The Thin Air Controversy

Recently, the Olympic Committee has been charged with deciding whether to allow future Olympians the training tool of thin air. This method employs a device to lower the percentage of oxygen in the air enclosed in a sleeping tent.

For years, well financed athletes have taken advantage of the benefits of high altitude training in order to expand the capacity of the lungs. While it takes a few months for the lungs to adapt to a thin atmosphere, the benefits at sea level are striking.

The question put to the Olympic Committee is whether this tool should be made illegal or should it be deemed a proper (though expensive) tool for improving the performance of the human body.

Conservative thinking view thin air tent training as an unnatural method of tricking the body into achieving more than otherwise possible. They couple thin air training with hormones, steroids and Benzedrine pills.

My own more moderate opinion places thin air training with weight lifting, special diets and running up long flights of stairs. All these methods involve either mechanical aids (weights) or other tools to achieve their goals. What the Committee must keep in mind is that any athlete who expects to excel in his or her sport must do everything possible for success as long as the methods are beneficial to the body and available to all. As to being expensive, it is well known that unless the athlete is independently wealthy, they must depend on financial help from friends, relatives, schools and the community.

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