The England team are taking no chances ahead of Euro 2024 as they sport titanium health rings worn by some of the world's biggest celebrities. As the team trained for their first Euro 2024 against Serbia on Sunday, manager Gareth Southgate was spotted wearing an Oura tracking ring. Midfielder Conor Gallagher was spotted wearing one too and defender John Stones once described his as "addictive".
"We're beaming with pride when we see these elite athletes choose Oura, that's really cool," said Dororthy Kilroy, the company's chief commercial officer, to Sky News. So what is it? Wearable trackers like the Oura ring monitor aspects of the wearer's health , like their sleep, heart rate, stress levels and periods of activity. For most of us, they can remind us to look after ourselves.
For athletes, they can help them reach peak performance. "The ring is now extremely sophisticated," said Joao Bocas, a wearables expert who runs the digital healthcare company Salutem. "It records the heart rate, variability in skin temperature and resting heart rate.
[The new model] offers the blood oxygen sensor sensing capabilities, it even offers life insights about daytime stress and resilience." So will it give England the edge? England are already favourites to win the Euros but the men's team have never lifted a trophy at the competition. They'll be looking for anything that will help them bring home some silverware.
Dave Thomas works with England's Olympic and Paralympic athletes at the UK Spor.
