World-winning presentation

The Congress of the European College of Sports Science awarded ACU young researcher Jill Leckey fifth place for her oral presentation about carbohydrate dependence during half-marathon running.

"As a young and aspiring researcher in this industry, it was incredible to present to many of the world renown experts in the field and be placed within the top 10 Young investigators," she said.

The ECSS Malmö 2015 convention in Sweden featured the world's most promising young sport scientists who presented their outstanding research work in the area of sport and exercise sciences.

Jill, who is based on the Melbourne Campus, said it was a privilege to represent ACU and the Mary Mackillop Institute at the prestigious European College of Sports Science conference in Sweden earlier this year.

"As a young and aspiring researcher in this industry, it was incredible to present to many of the world renown experts in the field and be placed within the top 10 Young investigators," she said.

The research Jill presented was initially prompted by the current talk around high-fat diets for sports performance.

For this research, Jill and her team at ACU administered a drug (nicotinic acid) whilst participants ran a half-marathon on a treadmill in a fed and overnight fasted state.

"We reported that well-trained runners are carbohydrate dependent and that fat constitutes only a small percentage of overall energy expenditure during prolonged, high-intensity running.

"It’s great to work in a field which is constantly changing and every day is different. The best part for me is being in the lab conducting the research and interacting with the participants. And of course there is no better feeling than when you analyze the data and everything lines up."