How Skaters Manage Jet Lag on the Long Road to Turin
For Australian figure skaters, the journey to Turin begins long before the plane leaves the tarmac. A flight from Sydney or Melbourne to the foothills of the Italian Alps stretches across more than 16,000 kilometres and at least twenty-four hours of travel, often with a stop in Singapore, Dubai or another Gulf hub. Skaters crossing roughly nine or ten time zones face a silent adversary that no training session can fully prepare them for.
That adversary is jet lag. The body clock, driven by a small region of the brain known as the suprachiasmatic nucleus, expects daylight and darkness to follow the rhythm of the southern hemisphere. Turin in early December offers weak winter light, short afternoons and temperatures hovering near freezing around the Palavela arena. Travellers from Bondi or St Kilda land in a city that feels nine hours behind, with the sun setting well before the local dinner hour.
The stakes are unusually high at a Grand Prix Final, where only the six highest-scoring skaters or teams in each discipline gather to compete. A single stumble in the short program can erase a season's work. Coaches, sports scientists and skaters themselves treat the body's adjustment to European time as seriously as the choreography of a triple lutz.
This article follows the path Australian competitors and their support teams typically take, from the weeks before departure to the moment they step onto the ice in Turin. It draws on the routines shared by athletes who routinely cross continents in pursuit of podium finishes.
Why Turin Hits Skaters Harder Than Most Stops
Jet lag is not simply tiredness. It is a temporary mismatch between the internal circadian rhythm and the external clock of the destination. Crossing nine or ten time zones, as skaters do when leaving Melbourne for Turin, sits well beyond the threshold at which most physiologists expect a smooth adjustment. The body believes it should be sleeping when locals are eating lunch, and feels wide awake in the middle of the night.
Figure skating adds another layer of difficulty. Spinning at speeds approaching three hundred revolutions per minute, jumping from a forward outside edge, or timing a death spiral with a partner all rely on split-second neuromuscular control. A brain that thinks it is three in the morning cannot easily coordinate those movements during a seven p.m. finals skate.
The Italian winter compounds the challenge. Turin sits near forty-five degrees north, far higher than any Australian city. December daylight lasts about nine hours, and the sun never climbs high. Athletes arriving from Sydney, where summer light stretches past eight p.m., must adapt not only to a new clock but to a shorter, dimmer day.
Building the Body Clock Before the Wheels Leave
Elite skaters rarely leave jet lag to chance. In the fortnight before departure, many Australian athletes work with their home federations to shift their sleep window gradually, moving bedtime earlier by one hour every two or three nights until it drifts close to a European evening schedule.
Light exposure forms the cornerstone of that adjustment. Specialists prescribe bright-light sessions, often using a portable light box of ten thousand lux, timed to either advance or delay the body clock. For an eastward trip to Italy, morning brightness in Australia helps the brain accept an earlier sleep time.
Nutrition is rewritten in advance. Meals are timed to match the destination, with protein-heavy breakfasts and carbohydrate-loaded dinners moved forward in small increments. Caffeine is reduced in the late afternoon to avoid masking the sleep signal the body will need once on Italian soil. Hydration routines also start early, with two to three litres of water spread across each waking day to prepare the body for the dry air of a long-haul cabin.
Surviving Twenty Hours in a Narrow Seat
The flight itself is where habits either begin to pay off or fall apart. Most carriers on the Sydney-to-Europe route, including Qantas, Emirates and Singapore Airlines, hand out the same advice: rest early, drink water, move often. Skaters tend to take that advice further than the average holidaymaker.
Cabin lighting becomes a tool. Once the meal service ends after take-off from Singapore or Dubai, athletes pull on eye masks and noise-cancelling headphones, then attempt to sleep on a schedule that mirrors Turin night. Screens are dimmed or avoided, since blue light delays the melatonin surge the body needs.
Compression socks are standard issue, reducing swelling in calves and ankles. Skaters walk the aisle at least once every two hours, flexing calves and rolling ankles to keep blood moving and ward off the deep-vein thrombosis risk that comes with marathon flights. Meals on board are eaten at destination time. A dinner that feels like breakfast to a Sydney stomach is treated as the first proper meal of the new day, and the body, given consistent cues, slowly begins to agree.
| Strategy | In the air | First 48 hours in Turin | Two days before competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep | Match destination night, mask and earplugs | Two short blocks at local bedtime | Stable 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. window |
| Light | Dim screens, avoid bright overheads | Bright outdoor walks before noon | Bright morning light, dim evenings |
| Meals | Eat at destination clock | Protein at breakfast, carbs at dinner | Light dinner, no late snacking |
| Hydration | 250 ml water per hour | Plain water, coffee only in morning | Add electrolytes after training |
| Training | Light stretching only | Low-intensity off-ice, short on-ice | Full run-throughs at competition time |
The First Forty-Eight Hours on Italian Soil
Landing at Turin-Caselle usually happens in the late afternoon, just as the city's lamps flicker on along the Po river. Skaters heading to hotels near the Palavela are advised to push through until local bedtime, even if their body insists on a midday nap. Any afternoon nap is kept short.
A brief outdoor walk in the late afternoon light helps the brain register the new day length. Coaches often schedule a gentle thirty-minute stroll past the Mole Antonelliana or along the arcades of Piazza Castello, both close to where many delegations stay. The cool Piedmontese air is bracing for visitors more used to a Brisbane or Perth summer.
Dinner is taken early, ideally before half past seven, and kept light. Pasta, vegetables and a modest portion of protein are easier to digest than rich restaurant fare. Alcohol, tempting in the Italian evenings, is avoided because it fragments the sleep architecture the body is trying to rebuild.
Light, Meals and Melatonin on the Ground
Once the immediate travel fatigue wears off, the real work of resetting begins. Light remains the single most powerful signal available. In Turin, that means seeking bright outdoor light in the morning and avoiding bright screens after sunset. Many delegations book rooms with blackout curtains to keep stray streetlight at bay.
Melatonin is widely used, though not universally endorsed. A small dose, often between half a milligram and three milligrams, taken roughly an hour before the desired sleep time, can shorten the time it takes to drift off. Several national bodies have published cautious guidelines, noting that timing matters more than dose.
Caffeine is treated with care. A single flat white in the early afternoon is usually tolerated, but anything stronger after three p.m. is thought to delay the sleep signal. Some teams simply switch to decaf for the first week, accepting a small drop in alertness for a faster adjustment. Hydration and electrolytes continue to matter, since the dry winter air of northern Italy, especially inside heated rinks, pulls moisture from the body faster than a skater might notice.
Adjusting Training to the New Clock
Off-ice work resumes almost immediately, though at a lower intensity. Pilates, mobility sessions and short cardio blocks are scheduled in the late morning, once the body has had breakfast and a brief outdoor walk. Strenuous strength sessions are pushed toward the local afternoon, when core temperature and grip strength tend to peak.
On-ice training happens on the same clock as competition. Skaters practising at the Palavela or at one of Turin's training rinks ask to book sessions at the same time of day as their scheduled skate. Muscles, tendons and the vestibular system all learn through repetition, and they adapt faster when the time of day matches what they will face in competition.
Coaches monitor subtle signs of poor adjustment. Slower reaction time during run-throughs, unusual clumsiness on landings, or a tendency to lose the music during a programme can all suggest the body clock is still out of sync. When those signs appear, training is dialled back and recovery is prioritised. Skaters also lean on familiar anchors. A playlist of favourite Australian tracks, a quick "how ya going" to family back home, or a flat white from a Melbourne-style café near the venue all act as tiny reminders of normalcy. These small rituals do not reset the circadian rhythm on their own, but they soften the stress that makes jet lag feel worse than it really is.
Sleeping Well at the Palavela
Once competition week begins, sleep becomes performance. The shortest path from jet lag to consistent rest is a cool, dark and quiet hotel room, paired with a wind-down routine the body can recognise regardless of time zone. Warm showers, light reading and a short stretching session signal the nervous system that it is safe to sleep.
Room temperature matters more than many travellers realise. A bedroom kept between eighteen and twenty degrees Celsius, slightly cooler than most Australians set their home air-conditioners, encourages the natural drop in core temperature that precedes sleep. Extra blankets allow the sleeper to fine-tune comfort without warming the room.
White noise machines or smartphone apps help mask unfamiliar sounds. Outside the window, late-night revellers in the Crocetta district or early morning deliveries to nearby markets can disrupt light sleepers for several nights after arrival. Athletes resist the temptation to over-sleep, rising at a consistent time each morning and stepping into the cold Turin light, because the body's clock responds more reliably to a fixed wake time than to a fixed bedtime.
A Few Practical Habits for Travelling Skaters
- Shift bedtime earlier by one hour every two to three nights in the fortnight before flying.
- Book a window seat on the quieter side of the aircraft to reduce disturbance.
- Take a short outdoor walk within an hour of landing in Turin.
- Keep meals at destination time, even when the body expects something else.
- Use blackout curtains and a white-noise app in the hotel room.
- Avoid coffee after three p.m. local time and consider decaf during the first week.
- Book on-ice practice sessions at the same time as the planned competition skate.
Catch the world's top six skaters in each discipline when they gather at the Palavela from December 5 to 8. Tickets, schedules and the latest athlete announcements are all available on the official Torino 2019 website, where you can also sign up as a volunteer or browse seating plans for every session.