pm.
Laboratory technicians Stephen Bishop and Raymond Cupples designed a gruelling punching challenge for the eight elite athletes who are vying for sporting supremacy in 2011.
They gave Shannon Eckstein (ironman), Eamon Sullivan (swimming), Mark Winterbottom (V8 supercars), Quade Cooper (rugby union), Ken Wallace (kayak), Fabrice Lapierre (athletics), Luke Hodge (AFL) and Kurt Gidley (rugby league) a solid workout using some slightly modified USC research equipment at Novotel Twin Waters Resort.
Raymond took blood samples to analyse the athletes’ lactate levels before and after the test, while Stephen analysed the data provided by the punching pad equipment that has been used previously for assessing martial arts kicking and for golf research.
“The equipment calculated the total force over a minute of the athletes punching a special boxing pad,” Stephen said.
“Going by their results, it was obvious that they worked above their lactate threshold for quite a while. Some of them got very tired and even started to miss the bag.”
Raymond said he enjoyed the opportunity to put Australia’s top sportsmen through their paces using scientific knowledge gained from his studies at USC.
“It was a good opportunity to apply what we’ve learned here at the University into practice off campus,” he said. “The lactate analysis that I did showed how intensely they were working and how well their energy systems are developed to deal with intense activity.”
The punching challenge features in a promotional video on the Rexona Australia’s Greatest Athlete website.
The two USC scientists also believe they appear in the episode with the punching test, which will be screened towards the end of the series.
And the University of the Sunshine Coast itself will star as a backdrop during another test, as the athletes show off their basketball prowess at USC’s outdoor courts.
— Terry Walsh