Environmental conditions on our planet are diverse and have an impact on how humans perform at a sporting level.
Even if you train in the same place on a regular basis, your performance level can be affected by environmental factors such as heat, cold and humidity. As a result, it can be hard to achieve the same results from every workout or training session.
In some cases, reduced performance can be a result of a change in mental or physical condition but it can also be caused by environmental factors. This can make it difficult to assess the true level of each individual session.
Training in a different country can prove even more challenging as the body tries to adapt to new conditions such as extreme temperature changes or altitude.
High-Temperature Environments
When an athlete switches to training in extremely high temperatures, the body is put under extra stress. It reacts by transferring the heat back into the environment through perspiration and by moving the blood close to the skin's surface.
This heat dissipation happens naturally but, if your body is not used to the conditions, it reaches the point where it cannot compensate for the change in heat. Then, the body temperature rises and performance is lost.
If an athlete trains in these conditions over a long period of time, the body can adjust and performance can improve as temperature and heart rate are reduced.
High-Altitude Environments
Training at altitude can help athletes to improve their performance. In high-altitude environments (2000 metres above sea level and higher), the body takes in less oxygen, delivering less to the muscles with each breath.
Breathing this thinner air can enhance performance when the athlete competes at a lower altitude.
Athletes that live in a high-altitude environment may enjoy this advantage from a young age. It is thought that high-altitude training is one of the factors that has helped East African countries to produce so many world-class long-distance runners.
Many of these runners were born and raised at heights of 2000 metres or more at moderate temperatures. This also allows them to train at high-intensity in such conditions.
When this biomechanical efficiency is combined with high motivation and a highly-tuned training regime, they are able to excel in their sport.
It is no secret that elite athletes from low-altitude countries move to high altitude environments in an attempt to improve their low altitude performance. Some live and sleep at high altitude and then train at a lower height.
It is thought that this live high, train low philosophy is more effective than simply living and training at high altitude. This method has been used to great success by top athletes such a Mo Farah.
Extreme-Cold Environments
Training in extreme cold can also put a sportsperson’s body under stress. The body works hard to retain as much heat as possible by constricting blood vessels near the surface to redirect blood to the core in a process known as "vasoconstriction."
Oxygen levels are reduced and heart rate is increased to circulate the blood. This puts extra stress on the heart and can even raise blood pressure. Interaction between the brain and muscles may also slow down, affecting performance.
Athletes who are born and raised in cold climates can adapt to the conditions and reach a higher level of performance. Therefore, it is no surprise to find that athletes from colder nations dominate Winter Olympic sports.
The combination of culture, where these sports are encouraged from a young age, and environment, where training is carried out in extreme conditions, gives them an advantage.
But even these athletes are not immune from the effects of extreme cold. In fact, many elite cold-weather athletes in Scandinavia develop asthma or bronchial hyperresponsiveness as a result of long-term training and performing in sub-zero temperatures.
In the Netherlands, 96% of all their Olympic medals have come in speed skating events. The country is low and flat and there is a lot of water that freezes during the winter. They embraced skating early on and it has become a cultural phenomenon.
Today, the sport receives heavy investment and the athletes have responded by dominating the sport. All this, combined with the fact the Dutch are the tallest people on earth, gives them the edge.
Cultural Impact
In some regions, it is cultural factors rather than climatic ones which drive sporting performance. For example, Egypt has produced many top-level squash players over the last 90 years.
In the early days of competitive squash, the biggest name was Amr Bey, an Egyptian diplomat who began playing the game in England in the 1930s. He inspired many others to take up the sport and the country has not looked back since.
The sport has been well backed by the government and promising young players are given the time and resources to develop their game at the many academies that have been established across the country.
It is clear that once a nation embraces a sport and invests in infrastructure, a culture of excellence can be developed.
In Iran, wrestling has been practised for thousands of years and is still one of the country’s most popular sports. Historically, the wrestlers, known as pahlavan were seen as heroes or protectors in remote areas where there was little official authority.
The Olympic success of wrestler Gholamreza Takhti during the 1950s and 60s inspired thousands of young Iranians to take up the sport. With little cost involved, the sport is seen as being accessible to all people, whatever their income or background.
And economic factors do play a big part in the sport that a country excels at. Traditional ‘Western’ countries fare better in team sports that require higher financial commitment and greater infrastructure, while countries where there is minimal state or external support tend to fare better at individual sports, where they can train alone with little cost.
Conclusion
It is clear that climate and environment can play a part in boosting sports performance. But the bigger picture should also be taken into account.
The environment also drives the sporting culture, so athletes from certain areas are always more likely to take up certain sports. And with more athletes taking part, the chances of producing more champions is higher.
So, Austria is more likely to produce top skiers because residents are more likely to take up that sport. And those that do may have an advantage because of the climate they are accustomed to.
Some sports, such as football, begin in one area but are easily adopted in other countries regardless of the climate or environment. South American countries have enjoyed global success in a game that was inherited from Europe, while European countries also continued to excel.
The success of Egypt’s squash players is another example of this. There, it is less about climate and more about the way the cultural significance of the sport had prompted investment and infrastructure to produce a winning environment.
This gives players a psychological advantage. Egyptian squash players have a mental edge in the same way that Kenyan runners or Austrian skiers may have.
The sport is part of that country’s identity and they are highly motivated to maintain national dominance.
So, while climate and environment are important, they are a driver rather than a single defining factor. Genetic, cultural and psychological factors also pay a part in helping a nation reach the pinnacle of a sport.
*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*
