Ever wondered what athletes do at the Olympic Games when they get their period? Well, there are a bunch of competitors who have lifted the lid on this previously taboo topic.
Honestly, kudos to anyone able to get out of bed when they’re menstruating, let alone competing on the world stage at the highest level.
“Nine times out of 10, it’s mental. It’s just saying to your brain, ‘This isn’t convenient right now, but you’re going to be all right’. Maybe take a couple of paracetamol for the cramps. But it’s business as usual,” Emily Campbell, a Team Great Britain weightlifter, told The Telegraph.
Emily Campbell competing at Tokyo 2020. (Image: Getty)
There is an option to ‘skip’ your period by using hormonal birth control, but of course, that comes with risk and some athletes – like Campbell – prefer to have their body be “natural”.
“At the 2022 Commonwealth Games I was on my period and I had one of the most perfect performances of my career,” she noted.
“A lot of the time you get defeated in your head, you think because you’re on your period you’re going to be a mess. You’ve lost half the battle before you’ve even started.”
In 2022, British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith pulled up due to cramps during the 100-metre race at the European Championships. She called for more research into how menstruating affects athletic performance in her post-race interview.
“It’s something more people need to research from a sports science perspective, because it’s absolutely huge,” she said.
“I feel like if it was a men’s issue there would be a million different ways to combat things. But with women there just needs to be more funding in that area.”
Kaylee McKeown recently won Gold at the Paris Olympic Games 2024. (Image: Getty)
Does menstruation help or hinder affect athletic performance?
A recent study by the UCL Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health showed that people who menstruate actually have quicker reaction times during their period. (It was a study of just 241 people and therefore not exactly comprehensive, but still, interesting!)
While those in the study assumed their athletic performance would suffer due to many saying they felt worse while menstruating, the results didn’t reflect this. Attention to detail, spatial recognition and reaction times were increased during their period, but they slowed in the luteal phase after ovulation.
“If it’s true that sport-related spatial cognition does change consistently throughout the cycle, then maybe that does support the idea of having ‘priming drills’ in the luteal phase before an athlete goes into a competition,” lead author Dr Flaminia Ronca said.
A possible reason for slower reaction times in the luteal phase is due to the body’s natural rise in creating progesterone, which appears to have a curbing effect on an athlete’s cerebral cortex.
British long-jumper Jazmin Sawyers is trying to flip the script, and is busy fronting a campaign to tell young girls you can still fly on your period.
“They don’t always know that you can have your best performance at any stage in your cycle. There’s so much negative language around periods so they can be seen as something that will only hinder you,” she told The Telegraph.
“But actually, if you work with your body and you track, that can help you understand what you need to do to get the most out of your cycle. I’ve had PBs at every stage of my cycle and I’ve been on my period at every major championship I’ve ever done.”
A study on female footballers linked injury and menstruation. (Image: Getty)
However, a previous study based on female footballers highlighted the possible link between injury and menstruation. The study found that the injury incident rate was 88% greater in the late follicular phase, which is the point when more estrogen is released so the body can start preparing to release the egg.
Researchers found that the changes in hormones produced by the body can affect different bodily tissues, such as ligaments, tendons and muscles.
Chinese Olympic swimmer Fu Yuanhui also openly talked about how she competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics while on her period, after doubling over in pain once she was out of the pool.
“I feel I didn’t swim well today. I let my teammates down. My period came last night and I’m really tired. But this isn’t an excuse, I still didn’t swim as well as I should have,” she said at the time.
Whether you think having your period is considered a superpower or a hindrance to athletic performance, it’s clear that more research into this topic is sorely lacking. Now that the Olympic Games has finally achieved gender parity in Paris 2024 with the same number of quota places for female and male athletes, let’s continue to level the playing field.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 can be viewed live and on-demand on Channel Nine and 9Now, or on Stan.
Feature Image: Getty
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