Wearable Technologies to Optimise Performance and Minimise Exertional Heat Illness Risk in Endurance Sports

Wearable technologies are having a transformative effect within sports, biomedicine, and the media by enabling the real-time monitoring and analysis of physiological data from exercising individuals. This mini review presents recent developments in wearable sensor technologies relevant to heat illness prevention within endurance sports, including pilot implementations at high-profile sporting events. A central challenge identified in this review is integrating large volumes of multi-sensor, biometric, and environmental data in a user-friendly format to stakeholders such as coaches, event organisers and medical personnel, to support earlier recognition of exertional heat illness risk. This review also highlights barriers to routine and widespread use of biometric monitoring in endurance sports, including sensor validation, re-use and cost, as well as data integration and ownership. Continued collaboration between academia and industry is essential for advancing wearable technologies and establishing global standards at both system and sensor levels. Future directions include the miniaturisation of sensors, development of smart garments, and application of artificial intelligence to interpret complex data in realtime. These innovations hold potential not only in sports but also in telemedicine and broader health monitoring.