Islamic tradition can present unique challenges to athletes (Image: Alexander Hassenstein/Bongarts/Getty)

BRITISH rower Mo Sbihi has said he will postpone his Ramadan fast during next year’s Olympics in order to maximise his competitive chances.

As a sports science graduate who wrote his dissertation on the performance of athletes without food and water, Sbihi has made an informed choice. In rowing, an endurance event, he believes the risk of dehydration could undermine his performance.

The arrival of Ramadan this year has focused minds on how the estimated 3000 Muslim athletes expected to compete in next year’s Olympics in London will fare. In 2012, Ramadan will start on 21 July – a week before the opening ceremony – and cover the entire Olympic period. Athletes are allowed to defer their fasts until a later date, but many are expected to honour the religious period and fast during daylight hours throughout the games.


Recognising that this might put some athletes at a disadvantage, the nutrition working group of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) convened a meeting in 2009 to review the evidence. They agreed that fasting could create problems in some sports, though the impacts are far from clear.

For example, studies in soccer players found no deterioration in sprinting ability or agility, but saw a fall in aerobic capacity, endurance and jumping ability (British Journal of Sports Medicine, DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2007.071712). Another recent study in the same journal found that moderately trained Muslim men ran an average of 5448 metres in 30 minutes when fasting, but 5649 metres outside Ramadan (DOI: 10.1136/bjsm.2009.070425).

“If you’re running 100 metres or weightlifting, what you eat in the few hours beforehand will have no impact on performance,” says Ronald Maughan of Loughborough University, UK, who chaired the IOC working group. However, he adds that in events that last for more than about 30 minutes, or that take place late in the day, performance may suffer.

While the focus is often on food, dehydration may be more significant, says Jim Waterhouse of Liverpool John Moores University, UK. “Performance is less good, physically and mentally, if a person is dehydrated,” he says.

To overcome such problems, it makes sense to schedule events early in the morning where possible, when all competitors will be well fed and hydrated, Maughan says.

Waterhouse agrees: “All studies that have been done on Ramadan have concluded that morning performance deteriorates less than afternoon performance.”

A question that Islamic scholars may need to consider is just what constitutes breaking a fast. Several studies have suggested that merely rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate drink improves performance in cycling time trials. Rather than providing calories, the carbohydrate seems to act on mouth receptors that activate areas of the brain involved in motivation and reward during exercise (Nutrition Journal, DOI: 10.1186/1475-2891-9-33). Many Muslims believe it is OK to rinse the mouth with water or mouthwash during Ramadan, as long as they don’t swallow.

Even if fasting reduces performance during lab experiments, no one really knows if this equates to a slide down the medal table when it really matters. Manchester City soccer player Kolo Touré claims to have fasted through the first month of the English Premier League without consequence. Muslim athletes may even find fasting carries benefits. “Many say that the intense focus they experience during Ramadan gives them an added edge,” says Maughan.