Abstrakt
This article briefly summarises a selection of what we consider the key stages in the history of making use of higher altitudes (2 000 m a.s.l) to increase performance in sport. Altitude training and stays are currently considered one of the main ways to legally increase performance limits, primarily for endurance sports.
From the ancient Olympics up until the end of the nineteenth century, higher altitudes were not utilised to increase performance. In the first half of the twentieth century it was addressed for mountain climbers, as part of mountain expeditions thousand-metre peaks.
The first systematic findings on the use of altitude for increasing sporting performance came from a study connected to preparations for the Olympics in Mexico City (1968, 2 200 m a.s.l. In the 70s and 80s, the methodology of altitude training was elaborated upon, but only in a small number of countries.
The 1990s were characterised by a spread of altitude training camps to many countries around the world. In this period, stays at artificially induced altitude (hypoxic tents, chambers, rooms) also began to be used increasingly.
The start of the new millennium was characterised by permanent relocation of (primarily) endurance athletes to altitudes.