Dina Asher-Smith says cramp that ruined 100m title bid was caused by 'period issues'

If this keeps up there will be blood in the streets.

maybe girl needs to suppress that during championship season

Saltpeter running the Olympic marathon had to pull up when she experienced the same issue. If memory serves, she was pulled out in the last 4 miles when it looked liked she was going to medal.

I’ve often wondered when a woman has an uncharacteristically bad race, even though recent results have shown her to be in good form, if the reason is it’s her time of the month. That was the first thought that came to my mind when Emma Coburn ran so poorly at the Olympics last year. I couldn’t think of any other logical explanation. Glad to see Dina raising awareness of this issue.

No it does NOT make sense. Men are often inconsistent in their races also. Are they having periods?

So are you saying Dina is lying?

No I am saying that both genders are inconsistent in their racing at times.

Dina’s words: “Sometimes you see girls that have been so consistent and there’s a random dip and behind the scenes they’ve been really struggling. Everybody else will go ‘What’s that? That’s random.’“

theguardian.com

Dina Asher-Smith reveals period caused calf cramps after racing into 200m final

https://www.theguardian.com/profile/seaningle

Dina Asher-Smith called for more research into the impact of periods on female athletes after dominating her 200m semi-final at the European Championships

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Menstrual cycle 101

Yes, the menstrual cycle can significantly affect athletic performance and fuel utilization during exercise. This is well documented.

No, athletic performance is not worst during "her time of the month" - more likely to be at an all time low right BEFORE menstruation, in the very late luteal phase. For some women, cramps/headaches/etc during the first 1-3 days of menstruation may affect performance, but this time is usually when hormones are at their lowest, so many woman feel better once they reach this point in their cycle.

Follicular phase leading up to ovulation is when athletic performance is peaking and feels more effortless for women, and recovery tends to be much better.

Thanks for listening to my womansplaining.

Fascinating. Thanks for womansplaining! Doesn’t significantly change my central hypothesis that an uncharacteristically bad performance by a woman might be attributed to her cycle.

en.wikipedia.org

Fu Yuanhui

Fu Yuanhui (Chinese: 傅园慧; pinyin: Fù Yuánhuì; born January 7, 1996) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in backstroke. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in the 100-meter backstroke. Early life On...

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Fu won a bronze medal in the 100-meter backstroke by tying for third place with Canadian swimmer Kylie Masse. She finished in a national record time of 58.76. Throughout the Olympics, her cheerful interviews and goofy demeanor made her very popular.

A few days later, after her lackluster performance in the 4×100-meter medley relay where the team placed fourth, she told an interviewer that she was on her period; many commended her decision to speak about this, menstruation being considered a taboo topic in sports.[14][15]

This post is about WOMEN who have PERIODS. Men don't have periods. Are you really incapable of making that distinction?

If you want to talk about men having hormonal flucutuations in their race performances, go and start another thread.

Prostaglandin makes the uterus contract to dispell its lining at a certain point of the month, which can also cause pain, inflammation, bloating and cramp in the quads due to normal hormonal fluctuations in women.

Is human biology yet another subject not covered in US schools or something?

I don’t know why this is anyone else’s problem.

Okay and this is all understood and nobody is denying this. But what is Asher-Smith asking here - what's her solution? My guess is she is alluding to wanting to be able to take some kind of drug to alleviate this issues - but why is this an IAAF/WA/sports issue? Did WA ban a drug that alleviates all these issues? Does Asher-Smith know of a drug that could go on an exempt list that isn't dangerous to women competing in elite sport?

The key point is that in all my years of watching track/listening to athletes, I have never heard a female athlete basically chalk up a poor performance to this issue. That isn't to say that these biological circumstances haven't affected women athletes in the past of all levels (it surely has and to the degree of millions and millions of cases) - but I've never heard it publically used as a, well, excuse.

And bigger picture, maybe this is why we need gender categorization in sports. Do I feel bad that great women athletes encounter these issues and it compromises them? Yes. But what exactly are we supposed to here - circumvent f--king biology? This of course has to be made into an issue but I don't know what else to say, it just isn't.

False. Every woman is different. What is theory with hormones doesn’t match reality. I personally feel terrible the 1-2 days before and first 2 days of my period. Cramps, nausea, low energy, mood impacted, and don’t have vigor to push. Then there’s a noticeable shift on day 3.

dont you claim to be a coach?

how can a coach say stuff like this?

in fact, how can a human say stuff like this?

what are you supposed to do? empathise and work with the athlete to find a solution.