adminThe chief medical officer at the Australian Open has defended criticism of the tournament’s “extreme heat policy” after Britain’s Jamie Murray was treated for heatstroke.Play was suspended on uncovered courts for more than four hours yesterday as temperatures breached 40C for a third consecutive day, but Dr Tim Wood insisted the health of players was not being compromised.
“We evolved on the high plains of Africa chasing antelope for eight hours under these conditions,” he said. “There will be some players who complain and no-one is saying it is terribly comfortable to play out there, but, from a medical perspective, we know that man is well adapted to exercising in the heat. Whether it is humane or not is a whole other issue.”
At 13:53 local time (02:53 GMT) in Melbourne and with the temperature at 41C, the “extreme heat policy” was implemented, suspending matches on uncovered courts. Play continued on both the Rod Laver Arena and Hisense Arena as their roofs were brought across.- Sapa-AFP.
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