Sport Ireland has officially unveiled its new environmental chamber, which simulates various environmental conditions, such as altitude, temperature and humidity to help athletes prepare for competition in any part of the world.

The chamber, located in the Sport Ireland Institute, can simulate altitudes of up to 5,000 metres, temperatures of between –20 and 50 degrees Celsius, and humidity of 20% to 90%.

Paris-bound Olympians and Paralympians are already using it to get ready for this summer’s Games.

That will be the main focus of work in the chamber between now and Paris, providing a training space at the predicted thermal conditions where athletes, coaches and support staff can train and acclimate to the conditions that await them in the French capital and the other venues around France.

Recent summer conditions in Europe indicate a strong likelihood of heatwave temperatures facing the athletes during the Games, and the Physiology Team at the Sport Ireland Institute are focused on fully preparing all athletes to cope in such conditions.

“Both altitude and warm weather training require high logistical, time and attention cost for not only the coaches and athletes but also the sport science and medical staff involved supporting athletes to ensure that they benefit from the performance gains without compromising their health,” said Sport Ireland Institute CEO Liam Harbison.

“The investment in and provision of this chamber is a hugely significant performance support offering we have now added to the comprehensive suite of performance services to Ireland’s best athletes.”

Officially opening the chamber, Minister of State for Sport, Physical Education and the Gaeltacht Thomas Byrne said: “As we await the Paris Games with great excitement, I am delighted to see this new resource being made available to Irish athletes at the Sport Ireland Institute. The new environmental chamber will allow our athletes to train at conditions specific to their needs and aims to give them the best possible chance of performing to the standards we know they can reach into the future.”

“Our athletes are frequently called upon to compete in extreme environmental conditions,” added Sport Ireland CEO Dr Una May.

“This chamber represents Sport Ireland’s continuing commitment to ensuring Irish sportspeople are given the best chance of succeeding.”

The sports stars who have been using it have been full of praise.

Boxer Grainne Walsh, who is going to Thailand to compete in the final qualifier for Paris 2024 in two weeks’ time, said: “Having the environmental chamber in the Institute for us is unreal. We are basically able to bring the heat and humidity of Bangkok to the Institute. When we arrive in Thailand, it’s not going to be something we haven’t prepared for, because we’re training in 60% humidity and 35 degrees Celsius.”

“I am so thankful that the Sport Ireland Institute aren’t sparing any cost in terms of helping us to achieve our potential. I feel very lucky to be a part of this and to have all these facilities. When you take a step back and see how blessed you are it is something else.”

“The chamber offers us a huge range of flexible options to support athletes in terms of acclimation for temperature, humidity and altitude,” said Dr Ciara Sinnott-O’Connor, Head of Physiology at the Sport Ireland Institute.

“There is a key benefit in linking in with rehab and physio programmes. We use heat training sessions to induce an additional physiological stress to assist athletes returning to training from injury or those athletes requiring an increase in physiological stress without an increase in overall training load.”

 

 

The Sport Ireland Institute also launched a new Statement of Intent and a data partnership with the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics which we will cover separately over the coming days.

 

 

 

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