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UC Davis experts: The OlympicsThe University of California, Davis, has campus experts available to provide commentary related to the Olympics. For more information, or for topics not listed here, please contact Andy Fell, News Service, (530) 752-4533, ahfell@ucdavis.edu; or Patricia Bailey, News Service, (530) 752-9843, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu.
Nutrition and fitnessNationally renowned nutrition and fitness authority Liz Applegate is an expert on the topics of exercise and healthy eating. She has published several books, including "Bounce Your Body Beautiful," "The Encyclopedia of Sports and Fitness Nutrition" and "Eat Smart, Play Hard." She has written over 300 articles for national magazines, and is nutrition editor and a columnist for Runner's World magazine. Applegate serves on the board of directors for the American Council on Exercise and is a nutrition consultant for various U.S. Olympic teams. Contact: Liz Applegate, Nutrition, (530) 758-6281, eaapplegate@ucdavis.edu. Biomechanics, movement performance, injury preventionUC Davis biomechanist David Hawkins is interested in understanding what influences skeletal muscle performance and human movement. His work at the UC Davis Human Performance Laboratory aims to develop tools and training strategies that can assist people afflicted with various musculoskeletal disorders, as well as prevent injury and maximize athletic performance. He can talk about properties of biological tissues (i.e. bone, ligament, tendon and muscle) and how they respond to exercise and disuse. His recent research has focused on rowing performance. Contact: David Hawkins, Exercise Biology, (530) 752-2748, dahawkins@ucdavis.edu. Politics in Olympic figure skating scoresUnlike ski racing or swimming, where the stopwatch is the arbiter, figure skating is open to political bias, say UC Davis faculty members James Spriggs, Brian Sala and John Scott. They have scrutinized Olympic figure skating results over the past half century. "In our analysis, we find a persistent and consistent 'patriotic' bias shown by judges toward skaters from their own country, both during the Cold War and afterward,” the three UC Davis scholars note. Judges give better scores to medal contenders from their home country as compared to other judges' scores on those skaters, and, to a lesser extent, to all skaters from their country. This bias amounts to judges scoring skaters from their own country about five places better than other judges did. Contacts: John Scott, Political Science, (530) 752-0972, jtscott@ucdavis.edu; Jim Spriggs, Political Science, (530) 7528128, jfspriggs@ucdavis.edu; Brian Sala, Political Science, (530) 752-0977, brsala@ucdavis.edu. Psychology of sports and team dynamicsPaul Salitsky, a UC Davis lecturer in exercise biology, studies the psychological aspects of sports and exercise. He is interested in how individuals ranging from elite athletes to the severely ill can become motivated to focus and achieve their goals. Salitsky is also interested in how a successful team performance can inspire a passionate response from fans. He has consulted with teams, athletes, coaches and performers at all levels to help them enhance their sports performance. He is a Certified Consultant from the Association for the Advancement of Applied Sport Psychology (AAASP) and has been on the Sport Psychology Registry of the U.S. Olympic Committee since 2000. He was also selected in 2000 to join the Sport Psychology Committee for USA Track & Field. Contact: Paul Salitsky, Exercise Biology, (530) 752-3381, pbsalitsky@ucdavis.edu. Track and fieldUC Davis women's track and field coach Deanne Vochatzer has the distinction of having been named the head coach of the U.S. women's track and field team at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. She is a consultant for Nike, the National High School Coaches Association and the U.S. Justice Department on alcohol and drug education for athletics, and has commentated for ESPN. She served as director of competition for the 2000 track and field Olympic trials in Sacramento and was inducted into the U.S. Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2002. Contact: Deanne Vochatzer, Track, (530) 752-5057, dmvochatzer@ucdavis.edu. Media contacts:
Last updated Feb. 14, 2006 |
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