Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Richard Davenport from
Destinee McGhee, who has committed to sign with the University of Arkansas women’s basketball team for the 2020 class, is not only one of the nation’s most gifted post players, but also one of the strongest female athletes.
McGhee, 6-2, of Madison (Ala.) Academy, picked the Razorbacks over scholarship offers from Arizona and North Carolina State on Nov. 10.
While what she’s accomplished on the court has her ranked as ESPN’s No. 7 post player and No. 60 overall prospect for the 2020 class, her brute strength might be even more impressive.
“I feel like maybe I embraced more of a coaching role at Stanford. There were many fans that sat above our bench who were telling me they could hear me screaming — whether it be just yelling at my teammates to do well or yelling for a good tackle, or actually giving different instructions,” she said. “It was hard for me not actively to be on the field, but doing as much as I could was a good experience to have.”
Now well on the road to recovery, the 5-foot-10 defender wants to show she’s worthy of a spot on the World Cup roster.
Katie Ledecky: My mom swam in college, but she never pushed me into the sport. She wanted me to feel comfortable in the water, so she taught my brother and me how to swim from a pretty early age. When I was 6, we joined a summer-league pool. We didn’t really know anybody, and my mom thought that the fastest way for us to meet people would be to join the swim team.
Kate Ellis is an active woman with an adventurous soul. She is a masters-level world champion cross-country skier, a long-distance canoe racer and a former marathon runner who has spent recent summers on weekslong Alaska wilderness trips with her husband and friends.
At 62, her hair might be silver, but her spine is iron. She’s fit, strong and likes to test her limits.
Like pond water under a microscope, training groups attract members, expand, contract and disperse with great regularity. Over the years, running groups in particular have inspired a lot of activity in cities such as Seattle, Boston, Flagstaff—and now in Boulder.
Recently, 2:25 marathoner Laura Thweatt pulled away from Boulder Track Club and joined a new lady group with steeplechaser Emma Coburn at its nucleus and her husband, Joe Bosshard, as the coach. This six-member, group-without-a-name is notable because it’s all women (okay, some men joined as part of a package deal)—who have already found significant success.
… Whalen has been most pleased with how her players are listening and responding. The WNBA legend, who won four league titles with the Minnesota Lynx, was accepted immediately by the Gophers players, of course. But that didn’t necessarily mean she could count on how quickly they would implement what she wanted.
“I think that’s been a big strength of our team: Every time we’ve had something that we identified we wanted to work on, we’ve done that,” Whalen said. “We’ve worked on it in practice, and it’s carried over into the games, which I feel like is a sign of a really good team.”
Physical fitness components that relate with performance in marathon running, e.g., aerobic capacity and body composition, have been studied extensively. On the other hand, data on components of the health-related physical fitness, such as flexibility and muscle strength, were missing in this sport. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to profile force-velocity (F-v) characteristics, muscle strength and flexibility in female recreational marathon runners and to examine their relationship with age, race time and anthropometric characteristics (body fat percentage, fat-free mass – FFM, and total thigh muscle cross-sectional area – CSA). Thirty three female marathon runners (age 40.0 ± 8.9 years, body fat percentage 19.5 ± 4.6% and personal record 4:34 ± 0:39 h:min), separated into three age groups (<35, 35–45 and >45 years) and three performance groups (race time <4:15 h:min, 4:15–4:45 h:min and >4:45 h:min), performed sit-and-reach test (SAR), isometric muscle strength tests, squat jump, countermovement jump and F-v test on a cycle ergometer. The main findings of the present study were that (i) participants had moderate scores of body composition and physical fitness considering norms of the general population, (ii) the <35 age group had better jumping ability than 35–45 and >45 age group, and the older age group had lower F0, Pmax and rPmax than their younger counterparts, (iii) the slowest performance group scored the highest in SAR, and (iv) isometric strength, F0 and Pmax correlated largely with body mass and FFM. Considering the lack of existing data on anaerobic power and neuromuscular fitness of female marathon runners, the findings reported in this study would be useful for strength and conditioning trainers to monitor the training of their athletes. Even if these parameters were not related to race time, they should be monitored regularly as they were either component of health-related physical fitness (muscle strength and flexibility) or could help runners (anaerobic power) under specific circumstances such as ascends during a race. [full text]
Acting prosocially can be quite challenging in one of the most salient intergroup contexts in contemporary society: Soccer. When winning is the ultimate goal, balancing self-interest with helping a fellow player in distress can be a tough decision; yet it happens. To date, we know little about what motivates soccer players to offer such help in the heat of the game. We propose that sex and what is at stake will matter in such prosocial dilemma situations. A pilot study (N = 107) indicated that female players may be more likely to help than male players, but this difference was only observed when the players are close to scoring position rather than far away from the goal (midfield). The main study (N = 366) finds that young soccer players show elevated inclinations to help in low-stakes situations, for example when their team is winning or when the outcome of the game seems pretty much decided. Contrariwise, helping intentions decline in high-stakes situations, for example when one’s own team is losing, when one is close to a scoring position in the offense (rather than at the midfield), or when the outcome of the game is still uncertain. Furthermore, female players show somewhat greater inclinations to help than their male counterparts. The current data point at some differences for male and female soccer players, albeit small in effect size. In contrast, we conclude that especially quick cost-benefit judgments regarding the stakes can play a major role in decisions to help or not to help another player on the soccer field.
The present study aimed to assess the differences in leg stiffness and the associated performance variables between athletes from various training backgrounds during tasks relevant to athletic training. Forty-seven female participants (20 nationally identified netballers, 13 high-level endurance athletes and 14 age-matched controls) completed a sprint, anticipated sidestep change of direction and unilateral repetitive hopping task to assess leg stiffness and the relationship of stiffness between the different tasks. Leg stiffness and performance variables were evaluated with a 10-camera motion analysis system and force plate, and leg stiffness was derived through the McMahon and Cheng methodology (1990). Significant differences were evident in leg stiffness, and the contributing performance variables between groups across all assessed tasks (p < 0.001-0.017). Furthermore, results indicated the control group displayed no leg stiffness relationship between the evaluated tasks, while the stiffness relationship between tasks within athletic populations reflected training-specific demands of athletes. The results of this study indicated that the athletic training background of individuals may contribute to inherent leg stiffness differences between groups. Furthermore, the stiffness relationship observed between tasks suggests practitioners should take care in the selection of task used to monitor leg stiffness from a performance or injury risk perspective.
When Amanda Clark returned to her Cross Fit gym two months after an unplanned Caesarean section, she knew she would have an uphill climb to get back to her pre-pregnancy fitness level. What the 36-year-old Maryland mom of two didn’t know, however, was that her challenges would include pelvic floor dysfunction and a severe separation of the abdominal muscles, or diastasis recti, during the pregnancy that failed to heal on its own.
Clark’s coaches at the gym, she says, “were a couple of young guys with no experience helping postpartum women.” The regimen left Clark feeling frustrated. She also received no guidance from her physician when it came to postpartum fitness.
Her story is not unusual. In an ongoing, small study of postpartum physical and mental health, Jaime DeLuca, associate professor and chairman of the department of kinesiology at Towson University, found that 90 percent of the participants in her study reported receiving no guidance from their physicians beyond “take it slow.”
Several single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in collagen genes have been reported as predisposing factors for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears. However, the evidence is conflicting and does not support a clear association between genetic variants and risk of ACL ruptures. Purpose:
To assess the association of previously identified candidate SNVs in genes encoding for collagen and the risk of ACL injury in a population of elite female athletes from high-risk team sports. Study Design:
Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods:
A total of 851 female Norwegian and Finnish elite athletes from team sports were included from 2007 to 2011. ACL injuries acquired before inclusion in the cohort were registered by interview. The participants were followed prospectively through 2015 to record new complete ACL injuries. Six selected SNVs were genotyped (COL1A1: rs1800012, rs1107946; COL3A1: rs1800255; COL5A1: rs12722, rs13946; COL12A1: rs970547). Results:
No associations were found between ACL rupture and the SNVs tested. Conclusion:
The study does not support a role of the 6 selected SNVs in genes encoding for collagen proteins as risk factors for ACL injury.
To identify associations between race or insurance status and preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative findings in a large cohort of pediatric anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions. DESIGN:
Retrospective cohort study. SETTING:
Division of Orthopaedics at an urban tertiary care children’s hospital. PATIENTS:
915 pediatric (<21) patients undergoing primary ACL reconstruction between January 2009 and May 2016.
INDEPENDENT VARIABLES:
Insurance status and race. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Delay to surgery, concurrent meniscal injury, sports clearance, postoperative complications, physical therapy, range of motion, and isokinetic strength reduction. RESULTS:
Multivariate analysis revealed a significantly longer delay to surgery for black/Hispanic and publicly insured children compared to their counterparts (P = 0.02 and P = 0.001, respectively). Black/Hispanic patients were more likely to sustain irreparable meniscus tears resulting in meniscectomy than white/Asian patients (odds ratio 2.16, 95% confidence interval, 1.10-2.29, P = 0.01). Black/Hispanic and publicly insured children averaged fewer physical therapy (PT) visits (P < 0.001 for both). Nine months after surgery, black/Hispanic patients had significantly greater strength reduction than white/Asian patients. There were no differences in postoperative complications, including graft rupture, contralateral ACL injury, or new meniscus tear along the lines of race, although privately insured patients were more likely to suffer a graft rupture than publicly insured patients (P = 0.006).
CONCLUSIONS:
After ACL rupture, black/Hispanic children and publicly insured children experience a greater delay to surgery. Black/Hispanic patients have more irreparable meniscus tears and less PT visits. Black/Hispanic patients have greater residual hamstrings and quadriceps weakness 9 months after surgery.
Treatment of patients with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries is often complicated by secondary damage to the meniscus and cartilage. Purpose:
To assess the association between time from ACL tear to ACL reconstruction (ACLR) and the presence of intra-articular injuries at the time of ACLR, including meniscal tears, irreparable meniscal tears, chondral damage, and knee compartment degenerative changes. Study Design:
Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3. Methods:
Consecutive patients undergoing primary ACLR performed by a single surgeon in a Canadian health system over a 5.5-year period were included. Age at ACLR, activity level prior to injury, time from injury to ACLR (TFI), presence and degree of radiographic osteoarthritic features (International Knee Documentation Committee [IKDC] score by tibiofemoral and/or patellofemoral compartment), and surgeon-recorded meniscal lesions (presence and treatment [repair or excision]) and chondral lesions (International Cartilage Repair Society [ICRS] scale grade >2) at time of ACLR were extracted from medical records. The association between TFI (in quartiles: first quartile [0-36 wk] through fourth quartile [110-1000 wk]) and each outcome was assessed with multivariable logistic regression adjusted for age at ACLR and activity level. Results:
A total of 860 individual patient records were included. The median patient age was 27.0 years (range, 12-63 years), 47.5% were female (403/849), and 47.2% were classified as playing competitive or professional sports versus recreational sport (337/714). After adjustment for age and activity level, TFI was associated with presence of medial meniscal tear (odds ratio [OR] of fourth-quartile vs first-quartile patients, 3.86; 95% CI, 2.38-6.24; P < .001), medial meniscal tear requiring greater than two-thirds meniscectomy (OR, 5.64; 95% CI, 2.99-10.67; P < .001), medial femoral condyle chondral damage (OR, 3.42; 95% CI, 1.96-5.95; P < .001), and medial tibiofemoral radiographic osteoarthritic features (OR, 22.03; 95% CI, 5.17-93.86; P < .001). TFI was not associated with adverse outcomes in the lateral tibiofemoral or patellofemoral compartments.
Conclusion:
Increases in TFI are associated with medial meniscal tears, including irreparable medial meniscal tears, medial femoral condyle chondral damage, and early medial tibiofemoral compartment degenerative changes at time of ACLR. These findings highlight the importance of establishing a timely diagnosis and implementing an appropriate treatment plan for patients with ACL injuries. This approach may prevent further instability episodes that place patients at risk of sustaining additional intra-articular injuries in the affected knee. Further research is required to understand the implications of TFI and to determine whether decreasing the TFI alters the natural history after an ACL injury. [full text]
… One frustration of mine with our sport is the focus and attention put on weight and body image.
The vast majority of club runners are already at or below a healthy weight, so the obsession with the scales and driving down this number to get faster is misguided, short-sighted and dangerous, especially as weight and BMI are extremely poor indicators of fitness and health.
Despite this, research has shown that the prevalence of eating disorders and RED-S is far greater among athletes and endurance sports than the rest of the population.
An extremely slender and toned body, strict diet, low body fat and a BMI of 18.5, but still worried about her body shape. Are these the traits of a person with an eating disorder? A top athlete? Or both?
In many sports where body weight is associated with performance or aesthetics, the pursuit of low body weight may overshadow other more important parameters for optimal performance, such as consuming enough carbohydrates.
In fact, a wealth of research collectively shows that more than 40% of women engaged in aesthetic sports to a professional level, like dance and gymnastics, show signs of an eating disorder.
And similar figures apply to endurance sports, like running, where you move your own body weight over a longer period of time and low body weight is an advantage.
In a speech during Real Madrid’s most recent general assembly, club president Florentino Perez spoke proudly about how esports will be part of the club’s future.
Perez also talked about plans for a possible Real Madrid theme park to be built in the Spanish capital.
The president took his time to address most of the concerns brought up by club members, but when asked about when Real Madrid was going to create a women’s team, Perez didn’t answer.
In 1972, Bobby Fischer made his third appearance on The Dick Cavett Show. He was at the peak of his fame; the show was taped shortly before he was crowned world chess champion and aired just after. The audience seemed just as wild for him as for the episode’s other guest, Mick Jagger. (“You brought a fan club with you,” Cavett quipped.) American chess was more popular than ever—before or since—and it was hard to tell who was more of a rock star.
In Cavett’s monologue, he wondered about women’s chess: specifically, why there wasn’t more of it. “There’s only one woman’s player whose name I know,” said the late night host. “That’s Lisa Lane, and the only thing I recall about her is that she’s dead.” The subject came up in Cavett’s conversation with Fischer. Asked if he thought that chess was sexist, Fischer replied, “I don’t think it is at all. I’d welcome some girls in chess.” Did he know any girls who’d tried? “Well, there was Lisa Lane. By the way, I think you said she was dead? She’s around.”
… This year Tokyo Medical University revealed that it had for years manipulated women’s test scores and admissions rankings—by as much as 49 out of 100—to ensure that no woman had more than 80 points. Nearly 9% of male applicants won a place, but just 3% of women did so.2 Japan has one of the world’s lowest female physician ratios, and just 21% of all doctor of medicine degrees were awarded to women in 2016.
Fewer female PhD recipients apply for US academic positions overall,3 and the gap is wider in Europe. In a 2004 survey women were awarded just 36% of science PhDs, 33% of junior faculty positions, and 11% of tenured senior faculty slots in Europe. An international survey found that women in medical and science academia were far less likely than male peers to become full or associate professors (60% of appropriately trained men versus 31% of women).4 And women were more likely to fill lower status academic slots: “researcher,” assistant professor, or adjunct teaching positions (about 38% of men in total versus 63% of women). In US medical schools “women make up 38% of faculty members, 21% of full professors, and 15% of department chairs”—despite near parity among younger physicians and medical students.5
