Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
What is the best way to run to win a race? Why does a sprinter slow down before the finish line? Why do you swim better slightly underwater? Why, on a bike, the faster you go, the more stable you are?
Amandine Aftalion is a mathematician and a senior scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She specialises in modelling based on low temperature physics alongside writing on a range of sports culminating in her book 'Be a Champion, 40 facts you didn't know about sports and science'.
Here is some of Amandine's research: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.200007
frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1293145/full
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
What is the best way to run to win a race? Why does a sprinter slow down before the finish line? Why do you swim better slightly underwater? Why, on a bike, the faster you go, the more stable you are?
Amandine Aftalion is a mathematician and a senior scientist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS). She specialises in modelling based on low temperature physics alongside writing on a range of sports culminating in her book 'Be a Champion, 40 facts you didn't know about sports and science'.
Here is some of Amandine's research: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.200007
frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2024.1293145/full
The Oxford Mathematics Public Lectures are generously supported by XTX Markets.
