Dr. Olivier Girard (https://www.oliviergirard.com/) is a Professor of Human Performance at the University of Western Australia in Perth (Western Australia), where he also serves as the research director of the Sport Science, Exercise and Health department. With over 20 years of experience in exercise physiology and sport biomechanics, he focusses on developing performance-based solutions for elite athletes, coaches and support teams. Professor Girard earned his Doctoral Degree in Human Movement Sciences in 2006 from the University of Montpellier, France. For 8 years he has worked as a Research Scientist at Aspetar – Qatar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital, a FIFA and IOC accredited medical center. Additionally, he has held positions as a full-time Researcher at Lausanne University (Switzerland) and as a Senior Lecturer at Murdoch University(Australia). His research primarily investigates the mechanisms and adaptations that modulate human performance and health during exercise under environmental stress (heat and altitude). Professor Girard has published nearly 300 peer-reviewed articles, garnering ~12,500 citations and holding an H-index of 56. Over 100 of these publications focus on racquet sports, and he has collaborated with nearly 600 researchers from over 50 countries. He is currently mentoring more than 25 higher-degree research students, including 20 PhD candidates.
Professor Girard is ranked among the World’s top scientific experts (top 0.1%) by expertscape (2014-2024) in several areas: altitude (9th), running (10th), hypoxia (13th), soccer (24th), tennis (29th), and hot temperature (39th). He is also listed as one of the World’s top 0.5% most cited scientists by Stanford University (2024) for his entire career in the ‘Sport Sciences’ category.
