Brazilian National Coach Alexandre França presents Pentathlon case study at European College of Sports Sciences

With Modern Pentathlon a sport that includes so many disciplines and tests athletes both physically and mentally, it is a great subject of study and Brazilian National Coach Alexandre França is making it the centrepiece of his research as he finishes his PhD in Biochemistry of Exercise.

Using Modern Pentathlon as the model for his research, França, also an Army Officer by profession, was invited to Amsterdam to present at the 2014 meeting of the European College of Sports Sciences his study entitled "The winning of an Olympic Medal in Modern Pentathlon: New Borders of Sports Sciences using an Sportonomics Approach".

His Sportomics approach reproduced the real situations during training sessions and competition. Sportomics is described as a non-hypothesis-driven research on an individual’s metabolite changes during sports and exercise.

It was the very first time that such a study has focused on a biochemical and signaling analysis of pentathletes. Findings of the research are presenting new possibilities for training management, to the extent that may associate muscle injury markers, inflammatory response, workload and recovery kinetics.

Besides being an army Officer, and finishing his PhD, Alexandre França has overseen the impressive development of Modern Pentathlon back in Brazil with the numbers at youth levels growing fast and the elite level impacting on the international stage. Yane Marques, whom França coaches took bronze at the London 2012 Olympic Games before claiming silver at the World Championships a year later.