Temperature and weather conditions during the UCI Road World Championships Doha 2016 have not been in the danger zone, according to the data Aspetar Heat Unit have collected after four days of competition. Furthermore, no athletes’ heat illness or heat stroke cases have been reported thus far to our unit, Aspetar Hospital’s Dr Olaf Schumacher said yesterday, responding to media reports about various medical incidents caused by the heat in Doha.
“Our unit is fully equipped and we are totally prepared to face any possible incident,” said Dr Schumacher, who also explained how his team receives and analyses the weather data, collected by devices placed in different locations over the course and under the sun.
“It’s not just the heat but also exercise, humidity, radiation and finally the wind, which ease the effects of the heat that we are taking into consideration. To combine all this data we are making use of the WBGT (Wet-bulb globe temperature) index.
“It is an index several sports organisations use and make their recommendations ahead and during an event. So far 100 percent of the competition has taken place in the safe zone of the WBGT index, unlike past events at the 1996, 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, the 2016 FIFA World Cup, the 2015 IAAF World Championships and various tennis matches, which took place in conditions within the danger zone.”
According to Dr Schumacher, and his associate and researcher Sebastien Racinais, the wind especially in cycling eases the effects of the heat much more than in other sports due to the athletes’ fast movement.
“The best measure is always prevention. The body can adopt the heat very well within 5-6 days, that’s why together with the UCI we prepared a brochure under the name ‘Beat the Heat’ and made it available to all federations several months in advance of the event where we explain how to prepare, adapt and deal with high environmental temperatures” added Dr Schumacher, who also denied accusations regarding a late arrival of the ambulance in the finish line.
“A unit with two doctors and two paramedics is always available in the finish line. Transportation to the Athlete Medical Care Heat Unit takes less than a minute,” he explained.
Racinais revealed that an ingestible pill measuring body’s core temperature has been taken by 15-20 riders in each discipline as another precaution measure to monitor athletes thermoregulatory responses as real competition data on the topic are scarce.
Thus far, only one case of suspected heat illness reported at the Aspetar Heat Unit, however, closer assessment did not confirm the heat as cause of the exhaustion. The athlete fully recovered 15 minutes later.