Is this an Illegal Act in Italy?
(Hyperoxic training at 12,000ft at the top of Loveland Pass, Colorado.)

Live High, Train Low is the training model a lot of elite athletes are trying to simulate these days (especially in Colorado). With the help of altitude tents and oxygen supplemented training techniques simulated high altitude sleep, and low altitude training workouts can be achieved with relative ease (but also a lot of cash). You can bet with the Olympics just a few weeks away that the final touches are being added to peak training regimes with a dash of simulated altitude methods for good measure.

How far will athletes go to show up in Beijing in peak form? Is manipulating natural EPO levels by way of artificially simulating high and low altitudes acceptable? Well the Italian authorities have taken a stance and made altitude tents illegal in their country. I wonder if the reverse is also illegal? Can an athlete who lives high up in the Italian Dolomites use extra oxygen delivered through a tank to simulate sea level training intensity without the risk of going to jail? While we are at it, I wonder if it is legal for an Italian to go away and sleep in an altitude tent in nearby France and then return to race in Italy with the subsequent benefits?


Ciao,
Dirk