Australian boxing team’s basic ingredient used by distance runners for a winning edge in Paris
Elite distance runners swear by it. A basic ingredient that can be bought at Woolies can deliver gold in Paris. Now the Aussie boxing team are using it to seek a winning edge in Paris.
It is the $2 ingredient that can be bought at Woolworths which has emerged as the secret weapon in the Australian boxing team’s quest for a record medal haul in Paris.
Star duo Harry Garside and Teremoana Teremoana Jnr launch Australia’s boxing campaign on Monday and the gold-medal hopefuls have turned to a substance used in baking cakes to get a winning edge.
In the distance-running world, scores of elite marathoners are mixing sodium bicarbonate with gels or carbohydrate drink solutions to form a cocktail capable of improving athletic performance and endurance.
Sodium bicarbonate, commonly known as baking soda, can be purchased at your local supermarket for half the price of a daily coffee.
There are no doping red flags. It is totally clean and legal.
According to sports scientists, the mixture protects muscle fibres from a build-up of lactic acid, which accelerates fatigue and could be the difference between winning gold or missing a medal in the cutthroat realm of Olympic sports.
A number of British Olympic athletes consume the cocktail and it has found its way to the Australian boxing team, who will field a record 12 fighters in Paris.
Australia’s 120kg super heavyweight sensation Teremoana Jnr has road-tested the baking soda formula in training under the watchful eye of Queensland Academy of Sport science gurus.
One of his Aussie teammates tried the mixture and gave it away after suffering a nasty bout of diarrhoea.
The 26-year-old Sydney-born slugger kicks off his campaign against Ukraine’s Dmytro Lovchynskyi and hopes the cut-price mixture proves a golden recipe for success.
“It’s something the nutritionists have come up with,” said Australian boxing coach Santiago Nieva.
“I have left it to the individual boxers to try it.
“I can’t go into the exact details of what it does or doesn’t do because I leave it to the experts.
“It apparently removes the lactic acid in the body quicker.
“The boxers have tried it and some felt good about it, including Teremoana.
“The little things can make a difference at this level and I’m very confident of Teremoana’s chances of a medal.”
Teremoana faces a torrid route to win gold.
The fifth-seed has a tough first-up test against Ukraine’s Lovchynskyi, who beat the Aussie last year, before a possible second-round showdown with defending gold medallist, 201cm Uzbekistan king Bakhodir Jalolov.
“The Ukrainian (Lovchynskyi) has beaten Teremoana, but Teremoana has improved a lot in the last year,” Nieva said.
“Now we know tactically what to expect and Teremoana is much better prepared.
“I am confident that he will handle that first bout, and then he will be fighting for a medal.”
Tyla McDonald will be Australia’s first fighter in the ring on Monday morning in the 60kg class, followed by Tokyo bronze medallist Garside, who takes on Hungary’s Richard Kovacs.
“I expect Harry to be too fast and too skilful of a boxer,” Nieva said.
“It’s a tough fight, nothing is a given at this level, but I believe Harry will win this one.”
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