Knowledge Nuggets

“As athletes, we’re being taken more seriously and senior leaders are asking for our opinions – not because they feel they have to check a box, but because they believe we have something important to bring to the table.” – Seyi Smith, Chair of the COC’s Athletes’ Commission and two-time Olympian, reflects on the rise...

Fourteen-year-old Toronto-based swimmer Summer McIntosh is Canada’s youngest Olympian in Tokyo. In June, the Grade 9 student won the 200m freestyle at the Canadian Olympic Trials, beating out 2016 Olympic champion Penny Oleksiak. Make sure to watch this rising star and the rest of Canada’s Olympic swim team in action until August 1 in Tokyo!

Tokyo last hosted the Olympic Games in 1964. At that edition of the Games, Canada’s only gold-medalists were men’s pair rowers Roger Jackson and George Hungerford. As Canada’s largest rowing team in 25 years gears up for Tokyo 2020, Kai Langerfeld and Conlin McCabe will be looking to repeat history in the same event. The...

The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games are expected to be among the hottest ever recorded. As athletes prepare for the games, researchers have found that heat acclimatization is the best measure to protect health and performance. This can include 60 to 90 minutes of daily training in the heat for one to two weeks before...

The Summer 2021 SIRCuit is now available!  The SIRCuit is designed to highlight important research and insights to advance the Canadian sport system. With the summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo on the horizon and the winter Games in Beijing just around the corner, this edition of the SIRCuit dives into issues and trends that will...

Sport climbing is scheduled to make its Olympic debut in Tokyo this summer. Research shows that sport climbing is a safe sport with low injury frequency. However, climbing on artificial surfaces rather than on real rock encourages more acrobatic movements that can increase the risk of injury.

The upcoming Tokyo Games will provide a platform for Canadian athletes to shine. For many, their development path has not been a straight line from playground to podium. Learn about RBC Training Ground and Paralympian Search – two programs designed to support athlete development in Canada and help build the pipeline of future podium hopefuls.

A holistic approach to athlete development considers the interconnections between different spheres of an athlete’s life, and recognizes their impact on performance. Whether athletes are struggling with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, relocation, injury, or the end of a relationship, coaches and IST members can support them in evaluating the impact across the spheres...

“We saw how important it was for the athletes to compete again and to be under that kind of positive pressure… Getting athletes in front of even virtual judges was really beneficial in terms of their preparation for Tokyo.” In the SIRC blog, Amanda Tambakopoulos, Program Manager for Women’s Artistic Gymnastics at Gymnastics Canada, shares...

Did you know that during training and competition, the “ideal” internal body temperature shifts from ~37°C to ~38.5°C? Research shows slightly increasing body temperature through a passive warm-up can increase muscle power by up to 5%, thus improving performance.