England's football team is using £26 Yuyu Ice Recovery Bottles around their necks to combat extreme heat at the World Cup. The product, designed by Richard Yu, is a cooling equivalent to a hot water bottle and has been used by Team GB and Formula 1 drivers.
The use of specialized cooling equipment by England highlights the increasing scientific approach to sports performance, particularly in extreme environmental conditions. It underscores the importance of marginal gains and player welfare in high-stakes tournaments like the World Cup.
England's national football team is employing a £26 British-made cooling product, the Yuyu Ice Recovery Bottle, to combat the extreme heat expected at the World Cup. High temperatures are anticipated in many of the tournament's host cities, posing a challenge for teams, particularly those unaccustomed to such climates.
Steve Kemp, England's head of physical performance, medicine and nutrition, acquired 30 of the 90cm-long bottles. These are frozen overnight and kept in cool boxes, with players wrapping them around their necks and arms during water breaks and at half-time. This strategy aims to provide marginal gains in performance by mitigating the effects of the heat.
Richard Yu, the founder and CEO of Yuyu, explained that his company's product is a cooling equivalent to the long hot water bottle he invented in 2010. The cooling bottle was developed after Team GB approached him ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The product has since been adopted by Formula 1 drivers and is used by tennis players at Queen's Club.
Yu highlighted that the Yuyu bottle offers a practical and purpose-built solution for the short water breaks, which Fifa has introduced as a performance window. He contrasted it with less effective methods like wet towels, emphasizing the need for products that can quickly cool players down to enhance their performance during these crucial intervals.