An English student at The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) has won his second paralympic gold medal.

Zhao Shuai won the men’s single Table Tennis last night (Tuesday) at the Rio Paralympic Games.

Zhao beat Andras Csonka 3-0, defending his London 2012 title. He won every match in his competition class, sweeping aside opponents from Poland and Sweden.

After the match, Zhao was quick to praise the people that had supported him.

He said: “Thank you for all your support and encouragement. I’ve defended my gold medal in the men’s singles and I will try my best to do well in the group competition. Come on!”

Zhao Shuai

Zhao also spoke to a CCTV reporter about how much sport meant to him. He added: “This game has given me respect and confidence. Table-tennis is my life.”

A member of the Chinese Paralympic table tennis team, Zhao, began studying English at UNNC earlier this year. Supported by awards from the Deng Yaping Sports Scholarship – which assists young sports people to gain an education at some of the world’s top universities – he came to UNNC to study on CELE-run courses aimed at improving English language proficiency. He will return to Ningbo to continue his studies later this year.

The Deng Yaping sports scholarship scheme is sponsored by Olympic and World table tennis champion Deng Yaping who graduated from The University of Nottingham in 2002 and wanted to offer something back to Chinese nationals who are current or future elite athletes. Deng was also awarded an honorary doctorate by The University of Nottingham Ningbo China in 2013.

Zhao, Haoyu Liu and Weijie Kong are the first three scholars all combining studies at the University with intensive table tennis training.

Zhao will now compete for China in the team event which gets underway tomorrow (Thursday).

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The University of Nottingham, Ningbo China (UNNC) has a particular interest in this year’s Paralympic Games, which got underway on Wednesday in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.

A member of the Chinese Paralympic table tennis team, Zhao Shuai, began studying English at UNNC earlier this year. Supported by awards from the Deng Yaping Sports Scholarship – which assists young sports people to gain an education at some of the world’s top universities – he came to UNNC to study on CELE-run courses aimed at improving English language proficiency. He will return to Ningbo to continue his studies later this year.

Zhao Shuai is out to repeat his triumph at London 2012, where he took the gold medal.

Speaking from the team’s camp in Rio, Zhao Shuai appeared eager with anticipation. “I am looking forward to the Games opening and seeing competitors from all over the world,” he said. “I am not nervous at all”.

China has topped the medals table at each of the last three summer Paralympic Games.

You can watch Zhao’s games live through Channel 4

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With temperatures in Rio in the high twenties and humidity levels of 83%, staying hydrated for sport is a priority for all the athletes out there. Sue Dunbar and John Burgess from our sport and fitness team talk about the importance of staying hydrated, especially when the sun is shining and things hot up.

Along with higher sweat levels caused by playing sport in high heat and humidity, our lean muscles – which contain more than 75% water – become more easily fatigued leading to an adverse impact on performance. So, maintaining water/fluid intake is crucial to keep yourself well hydrated and performing at your best.

If you’re taking part in more intense exercise, or for a longer period of time, then it’s important to replace the lost minerals – electrolytes – which you can get with supplements in addition to water – or some brands of water have these included!

An easy and quick way to check for hydration levels is to pinch the skin on the back of your hand for a few seconds between your thumb and forefinger – if your skin takes a while to return to normal you may be dehydrated. Dizziness is also a sign of dehydration so if you start to feel lightheaded during exercise take a break and grab a drink.

The daily recommended water intake for an adult is 2 litres, but if you’re playing sport or know you’re going to be outside and keeping active for the day then you should aim to drink more.

Remember – drink plenty and stay healthy!

The fitness team will be based in the new David Ross Sports Village, opening this Autumn, and are on hand offering personal fitness programmes and training sessions across our 200-station fitness suite.

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It’s been a busy few days in Rio with some outstanding performances from our athletes who have all now competed in their respective sports! We’ve been cheering them on throughout the competition and shared in the commiseration and celebration as they’ve gone from tear-inducing lows to medal-wielding highs.

Our remaining alumni have scooped two silver medals over the weekend with the biggest success taking place out on the water in the canoe slalom and the rowing.

After clocking a time of 102.01 seconds (+0.43 behind the Slovakian gold medallist team) there was a nail biting wait for David Florence and teammate Richard Hounslow, as they had to watch the German pair navigate the course before their silver medal could be confirmed. A fantastic result for David who missed out on a medal in the C1 slalom last week.

2005 graduate Melanie Wilson was part of the Women’s eight rowing team who powered from the back of the pack at the halfway point to a photo-finish, claiming the silver medal and scooping the first ever Olympic medal won by a British women’s eight!

Over on the badminton courts at Riocentro, NBL star Chris Adcock – playing alongside wife Gabby Adcock in the mixed doubles – was unable to follow up on his Commonwealth success after losing 18-21, 27-25, 21-9 against their Polish opponents, ending their medal bid and exiting the competition. It was an early exit for Adam Cwalina too in the Men’s doubles as he also failed to make it out of the group stages, representing Poland in the men’s doubles.

From hockey to rugby, rowing to canoeing – we’re extremely proud of all our alumni that have taken part in the Rio Olympic Games. We’ve enjoyed following them all through their heats and opening stages – despite the late nights and time difference! We’ll be keeping tabs on how they all do over the coming years and look forward to hopefully seeing them again in Tokyo 2020.

In the meantime, you’ll be able to see Chris Adcock and Adam Cwalina in action in the University of Nottingham badminton team as part of the National Badminton League (NBL) season which kicks off in October. Home matches this year will take place in our £40 million David Ross Sports Village across the 20 badminton courts and you can find the dates for all of these on the NBL website.

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It’s been a mixed week for our alumni athletes out in Rio – there’s been disappointment on the water with David Florence and Chris Bartley not making it through to the next stages of the canoe slalom and rowing but there’s still chance to claim some medals in the coming days as we cheer on the teams heading into their finals (with a second chance for David Florence in the C2 slalom finals) and the start of the badminton competition.

The GB Hockey team, featuring team mates and alumni Nick Catlin, George Pinner and Harry Martin, recovered from their earlier defeat and draw in the games to overwhelm host nation Brazil in a mighty 9 – 1 victory, including a goal from Harry Martin. However a 2 -1 loss against Australia today has placed team GB fifth in their group, and with only one match left against pool leaders Spain (Friday at 9pm) it’s looking unlikely that they’ll make it into the top four to progress through to the quarter finals.

As the wind causes havoc out on the water at the Lagoa stadium Chris Bartley fought in a tightly-bunched lightweight men’s four rowing semi-final. It just wasn’t to be as Italy, France and New Zealand pulled forward to take the top three places and through to the finals.

Melanie Wilson awaits her turn to go for gold as part of team GBs women’s rowing 8 who will take to the water in this Saturday’s finals at 3pm (weather permitting).

At the Whitewater stadium it was a tough result for David Florence in the C1 canoe slalom finals as he missed out on a medal. However he’s still in with another chance of adding to his medal count in today’s C2 finals with partner Richard Hounslow which start at 6.15pm.

Over at the Deodora stadium alumni Chris Wyles represented team USA in their rugby sevens matches against Argentina and Fiji, they unfortunately haven’t made it through to the medal playoffs but have one more match to go today against Spain.

The next few days sees the start of the badminton competition with our National Badminton League stars Chris Adcock and Adam Cwalina taking to the courts. Adam, representing Poland in the men’s doubles, lost his first match today against Korea but heads into his next two matches facing Denmark on Friday at 9.25pm and team GB on Saturday at 7.30pm.

Chris Adcock starts his medal campaign in the mixed doubles tonight against China and goes on to face Denmark tomorrow at 1.30pm followed by Poland on Saturday at 2.45pm. We’ll be watching these guys closely over the weekend to see how they progress through their groups.

With a continued and increasing investment in sport, the University of Nottingham looks forward to inspiring and coaching the next generation of Olympic athletes. With the new £40 million David Ross Sports Village nearing completion to see there are even more outstanding facilities now on offer.

You can catch all of the action live through the BBC and keep up to date with results here.

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It has caused a stir in Rio since Michael Phelps emerged with dark circles on his skin. Whatever your take on Cupping what does it mean for ethics and morality in medicine? Roger Kerry, Associate Professor in Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Nottingham delivers his verdict.

Male butterfly swimmer

The Olympics are a curious time for physiotherapists and medics interested in the sportier side of things. For those health professionals who are part of the Olympics team, this of course can be a career highlight. For those watching from a-far there is one issue which strikes heightened attention and commentary: what will this year’s Olympic miracle treatment be? London 2012 was the Year of K-Tape. Athletes would strut around covered head-to-toe in brightly coloured tape, reportedly to help them perform better and ease their pains. Here is my view on all that business. So far this year not much taping is going on. So what will be the favoured treatment choice of the rehabilitation fashionistas this time around?

For the first day or so of the events, there wasn’t much being given away. A couple of divers with small strips of beige tape (The 2012 brightly coloured stock must have run out) and not much else. Have the rehabilitators reverted back to the basics of injury management, resurrecting the use of principled training programmes, education, and load management to help its athletes? How boring. But then, boom, out comes Phelpsie.

Is this the human equivalent to crop circles?

Female receiving cupping treatment

Shoulders covered in perfect dark circles on his skin. What’s going on? Is this the human equivalent to crop circles? Has he been abducted by aliens who have marked him for research purposes and sent him back to experiment with Earthlings? No, these are the marks of cupping. This is an ancient therapeutic technique which involves glass (or whatever) cups being held in place on the skin by suction. Healing and pain relief are among its traditionally reported benefits. Since this image of Phelps came out, the world of social and conventional media has entered into a world of frenzy discussing the whys and wherefores of the use of cupping. There is no need for another blog on the most visible “I’m right, you’re wrong” debate, but I do think there are some interesting phenomena which arise from all this.

First, this has added more fuel to the already fiery conversations about the understating and use of evidence-based interventions.  The “it does work” camp claiming therapeutic effectiveness based on their own observations and the long-standing use of cupping throughout history. The “it doesn’t work” camp waving arms about and shouting that there are no high-quality randomised controlled trials to support its effectiveness, and indeed plenty of population data to support the claim that it is in fact not effective. The intriguing metanarratives from this are about the professional athlete’s position with regards to evidence-based medicine. Are they exempt from the strict scientific criteria for effectiveness? With so many controls on drugs, should we be permitted to try anything as long as it gets them back on the track? This all leads to questions not only about the interpretation of evidence-based medicine, but also of ethics and morality. If an athlete and/or their therapist/doctor claim better performance because of treatment X, is it morally OK to continue with that in the presence of data which refutes its clinical effectiveness? What does this say about “evidence” and what does it say about situational healthcare?

Second, what are the psychological and social consequences of all this? Well, for sure, physiotherapists around the world will be inundated with cupping requests from their patients. What should the ethical therapist do? And what about resources?  Goodness knows how much the NHS spent on leukotape (a precursor to K-tape) in the mid-nineties after Pat Cash appeared at Wimbledon with a strip of it across his knee. Do media and personalities have more impact on health choices than NICE and The Cochrane Collaboration? The world of pain and injury management seems to be just gaining traction with regards to active and educational management of painful condition. Cupping is clearly a passive intervention which may re-inforce aberrant and negative beliefs a person may have about their painful experience.  But further, what does this say about athletes, their bodies, and their performance? If cupping is claimed in the athletic environment to have performance enhancing effects, will this be seen as a ‘replacement’ for other things athletes do to improve performance, like training? I very much doubt this last point would manifest in full force, but the intervention is already being framed in the marginal gains dialogue. Care must be taken in differentiating marginal gain interventions from training surrogates.

So what really does motivate health treatment choices? The answer is evidently far from straightforward. What I do know though is that I can’t wait until Tokyo 2020. Bring on the multi-coloured magnetic electro-stimulation pulsating cryo-crystal techno-beat neck collars.

The post Not your Cup o’ Joe? Cupping, Olympics, and health. appeared first on Olympics blog.

With several of our Alumni athletes in action since the electric opening ceremony here’s a round-up of how they’re all getting on so far.

We’ve had success on the water with the canoe slalom and rowing teams – with some medals hopefully on the cards today! The Men’s Hockey team, featuring three of our former students, have some work ahead to make it through to the next round and there’s excitement still ahead with the Rugby Sevens and Badminton still to come.

Nick Catlin made the scoreboard in Saturday night’s Men’s Hockey match against Belgium, with an equaliser to get the team in the game. Along with team mates and fellow Alumni, Harry Martin and George Pinner, it wasn’t quite the success they were hoping for with Belgium going on to win 4 -1, but Sunday showed more promise in a 2 – 2 draw against New Zealand. The team currently sit 5^th in their group and with their match, tonight at 10pm against host nation Brazil, they’ll be hoping to climb the table to try and finish in the top four to make it through to the next stage.

Over on the water, it wasn’t Johny Akiyemi’s day as he unfortunately didn’t make it through the heats of the Kayak (K1).  David Florence eased through the C1 Canoe Slalom heats having been so pleased with his first attempt that he decided not to go out for a second run! David went fastest in his heats winning with a fantastic 2.5 seconds lead, and heads out in a strong position for the semi finals later on today and possibly (fingers crossed) the finals at 7pm – can he add another medal to his collection? It doesn’t stop there for David though, after a flawless run in the C2 Canoe Slalom heats, he’s also secured a semi final place on Thursday with partner Richard Hounslow.

Sticking with events out at the Lagoa stadium the Women’s Rowing Eight, including Alumni Melanie Wilson, yesterday powered from third place to pass the New Zealand and Canadian teams, finishing top of their heat and head through to Saturdays finals currently scheduled for 3pm. There are still medal hopefuls out there with Chris Bartley, who made it safely through to today’s semi-finals of the Lightweight Men’s Four which you can watch from 2.30pm on the BBC here.

Former Politics student Chris Wyles takes to the field as part of the USA Men’s Rugby Sevens team tonight at 5pm against Argentina in their first match of the games, followed tomorrow by their match against favourites Fiji at 5.30pm.

Look out later in the week for our National Badminton League stars Chris Adcock and Adam Cwalina as the badminton gets into action. Adam represents Poland in the Men’s Doubles on Thursday with Chris Adcock fighting in the Mixed Doubles for Team GB on Friday. We’ll keep you posted on how they do!

With a continued and increasing investment in sport, the University of Nottingham looks forward to inspiring and coaching the next generation of Olympic athletes. With the new £40 million David Ross Sports Village nearing completion to see there are even more outstanding facilities now on offer.

You can catch all of the action live through the BBC here.

The post What a start to Rio 2016 for our Alumni athletes! appeared first on Olympics blog.

Dr Janet Daly, Associate Professor in Veterinary Medicine & Science at The University of Nottingham, asks whether GB golfers were too cautious to stay away from Rio 2016

There has been much discussion in the lead up to the Olympic Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 about the risk Zika virus might pose to competitors and spectators. It is, of course, an individual decision whether or not to attend the Games, but a seemingly disproportionate number of golfers decided to stay away. Might they come to regret this decision (after all the last time golf featured at an Olympic Games was in 1904) or, with the benefit of hindsight, might their choices be vindicated?

There are numerous factors to consider when evaluating the risks Zika virus poses to Olympians. The two major components are how likely it is that you will be infected and how much of an impact infection might have.

The Zika virus is not as contagious as, say, influenza

The Zika virus is transmitted by mosquitoes and the Games are being held in Brazil’s winter season so mosquito numbers are likely to be relatively low. In addition, there has been extensive spraying of insecticides every 6 to 8 weeks in Rio de Janeiro and at all Olympic venues prior to the start of the games in an effort to eradicate what mosquitoes might be around. It could be argued though that it is harder to eradicate mosquitoes from a golf course, and the specially constructed Olympic course is already being occupied by a variety of wild animals. On the other hand, the species of mosquito thought to be mainly responsible for the spread of Zika virus is an urbanite.

Individual competitors can take measures to protect themselves against being bitten, including wearing clothing that covers as much skin as possible, not a problem for golfers. As golfers spend a lot of time outside during a tournament, they would also need to remember to re-apply insecticides on a regular basis.

The consequences of being infected with the Zika virus are not as devastating as infection with Ebola

Zika infection is mild for most people – in fact 4 out of 5 people won’t even realize they have been infected. There are very few deaths from Zika virus infection, to the extent that it has been noteworthy when a death has occurred, and usually the person had other health problems. However, some people (currently estimated to be about 1 in 4,000 or 5,000) develop Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) as a result of Zika virus infection. This is a form of muscle paralysis that can cause breathing difficulties leading to sufferers having to spend time in hospital on a ventilator. Although most people recover, it can take some time and can be a very distressing condition.

The most devastating effect of Zika virus infection is the association with microcephaly in babies if a mother has been infected when pregnant (particularly in the early stages of pregnancy when the brain is developing). Advisory information from health authorities such as the World Health Organization is consistent – pregnant women should avoid travelling to countries where Zika virus is circulating. To complicate matters further though, it is apparent that when men become infected with Zika virus, live virus can be remain in the semen, and therefore be passed on to a woman during unprotected sex, for quite some time. This has led to the recommendation by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that men who have been to Zika-affected country without any apparent problem should nonetheless practice safe sex for 2 months after their return. If they have had symptoms consistent with Zika virus infection or have had a confirmed infection, they should not attempt to father children until 6 months after their illness. Thus even suspected infection would have a considerable impact on the lives of those planning to have children in the near future, and this was cited as the reason for not going to the Games by several Olympians, including golfers Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, and Lee-Anne Pace.

What of the future?

In terms of the Olympic Summer Games, it was a case of unfortunate timing that Brazil became the epicentre of the emergence of Zika virus on the American continent in the year prior to the 2016 event. One study using mathematical modelling to attempt to predict how the Zika virus epidemic will unfold has suggested that as the number of people who have been exposed to Zika virus and therefore developed immunity expands, the current epidemic will die down over the next 3 years or so. However, large epidemics could recur in future (due to a loss of immunity over time). In the meantime, Zika virus is spreading northwards into Florida, renowned for numerous high stakes golf tournaments.

The post Zika virus and the Olympic Summer Games – any regrets? appeared first on Olympics blog.

They are separated by the Atlantic Ocean and several thousands of miles but The University of Nottingham has more links with Brazil than you might think.

Our video shows how our research collaborations with Brazilian institutions are changing the world’s biggest problems.

Nottingham has active collaborations with Brazil stretching back over three decades. Since 2011 we have worked in partnership with the University of Birmingham to extend and deepen our relations with Brazil

You are probably aware that The University of Nottingham won its first Nobel prize in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imagery (MRI). The Sir Peter Mansfield Magnetic Resonance Centre regularly hosts staff and research students from Brazil.

We also have ongoing major collaborations with Brazil in the fields of sustainable chemistry- specifically pharmacy, biomedical science, antimicrobial resistance, engineering, cold atoms physics and environmental science.

Our research institutes also work closely with collaborators. On our Jubilee Campus The Institute for Aerospace Technology, which holds a £75m portfolio of research funding, works closely with collaborators in Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais.

And on UK shores The University of Nottingham’s International Office is home for the 60 Brazilians and 9,000 other foreign students who joined us last year.

The School of Education also has projects on ‘educational leadership’ with partners in Rio de Janeiro and staff at Nottingham University Business School investigate healthcare associated infection with researchers from USP and UFSC.

Our Sutton Bonington Campus is home to the School of Veterinary Medicine and Science and the School of Biosciences -the lead schools in our Global Food Security research area with extensive contacts across the Brazilian agronomy research community and EMBRAPA institutes.

And as the Rio Olympics and Paralympics begin we are supporting all of our alumni athletes who are competing and hoping to bring home Gold.

The post Q: What links Brazil with Nottingham? A: We do! appeared first on Olympics blog.

Three University of Nottingham alumni start their Olympic campaign tonight as Great Britain compete in the men’s field hockey.

Nick Catlin, who graduated in History, Harry Martin, an Economics alumnus, and George Pinner, who graduated in Management Studies all form part of the team that faces New Zealand at 9pm

They will be joined by former University of Nottingham hockey coach David Ames who led the team to success at British Universities and College Sport (BUCS) last year.

Before he set off to Brazil Harry said: “I’m really excited to get out there, from my experience in London, Olympic Villages are like nothing else on Earth and I’m sure Rio won’t disappoint. Most of all though I’m looking forward to the hockey, it’s why we’re there and so much has gone into being ready to play at our best.

“We have had a bit of a taper in the build up to flying out, which means the overall training load and intensity of a week has been lower to ensure we are fresh when the tournament starts.
“Out in Brazil we will train every day, mainly to keep sharp and maintain robustness. We also have a few practice games which will be a good opportunity to stay on top of things tactically.”

For goalkeeper George this could be his first opportunity to get out on the Olympic field.

He said: “I can’t wait to step foot on the pitch and represent Team GB at an Olympic Games. I was the reserve GK for London 2012 so experienced everything apart from getting on the pitch.

“We have worked so hard for the last 4 years and I truly believe this team has a real chance of doing something special and medal at the games.”

  Harry’s Top Five Training Tips

• always warm up properly
• get protein in soon after your session
• interval training is often more effective than steady state running
• mix up your sessions to keep it fresh
• the squat is a good whole body exercise – with the right technique

The University of Nottingham recently opened a new ‘super hockey pitch’.

The £1.2m pitch, which has been funded by the University and built on land leased to the University by Nottingham City Council, was officially opened by GB Olympic Gold-medallist and Nottingham alumnus, Robert Clift (hockey, Seoul 1988).

The pitch will be used primarily by the University hockey clubs as well as the wider community.

This is one of a number of investments into the University’s sports provision. Later this year its new £40m sports village will open on University Park campus.

Follow UoN Sport on Twitter for more highlights and to help us wish our Olympians good luck!

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