(Anne Flower breaking the 50-mile world record. Photo: Micki Colson/Tunnel Hill)
2. Coming back from heatstroke at the 70.3 World Championships
Just four weeks ago, we were writing about Lucy Charles-Barclay and Taylor Knibb both collapsing while in the lead during the final miles of the Ironman World Championships. Both appeared to suffer from extreme heatstroke, both said later they didn't remember large portions around their DNFs, both had elevated core
temperatures for some amount of time that required extensive recovery.
It was unclear, then, if either of them would be ready for the Ironman 70.3 (or half-Ironman) World Championships in Spain this past weekend.
Well, they were! And we were treated to another head-to-head battle!
💥 Lucy, the 2021 world champion at this distance, ultimately came out ahead — with Taylor, the 3x world champion, close behind her.
How did they do it? A lot of recovery! Heat exhaustion or, at its most severe, heat stroke requires cooling the body down to get your core temperature back to normal and then letting your body rebuild. That means not getting too hot or pushing it too hard until you're recovered. For Taylor, she's said that meant she didn't get the OK to race until the Monday before...
🎧 LISTEN: Lucy joined the men's champ to talk about how she bounced back and how the race went down
🥇 FUN FACT: In the amateur or age-group competition, Michellie Jones, the silver medalist at the 2000 Olympics, won the 55- to 59-year-old world title
3. What the h*ll is going on with the Olympics and sex testing?
First, the governing body for skiing announced it would be following in track & field's footsteps and implementing genetic sex testing for female athletes. But! This wouldn't be for the Olympics in February; it would instead be rolled out for the 2026/27 season.
However, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee went ahead and started trying to identify which athletes need the genetic testing (which is banned in Norway, btw!). Is this because the USOPC is trying to keep the Trump Administration off their backs? Possibly! We discuss on The Feist podcast episode this week, covering all things Winter Games.
Then (a second however!), news leaked yesterday that the International Olympic Committee may announce their own policy in 2026 banning trans athletes as well as cis female athletes with naturally high levels of testosterone (or what they're calling "male levels" — which can occur in women who have disorders of sex development or other genetic variations). To date, the IOC has left it up to each sport and currently allows trans women to compete if they have gone through a medical transition and lowered their testosterone levels.
😂 Our favorite comment so far on the news — because it's not not true:
"If a cis woman has those levels of testosterone, then how can they be male levels of testosterone?"
"Misogyny."
📚 READ: Look back at when and why the IOC abandoned genetic sex testing in 1999 in this piece published in 'Lancet' at the time
🎧 LISTEN: Still confused? You're not the only one. This week's Feist podcast dives into all things Winter Olympics — sex testing, bans on Russians, and the events and sports women are finally getting to compete in
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