The 2015 Davis Cup Final

Slightly off topic, but today Britain achieved the seemingly impossible. The GB Davis Cup team lead by Andy Murray and Coach Leon Smith beat Belgium 3-1 to win the Davis Cup Final. Young Kyle Edmund (20), world number 100  made his debut, surprisingly comfortably taking the first two sets of Belgian's number one, David Goffin, although he actually went on to loose in five sets. Nonetheless, the Davis Cup was just an amazing experience for an up and coming tennis player, whatever their nationality. Thankfully, the Murray Brothers conquered Steve Darcis and David Goffin in four sets to set up an unbelievable opportunity. Team GB had to win just one match on the final day to become Davis Cup champions - and they did.

One thing's for sure is that this was a far cry from five years ago, on the brink of relegation to the bottom tier of the competition and playing in tiny venues across the world - most not even televised. Congratulations Team GB!

An Athlete's Diet...

We've been launched into the days of continuous health warnings, from not drinking too much fruit juice to too much salt. The Commonwealth games start tomorrow - but what do athletes really eat?

Food means different things to different people. Although to athletes, it means fuel - essential for exceptional athletic performance. It's surprising the amount of variety and quantity of food they actually need. Even Wimbledon Champion, Andy Murray recently revealed that his girlfriend, Kim Sears, cooks him chicken, salmon or steak during the Wimbledon championships, so really, athletes aren't that restricted.

Anyone who followed Mo Farah's astonishing performance at London 2012 - probably didn't realize the secret of his success; consuming as many as 12,000 calories a day. Of course, most of us only need somewhere in the region of 1,600 to 3,000 calories. However, combined with training and the races themselves Mo Farah burned the 12,000 calories through blistering down the track at lightning pace.

It's not just swimmers for example that pound pancakes and pasta before competition, cyclists, marathon runners and rowers also have huge amounts of carbohydrates before competition - all in an effort to fuel their super intense continuous activity.

Although athletes follow their own specific routine, surprisingly wrestlers don't eat much before competition - they're at the completely opposite end of a pretty broad spectrum. So overall - what the athletes eat depends on their sport, even within sports, male an female athletes may eat very different amounts.

Prince George turns 1 today, so the members of the Royal family will be gathering at Kensington Palace - Happy Birthday George! Follow the rest of my #SummerofScience and me on Twitter @Sci_Sparks. Don’t forget to download my charity eBook, Science Bites: A Short Tour of the Universe HERE. 

#SummerofScience Day 5