Para Sports Nutrition

Dr Kristin Jonvik is a Norwegian researcher and dietitian who has undertaken research into aspects relating to low energy availability and Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs) in para athletes. She also co-authored the chapter Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport and disordered eating in the Routledge Handbook of Disability Sport Science, published early in 2026. Kristin talks to about what REDs is, how it impacts on athletes, what the process of assessing and diagnosing REDs is and how this can be complicated in para athletes due to interactions with their impairment. For those interested in reading Dr Jonvik's research further, these are some relevant articles, together with those provided for episode 102: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35268044/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11061701/ https://www.jandonline.org/article/S2212-2672(24)00248-X/fulltext https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41442093/  

Dr Nathan Delang is a dietitian and the Post Doctoral Research Fellow in the Acquired Brain Injury in Children Group at the University of Queensland. Nathan talks to us about research into nutritional support of the brain during or after brain injuries, from concussion through to acquired brain injuries.

Sally Baumann is the senior sports dietitian working with Para athletes at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. Sally co-authored (with Dr Michelle Minehan) the chapter on "Hydration monitoring and management in para sport" in the recently published Routledge Handbook of Disability Sport Science. Sally provides us practical tips and strategies to help athletes and sport scientists effectively assess and improve hydration in para athletes, including some useful questions to ask athletes to better understand their specific barriers to hydrating well.

Prof Jill Parnell is the Chair, Health and Physical Education at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada.  Jill co-authored a chapter on "Navigating Supplement Use in Para Sport" in the recently published "The Routledge Handbook of Disability Sport Science" (https://www.routledge.com/The-Routledge-Handbook-of-Disability-Sport-Science/Griggs-Arnet-vanderSlikke-Flueck/p/book/9781032502656). Jill walks us through the supplements covered within the chapter, the considerations that athletes should take when assessing supplement use, and the decision tree that is included within the chapter.

Julia Battams is the head para equestrian coach for Australia, and the founder of the Equine Pathways Australia charity which supports the development of para equestrian riders across Australia. Julia tells us all about the sport of para equestrian, the nutrition challenges athletes face, and the pathways available to coaches to get involved in the sport.

Elliot Stewart won a silver medal in the 2020 Paralympic games for Judo, and has since begun a role as the National Para Lead for Judo Australia. Elliot tells us what Para Judo is, the demands of the sport, and his experience in progressing from being an able-bodied Judoka and coach into Para Judo with a newly acquired vision impairment. He has great advice for Judo coaches, athletes and support personnel.

Vera Weijer is a Dutch researcher who, together with Kristen Jonvik from Norway, undertook a research project regarding the energy expenditure and intake of Paralympic athletes. What is unique about this research is the number (70) and breadth of athletes studied (Norwegian and Dutch from a range of sports and impairment types), mostly at the elite level, and the range of techniques they've used in the study, including doubly labelled water. The details of their results can be found in these links: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38763462/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38694186/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38194704/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39587809/    

Hoda Elshorbagy is an Egyptian wheelchair racer with polio. Hoda talks to us about her journey from a small Egyptian town with no pavement where there are no other wheelchair racers to training with the University of Illinois wheelchair racing group under the coaching of Adam Bleakney. She also discusses how she manages her nutrition priorities during Ramadan.

Dr Steve Reid is a sport and exercise physician and Chief Medical Officer of Paralympics Australia. Steve talks to us about how he got into working in sports medicine, and focuses on the medical issues that he sees most commonly in Para athletes and how nutrition inter-relates with them.

Erin Popovich is a 3 time Paralympic swimmer with achondroplasia who won 14 gold medals and 5 silver medals, 2 ESPYs and numerous other accolades. Erin is currently the Director of Para Swimming for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, and has held positions as the Classification Coordinator and program manager of other sports within the USOPC. Erin talks to us about her journey as a para swimmer, her transition into classification coordinator and what classification is about, and provides her insights into the current status and future of Para sports and athletes.

Sean Pollard is an Australian para snowboarder who competed at the PyeongChang Paralympic games and, after taking a break, is back competing again. Sean is a bilateral arm amputee as a result of a shark attack when surfing. Sean talks to us about his journey into para snowboard, his training and how he's becoming more serious about his nutrition.

Joshua Brunais and Jake Kaplan are CP Soccer players for Team USA. Josh and Jake talk to us about their impairments (aquired brain injury and cerebral palsy, respectively), how they got into playing CP soccer, their training and how they manage their nutrition and hydration to support their training.

Kate Davis is the sports dietitian who has been working with the U.S. Mens' and Womens' Goalball programs since 2017. Kate talks to us about goalball, all the things she's learned by working with athletes with a visual impairment.

Trinity Lowthian is a Canadian wheelchair fencer who is striving to qualify for the Paris 2024 Paralympic games. Trinity is also 'fed' and hydrated solely via intravenous nutrition. She talks to us about her impairment, why she cannot digest foods, and how she's worked towards finding a solution to enable her to train and compete at the best of her ability.

Raquel Teixeira is a sports nutritionist at FC Porto in Portugal who works with a number of athletes with impairments. Raquel talks to us about the work she does with athletes with an intellectual impairment, the challenges she faces in teaching them about nutrition, and the lessons she's learned in how best to get the key messages across. 

Stuart Sharp is the senior director, Extended National Teams at USA Soccer and works alongside Daniel Wartner who is the physiologist and strength & conditioning coach.  Stuart and Daniel tell us all about CP soccer (or football 7-a-side), how they interact with the players and adjust loads according to the degree the cerebral palsy or brain injury effects each player, and how they manage the individual nutrition needs during competition.

Dr Greg Cox is a sports dietitian and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at Bond University. Greg talks to us about his particular area of research interest, the carbohydrate needs of athletes, what influences this, and how important consuming sufficient carbohydrate is for optimising training, health, and ultimately performance.

David Wagner is a wheelchair (quad division) tennis player and 5 time Paralympian. David talks to us about his journey as a quad tennis player, his impairment, his training and how he has built his nutrition strategies around the short times at home and long periods of travel. 

Oliver Lam-Watson is a wheelchair fencer who competed in Tokyo at his first Paralympic games, winning 2 medals. Oliver talks to us about his impairment, how he got into wheelchair fencing, what the sport of wheelchair fencing looks like, his training, the nutrition journey he's been on and what he's learnt, as well as how he monitors himself to ensure he optimises his training and adaptations / recovery.

Keely Shaw is a Paralympic Cyclist who medalled on the track in Tokyo 2020, and is also finishing a PhD in the area of nutrition. Keely talks to us about her impairment, how she got into para cycling, her training, and how she uses her nutrition to make her a better athlete. She also tells us about her masters and PhD work in the areas of nutrition and performance and how she balances training with being a full time grad student.