News article
New study shows athletes how to beat competition heat
The potentially lethal cocktail of high heat and humidity, strenuous exercise and dehydration hit Czech endurance athlete Hana Švestková Stružková so hard during a championship event that her body went into meltdown mid-race and she lost consciousness.
Stružková was racing in the classic up and down 8.2km mountain event at the inaugural World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Chiang Mai, Thailand last year when, 1.5km from the finish, she succumbed to heat stroke and lost control of her body.
“Every step became harder, I couldn’t run straight, my body became weaker and I couldn’t control my legs,” Stružková recalled. “I fell down many times. Over the last 200 metres I could only scramble. It felt like a dream. After coming to the finish I was unconscious for one to two minutes and woke up in the medical tent. I couldn’t drink anything for about an hour and a half. I felt I would vomit. I felt very bad.”
Stružková admits she drastically underestimated the severity of the race conditions, she didn’t acclimate properly, and she didn’t drink enough water.
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