Dr Vanessa Heggie

ADVANCES in science and medicine are not the most talked about of Olympic legacies in the run-up to London 2012.

But research by a Cambridge academic shows the profound effect the Games have had in areas such as cardiology, nutrition, genetics and biomechanics.

Dr Vanessa Heggie, a teaching associate in the department of history and philosophy of science at the University of Cambridge, is currently investigating the history of medical testing on athletes.

She said: “I think it’s normal that the scientific legacies go under the radar because of the emphasis we put on amateurism in sport and natural talent. People in sport tend to be a bit fearful of science because they immediately think of drugs and doping when the 
subject comes up.”

Many breakthroughs have come about thanks to the Olympics, and last time the Games came to London, in 1948, the Great Britain team was facing very different challenges to those which its counterparts will have to overcome this summer.

With the country still under rationing after the Second World War, it was feared that the effects of being underfed over a long period would hinder the team’s performance when faced with athletes from countries where 
rationing wasn’t in place.

Eventually the team was given special dispensation to consume more calories than the average physical labourer, and special restaurants were set up to provide the extra food.

“The Nutrition Society organised a special conference in 1948, which included a panel dedicated to the athletic diet,” said Dr Heggie, who published a book, A History of British Sports Medicine, last year.

“The discussions about the relative merits of high-protein, high-fat or high-carbohydrate diets, and the nutritional work this inspired, had an impact on general dietary advice, research into diabetes, 
and innumerable other areas of food science.”

Dr Heggie added that in recent years high-profile advances in drug and gender-testing at the Games have informed research into drug use and gender identity outside of sport.

“The Olympic science legacy has probably affected all of us far more than a glamorous new stadium or a healthy eating campaign ever could,” she said.