Abstract
The introduction briefly summarises the fundamentals of using high altitude in sport training, with a specific focus on canoeing. The body of the article takes the form of a case study on two canoeists (C2, 1000m) to describe stays and training exertion at high altitudes in preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
In total four altitude stays were included over the final thirteen months of pre-Olympic training. The first five-day stay at 3000m a.s.l. was focused on increasing the production of red blood cells before the 2011 World Championship, where the canoeists were nominated for the London Olympics.
A stay at 3000m a.s.l. with the same goal was also included eight weeks before the final race at the Olympic Games. A first fourteen-day residence and training at increased altitudes (1800m a.s.l.) was included in preparations at the beginning of 2012 (unspecified aerobic conditioning), and a second from 6 to 4 weeks before the start of the Olympics.
The canoeists whose model of pre-Olympic altitude training we describe achieved an outstanding fifth place at the London Olympics. In our opinion this result was helped by the altitude stays described in the text.