Performance 2012: Engaging the public with the physiology and pharmacology of sporting success

David Lewis, Charlotte Haigh. University of Leeds, Leeds, UK

There is considerable public interest in sport and sport achievements, with a significant upsurge in interest and participation following any major international competition, particularly so in the host country. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games therefore provided an ideal opportunity to highlight and explore with the public, biomedical aspects of sport.

Funding was obtained from the Wellcome Trust for a programme of three public engagement events entitled “The physiology and pharmacology of performance enhancement in sport”1. The aim was to provide the public with knowledge and understanding of exercise physiology and pharmacology, and promote debate on the ethical issues which arise when this knowledge is utilised to enhance sporting performance.

The first event, targeted at young people (Key stage 4 & 5), gave them the opportunity to act as scientists in a mock drug testing laboratory, analysing urine samples for Erythropoietin, In the second half of the workshop, they discussed their results, the use of drugs in sport and debated the use of gene doping to enhance sporting performance.

The second event was targeted at individuals who provide sporting opportunities for young people and comprised of a facilitated debate in which their roles and responsibilities as coaches, towards their young athletes, was explored. Video case studies of social drug use by athletes and the phenomenon of “pushy parents” were created and utilised to promote discussion.

The final event, “The science behind sporting success” was a two-day interactive exhibition, the aim of which was to introduce the general public to the physiology and pharmacology of performance enhancement in sport, and give them opportunity to reflect on any ethical issues which may arise. The exhibition combined “have a go” sporting activities such as wheelchair basketball or racing a friend on a Wii rowing game whilst measuring changes in heart rate and breathing, with those which focused more on the science of performance enhancement e.g. how do you measure lactate threshold and what does it mean, or an interactive mind-map where the public could contribute their ideas on the harms and benefits of gene doping in sport for different sections of the community. Individual activities were run by undergraduate student interns. The exhibition attracted more than 900 visitors over its two days

Feedback from all three events was excellent. 95% of school pupils would come to a similar event in the future, it made them think about their views on the use of drugs in sport (Likert 1-4 scale, mean score = 3.18/4) and increased their understanding of the ethics of gene doping (3.73/4). Coaches similarly enjoyed their debate (3.3/4), with it being of benefit to them in their role as a coach (3.06/4) whilst 82 % of the public found the exhibition interesting.

Performance 2012 has successfully engaged the public with the physiology and pharmacology of performance enhancement in sport. To promote sustainability of the project, all resources will be made available as open educational resources via the project website1

The financial support of the Wellcome Trust is gratefully acknowledged.

1. www.fbs.leeds.ac.uk/performance2012/index.php