Cathal Dennehy: Settled guts equal glory now that bicarb juice is worth the squeeze

“Bicarb has been around a long time and the performance benefits have been known, but there’s always been this huge risk because of the GI issues...explosive diarrhea is one of the symptoms.” 

BICARB ON THE MENU: Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson with her gold medal following victory in the Women's 800m Final at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games in France. Pic: PA Wire

For many of the world’s best athletes, the race sometimes starts at the finish line. Once they’ve done their thing on the track, drawn their breath, the next port of call is often the nearest bathroom.

This was the case at one major championship I attended this year, an Irish athlete apologising for a frantic dash through the mixed zone and after returning, they explained they had an urgent need to – how do I put this? – shit themselves.