About this Event
Colour & Sport: Does Red Still Win?
Does the colour you wear change how you play, how you’re judged, or whether you can take part at all? Join us for a free public evening of talks exploring colour in sport, from the science of the red effect to the realities of colour blindness and the gendered colours of sneaker design.
Three speakers will each give a short talk, followed by time for questions and discussion. Whether you’re an athlete, coach, teacher, club representative, designer, researcher or simply a sports fan, you’re warmly invited.
The talks
Does Red Still Win? Re-evaluating claims on red and winning in combat sports: Professor Thomas Pollet (Northumbria University)
Does wearing red help you win? A 2005 study of the Athens Olympics made international headlines, finding that boxers, wrestlers and taekwondo fighters in red won more often than opponents in blue, especially in close bouts. Two decades on, working with the original researchers, this talk re-examines seven Olympic Games and nine World Boxing Championships, asking whether the red effect still holds and why colour effects may appear or vanish.
Title TBC: Dr Adam Bibbey (Oxford Brookes)
Colour blindness is far more common than many people realise, yet colour is built into sport, from kits and bibs to pitches and scoreboards. This talk introduces the background to colour blindness, explains how it can affect sporting life, and presents the latest research from Oxford Brookes, before offering guidance on creating inclusive environments that help colour blind players, coaches and spectators take part and overcome the challenges they face.
From “pink it and shrink it” to the “mushy middle”: how the sneaker industry continues to get gender wrong in colour design: Kel Jackson (Royal College of Art)
Sport’s most popular footwear still quietly sends signals through colour, shaping who a product seems to be for. From the “pink it and shrink it” approach to women’s products to the “mushy middle” of designs that fit neither category, this talk explores how the global sneaker industry continues to get gender wrong in colour design, and what that means for the athletes, fans and designers who wear and make them.
Event venue & nearby stays
CCE1 (Northumbria University Business & Law Building) - Opposite Design School, CCE1-021, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom
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