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Elsworth Buskirk. Physiology and Performance of Track Athletes Experiment Materials
MSS 0581  
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Description
Research materials of Elsworth R. Buskirk, American physiologist, related to his high altitude research project, "Physiology and Performance of Track Athletes at Various Altitudes in the United States and Peru." In 1965, Buskirk along with Paul Baker, J. Kollias, E. Picon-Reatigue, R. Akers, and E. Prokop studied the physiological effects of altitude on the athletic performance of a cohort of six male collegiate track athletes. Several physiological parameters for each athlete were recorded at five different locations and altitudes including: Nunoa, Peru (13,000 feet); Mount Evans, Colorado (14,200 feet); Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado (7,500 feet); the National Jewish Hospital, Denver, Colorado (5,200 feet); and the Pennsylvania State University, State College, Pennsylvania (900 feet). Buskirk's project was one among many studies conducted in the early 1960s which examined athletic perfomance at high altitudes with particular interest in the training of US athletes for the 1968 Olympic Games scheduled in Mexico City. Materials include correspondence, research materials, and miscellaneous records related to Buskirk's high altitute physiology experiments. Notably, the papers include correspondence with Bruno Balke and L.G.C.E. Pugh, leading figures in the field of high altitude physiology and medicine. The papers are arranged in two series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE and 2) RESEARCH MATERIALS.
Background
Elsworth R. Buskirk was born on August 11, 1929. He received a B.A. in biology and physical education from St. Olaf College, a master's degree in physical education from the University of Minnesota, and, in 1954, a Ph.D. in physiology, also from the University of Minnesota. After completing his Ph.D., Buskirk worked as chief of the Environmental Physiology Section at the Quartermaster Research and Development Center in Natick, Massachusetts. From 1957 to 1963, he held the position of research physiologist at the National Institutes of Health, and, in 1963, he became a faculty member in the Department of Physiology at the Pennsylvania State University.
Extent
0.40 linear feet (1 archives box)
Restrictions
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Availability
Collection is open for research.