Team GB’s athletes will benefit from the services of a meteorologist – as well as using mouthwash and full‑fat Coca-Cola – at the Paris Olympics.
The British Olympic Association confirmed it would be using the former BBC weather presenter Penny Tranter to give it on-day, five-day and two-week forecasts to help prepare for extreme weather.
Greg Retter, head of performance services, said Team GB were being given a two-page summary of the conditions every morning to allow them to mitigate heat spikes, especially for rowers and triathletes. “She is forecasting for us on a daily basis – she is warning us if there is anything coming ahead that we need to know about,” he said. “At the moment it’s relatively settled weather. One of the biggest things we were concerned about was extreme heat.”
Meanwhile the Team GB triathlete Georgia Taylor-Brown said that she would be taking mouthwash and Pepto-Bismol to help prepare for swimming in the Seine when racing next Wednesday. “Mouthwash straight away, using things like Pepto‑Bismol just to line your stomach before the race and after the race,” she said.
“We’ve been doing those for years because we’ve known that different water qualities aren’t great. Sometimes we’d be swimming and boats have just passed and we can see the oil in the water in front of us, so we’re so used to it.”
Taylor-Brown, who won a silver medal in the Tokyo 2020 women’s triathlon and gold in the mixed event, said: “Even in Tokyo, after the races the doctor was washing us down with a pink solution that’s used in hospitals, just to get everything off us straight away.”
GB triathlon’s open‑water swim preparations, which also include taking yoghurt and probiotics, were first revealed by the Guardian in April.
Asked about whether she would also be drinking a can of Coke afterwards, Brown said: “We do after a race. That’s an old wives’ tale but if you put a £1 coin in a Coke overnight it strips it so maybe it’s good for your stomach but not great for your health at times. But we do have a can of Coke, to be honest, sometimes, but the bigger things are the mouthwash, getting everything out straight away, just cleaning straight away and Pepto‑Bismol really helps.”
Brown said it was important to keep in mind the importance of still being in top shape for the mixed relay the following week. “Obviously we have the individual events, but five days later we also have the relay. So we need to be keeping on top of everything. They drill it into you with hand hygiene, everything, especially around the Games.”
