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Louise M. Burke
AIS Canberra, Australia
On October 25-27th 2010, a group of sports nutrition experts met at the International Olympic Committee’s head-
quarters on beautiful Lake Geneva in Lausanne with a special task. Twice in earlier years (1991 and 2003), a
similar project to develop a consensus statement on Nutrition for athletes had been undertaken, and the
continued evolution of science and practice meant that it was time to produce an update to this official
position statement. This activity had two interesting aspects: the outcome (how much has changed
in our knowledge of sports nutrition since 2003?), and the process (how do you reach a “consensus”
on a range of issues from the large group of scientists and practitioners who are vitally interested in
them?).
The process occurred by dividing sports nutrition into 12 broad topic areas – six on themes, and six
covering groups of sports - and inviting experts who had made key contributions to the literature on
these topics to participate in the Consensus meeting. Specifically, each was invited to prepare a fully refe-
renced chapter summarizing the latest knowledge on the areas within their topic – with particular attention to
research undertaken since the 2003 meeting, and ways in which knowledge and practice had changed in compari-
son to the information expressed in the last IOC consensus statement. Each author was asked to finish with
a series of guidelines promoting World’s Best Practice based on this latest knowledge. Next, a group of
people representing both research and practice in sports nutrition was chosen to lead a discussion or
rebuttal of each of these chapters. Effort was made to include people from a range of professions (e.g.
research, sports medicine, clinical nutrition practice) and from different regions around the world, so
that a true range of opinions could be represented. The chapters were circulated to the whole group
a month before the meeting, and finally, all participants (see table below) were brought together at
the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, to spend 2.5 days deliberating the consensus.
The first two days of the consensus conference were spent on an in-depth discussion of each of the to-
pics, with each author being asked to make a formal presentation of key points (30 mins), before handing
over to their discussants to host a detailed, and often lively, debate on issues raised in the chapter (40 min).
Often at the end of the discussion, the total group was asked to consider a list of practical guidelines raised for each
topic, with strategies divided into “guidelines for”, “guidelines against” and “equivocal guidelines”. On most occasions,
common ground was found and the wording of the guidelines was “smoothed” so that intentions and recommendations
were clear.
On the last half day of the meeting the group was asked to prepare a one-page Consensus Statement which integrated
all the information discussed over the previous days to provide an overview of the main principles of eating for optimal
performance. This proved to be a difficult and time-consuming exercise, as we fought over wording, meanings and po-
sitioning of ideas. However, with a 1 pm deadline looming, we finally managed to get the hang of the task and fit all the
important words to a single page. This document was then presented to the IOC Medical Commission and uploaded on
to the IOC website www.olympic.org, within days of the completion of the consensus meeting. This is a clear sign of the
perceived importance of the information.
The process was designed to produce four outcomes
The one-page Consensus statement, to provide a political tool to draw attention to the 2010 Conference
and to the release of new nutrition information on sports nutrition.
The publication of the full manuscripts from the Consensus conference, as a supplement to the Jour-
nal of Sports Science in early 2011.
A DVD of the presentations and manuscripts
A booklet targeted at athletes and coaches, containing a summary of the guidelines for each area of
sports nutrition, and providing practical information on how these guidelines apply to various cate-
gories of sports and how they can be achieved in real-life and with specific eating patterns and food
choices. This booklet is likely to be distributed world-wide in a variety of languages – previous booklets
have been presented to athletes at the last Olympic and Youth Olympic games.
Despite a tight time line, this project has achieved a number of valuable outcomes, including resources that we hope
will allow athletes, coaches, sports scientists and sports nutritionists to update their knowledge and practice of sports
nutrition.
The IOC Consensus on Sports Nutrition 2010
– new guidelines for nutrition for athletes
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Table 1. IOC consensus conference on sports nutrition: Speakers and discussants
1. Energy balance in athletes
Author: Ann Loucks (USA)
Discussants: Bente Kiens (Denmark)
Hattie Wright (South Africa)
2. Carbohydrates for training and competition
Author: Louise Burke (Australia)
Discussants: John Hawley (Australia)
Stephen Wong (Hong Kong)
3. Muscle growth, repair and adaptation
Author: Stuart Phillips (Canada)
Discussants: Luc van Loon (Netherlands)
Marty Gibala (Canada)
4. Fluid and electrolyte needs for training, competition and recovery
Author: Susan Shirreffs (UK)
Discussants: Mike Sawka (USA)
Stephen Wong (Hong Kong)
5. Special nutrients – antioxidants and vitamin D
Author: Scott Powers (USA) and Enette Larson-Meyer (USA)
Discussants: Mark Davis (USA)
6. Dietary supplements and performance
Author: Ron Maughan (UK)
Discussants: Peter Hespel (Belgium)
7. Strength sports: weightlifting, throwing events, body building, sprints
Author: Gary Slater (Australia)
Discussants: Stuart Phillips (Canada)
Marty Gibala (Canada)
8. Power sports: sprints and middle distance running, track cycling, rowing/canoe, swimming
Author: Trent Stellingwerff (Switzerland)
Discussants: Louise Burke (Australia)
Ron Maughan (UK)
9. Endurance sports: marathon, triathlon, road cycling
Author: Asker Jeukendrup (UK)
Discussants: John Hawley (Australia)
Peter Hespel (Belgium)
10. Aesthetic and weight category sports
Author: Jorunn Sundgot-Borgen (Norway)
Discussants: Hans Braun (Germany)
Jeni Pearce (UK)
11. Team sports
Author: Francis Holway (Argentina)
Discussants: Lawrence Spriet (Canada)
12. Winter sports
Author: Nanna Meyer (USA)
Discussants: Christine Helle (Norway)
Nanci Guest (Canada)
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THANK YOU!
Sports nutrition is a developing and ever changing science, which makes it difficult for sports nutrition professionals to
be across the latest findings to ensure they provide up to-date nutrition advice to maximise daily training, recovery and
ultimately competition performance. The 7th International Sports Nutrition Conference has provided a fantastic oppor-
tunity for sports nutrition professionals to learn about new and exciting developments in the science of sports nutrition.
It has also provided a perfect platform to discuss and debate how best to integrate these findings into the practice of
sports nutrition when dealing with athletes engaged in strenuous physical exercise. In short, the opportunity this confe-
rence provides to participants is beyond measure. We hope you now go away, try new things and turn the latest nutrition
theory into innovative nutrition practice. We would like to thank Powerbar and the Nestle Nutrition Institute for holding
this conference in Canberra, at the Australian Institute of Sport. We would personally like to thank Zibi Szlufcik and Asker
Jeukendrup for affording us the opportunity to be a part of this conference. To Louise Burke and the AIS sports nutrition
team for all the hard work behind the scenes and especially to Gina Shaw for all her running around to put on a great
conference. We hope everyone has enjoyed the activities and workshops we have organised and look forward to seeing
you at future conferences and sporting events around the world.
Greg Cox and Greg Shaw
Australian Institute of Sport
Sports Nutrition
Greg Cox Greg Shaw Gina Shaw
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