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Sportscience 27, 1-3, 2023
SPORTSCIENCE · sportsci.org
News & Comment / Training & Performance
Impressions of the 28th Annual Meeting of the European College of
Sport Science in Paris
Hans-Peter Wiesinger, Will G Hopkins
Sportscience 27, 1-3, 2022 (spo rtsci.org/2023/ECSS.htm)
Institute of Spor t and Exercis e Scienc e, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria; Internet Society for Sport Science, A uck-
land, New Zealand. Emai l. Reviewers: Mike Hamlin, Dep artment of Tourism, Sport a nd Society, Lincoln University, Christ-
church, New Zealand; M att Spencer, D epartment of Sport Science and Physical Education, University of Agder, Norway.
The European College of Sports Science chose Paris as the venue for a suc-
cessful blend of city experiences, networking, and recent research. The
presentations were marred by the almost exclusive use of statistical signifi-
cance to deal with sampling uncertainty. This report summarizes the plenary
sessions: development of sports champions, fatigue, and tendinopathy. This
year only the handful of Wow-worthy symposia and original-research presen-
tations are summarized: machine learning for dummies; changes in the retina
with concussion; training of arousal state via pupil size; ketone supplementa-
tion impairs endurance; gene tests for injury susceptibility are premature; and
high-intensity interval training works well for elite athletes.
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Paris, the City of Light, was the host city for
this year's ECSS annual conference, the 28th
since its inception. On the eve of the conference,
Paris was also the city of lightning, as thunder-
storms added a magical touch (and caused some
flight diversions). Almost everyone took ad-
vantage of short breaks to visit the Arc de Tri-
omphe and the Champs-Élysées, both within
walking distance of the conference center. Many
also escaped the city's hustle and bustle at the
Bois de Boulogne, a vast park nearby.
In a break with tradition due to high prices, the
congress hotel was located on the outskirts of
Paris, too far away to walk to the conference.
Doctoral students received complimentary pub-
lic transport tickets. The venue provided smooth
transitions between sessions and a comfortable
air-conditioned environment amidst the heat-
wave originating from North Africa. Safety reg-
ulations prohibited standing in the lecture rooms
and halls, so there was disappointment for some
potential attendees of some podium presenta-
tions. The poster sessions attracted high attend-
ance, which caused a congested noisy environ-
ment. Presenting a poster is often part of the first
experience of an international conference for
young researchers, so the poster sessions should
be better organized in future. The opening and
closing ceremonies were influenced by the up-
coming Olympic and Paralympic Games of Paris
2024, with incredible breakdance performances,
an acrobatic display featuring remarkable skills
with a crutch, and captivating dance shows. De-
spite ongoing unrest following the fatal shooting
of a teenager by the police, congress attendees
were fortunate to enjoy leisurely walks in the
evening along the illuminated Seine, visit the
sparkling Eiffel Tower at night, and engage in
networking and discussions with colleagues at
bars and bistros.
We extend our congratulations and gratitude
to the organizers, including the local congress
president Gaël Guilhem, the conference commit-
tee, and ECSS president Jørn Wulff Helge and
his dedicated team, including all the helpful and
friendly volunteers. Thanks are due also to the
president-elect, Alexander Ferrauti, for taking
on some of the duties of president, as Jørn was
unable to attend.
The congress featured three plenary sessions
(six presentations), 32 invited sessions (96
presentations), 168 oral sessions (760 presenta-
tions), 120 poster sessions (1046 presentations),
403 e-poster presentations, six masterclasses,
and six special interest meetings and satellite
symposia. ECSS provided us with counts of at-
tendees by country and by research area: France
had the highest number (499), followed by Japan
(362), and the UK (307); there were relatively
few attendees from China (125) and USA (74).
Most registrants were in the general field of
physiology & sports medicine (1993), followed
Wiesinger & Hopkins: ECSS Conference Page 2
Sportscience 27, 1-3, 2023
by biomechanics & neuromuscular (816), and
social sciences & humanities (546). More than
half the registrants were students, highlighting
the importance of this conference for career de-
velopment.
Applications for the young investigator award
were the highest yet (657), and 116 competed for
the best podium and best poster presentations.
Follow this link to the list of the winners.
In another break with tradition, this report fea-
tures summaries only of the handful of presenta-
tions worthy of a Wow!, in the opinion of the co-
author (HPW) who attended the conference and
saw the presentation, or in the opinion of the co-
author (WGH) who stayed at home and skim-
read the book of abstracts. Although we tried to
widen the focus this year, everything we summa-
rized turned out to be relevant only to competi-
tive athletes, possibly because we aren't up with
interesting or controversial issues relevant to ac-
tivity and health in other populations. We were
expecting something on combining resistance
and/or endurance exercise with the latest weight-
loss drugs for obesity, but there was no such ab-
stract.
To find the abstract of a presentation we have
reviewed, copy the presenter's name and initials
shown in brackets […] into the search engine.
The book of abstracts can also be downloaded;
search it in Acrobat using advanced search (Ctrl-
Shift-F). You can also link to presentation ab-
stracts via the scientific program at the confer-
ence site.
Unfortunately, there was no break in the tradi-
tion of authors' inability to turn away from the
nil-hypothesis significance test when dealing
with sampling uncertainty in the magnitude of
effects. The book of abstracts featured 3785 oc-
currences of significant or non-significant and
3476 occurrences of p values, whereas Bayesian
in an inferential context occurred only 17 times,
uncertainty only five times, and MBI and MBD
only once each. Evidently there has been little
effect so far of the Frontiers article published
last year on replacing statistical significance and
non-significance with better approaches to sam-
pling uncertainty. There was some evidence of
the awareness of the importance of magnitude,
in that Cohen's d and d= occurred 59 and 125
times, but authors should be wary about using
this method of standardization in clinical or prac-
tical settings. For more on effect magnitudes, see
the slideshow in the article on linear models and
effect magnitudes. For details on magnitudes
that matter to athletes, follow the links in the first
paragraph beneath the abstract of that article.
None of the plenary sessions was particularly
controversial, and none reached the Wow!
threshold. However, their summaries of the state
of the art were interesting enough to report here.
Youth performance is a poor predictor of later
success, so the development of sports
champions is a matter of engaging in multiple
sports for enjoyment rather than early
specialization with the deliberate practice
promoted by Ericsson for the 10,000 hours
promoted by Gladwell, according to the
presenters of this plenary session.
[MACNAMARA, B.; HARRISON, C.] But let's
not forget that some athletes have reached the
top with an Ericsson-Gladwell trajectory.
The two presenters of the plenary on fatigue
kept our attention by alternating at the podium
throughout the hour. Their key points: acute and
chronic fatigue are hard to define, and training
should be tailored to athletes' strengths,
weaknesses, and current level of fatigue.
[MILLET, G.; PATTYN, N.]
The plenary on tendinopathy was also pre-
sented with frequent alternations at the podium.
We were told about the turnover of collagen in
healthy tendons, the changes in injured tendons,
the severe impact of tendinopathy in sport, the
higher risk for top-performing athletes, and the
importance of mechanical loading for prevention
and recovery. It's still not known why some in-
jured tendons heal while others become persis-
tently abnormal. [BAHR, R.; KJAER, M.]
Wow! The most exciting of the symposia was
"Machine Learning for Dummies," in which
the presenter shared his personal journey of
learning to write apps for acquiring data without
prior experience, using the free artificial-
intelligence software CreateML. He encouraged
everyone to explore app development when they
have an idea, and he highlighted the great
support he received from ChatGPT.
[BALSALOBRE-FERNÁNDEZ, C.]
Wow! Five professional French rugby
players who had experienced at least one
concussion in a prospective one-season study
showed higher retinal neuronal loss compared to
31 players without concussions. Additionally, all
players, regardless of concussion history,
exhibited reductions in retinal nerve fiber layer
thickness, ganglion cell layer thickness, and
vascular density, while showing an increase in
macular thickness over the season. The specific
Wiesinger & Hopkins: ECSS Conference Page 3
Sportscience 27, 1-3, 2023
mechanisms behind these changes in retinal
structure remain unknown, but there is obvious
potential here for assessing severity of
concussion and monitoring recovery. [BONNIN,
S]
Wow! In another potential methodological
breakthrough, a controlled trial with 54+28
healthy volunteers showed that "changes in
pupil size can be volitionally induced via pupil-
based feedback training and are linked to
changes in autonomic nervous system
functioning, as indexed by heart-rate
variability… This finding has potential for
mental training in the sports domain, by enabling
athletes to control their arousal state." [WEIJS,
M.L.]
Wow! Forget about acute ketone
supplementation for endurance performance: it
impaired 20-min time-trial mean power by 2.4%
(95% confidence interval 0.6 to 4.1%) compared
with placebo in a crossover with 22 trained
cyclists. [MCCARTHY, D.G.]
Wow! "Based on current evidence it remains
premature to market any commercial genetic
test to determine susceptibility to
musculoskeletal injuries," but several
polymorphisms merit further investigation for
Achilles-tendon and rotator-cuff injuries.
[COLLINS, M.]
Effects of high-intensity interval training on
performance of elite athletes had not been
characterized adequately until this meta-analysis
[WIESINGER, H.P.]. Considering such athletes
are already highly trained, it's surely a Wow! that
enhancements ranged from 2.1% for 5-s sprints
in male team-sport athletes to 12.6% for
anaerobic-threshold power in female endurance
athletes. Effects on VO2max were greater than
those on time-trial mean power, probably
because of antagonistic effects on exercise
economy and/or fractional utilization.
[HALLER, N.]
Acknowledgements: Many thanks to the reviewers for addi-
tions and corrections.
Published July 2023
©2023