Ramadan and London 2012

More than 3000 Muslim athletes are competing at the London Olympics in the midst of Ramadan, the holy month where followers fast from sunrise to sunset, The Independent reports.

Although it’s impossible to know how many are fasting, Associate Professor Steve Stannard, head of Massey’s School of Sport and Exercise, believes fasting athletes are not always disadvantaged.

Almost one quarter (23 per cent) of the world’s population are identified as followers of Islam. Fasting is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith and during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Muslim calendar, all observant followers fast during daylight hours.

This year Ramadan began in the evening of Thursday July 19 and ends the evening of Saturday August 18 – right through the current Olympic games. It is the first games since 1980 to coincide with Ramadan.

Dr Stannard says sport science research shows that optimal hydration and pre-event nutrition gives athletes a significant advantage in competition, so the obvious question is just what impact will Ramadan have on an athlete’s physical performance?

Researchers have never tested Ramadan-observing athletes during the highest-level competitions in the world like the Olympics – and may never. Dr Stannard has been involved in a number of research projects looking at the effect fasting has on factors such as dehydration, body composition and inflammation.

He says laboratory-based studies suggest athletes cope remarkably well, and in power-based sports there seems to be little disadvantage. In tests of pure strength Ramadan also has little effect, provided training is kept up during the fasting month, Dr Stannard says.

His research found participants adapt to the daily food restriction by increasing their ability to burn fat. “The daily fast, where they must ‘tap’ into their body fat reserves each day, enables them to then better burn fat during exercise.

“Since performance in endurance sports is heavily weighted in favour of those who have the best fat-burning capacity, one wonders if indeed Muslim athletes might perform better in these events, at least if the event is in the latter weeks of Ramadan?

“In an event such as the marathon, which is traditionally held early in the day and during food and fluid intake is generally minimal anyway, the Ramadan observing athlete will experience no disadvantage, and indeed might even benefit from their strict fasting regime,” he says.

However, in events that last many hours and are held in the warmer afternoon – such as the cycle road race – the Ramadan-observing athlete could be at a disadvantage.

But Dr Stannard says these remain speculations until good scientific research can be done. “What actually happens during competition at the highest level is difficult to test because any measurement can potentially affect performance.”

However, not all Muslim athletes will adhere to Ramadan during the Olympics – Muslim law allows dispensation for important and/or health reasons, and The Independent reports countries including Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia have allowed athletes to put off fasting, but ultimately it will be the athlete’s individual choice.