Inquiry hears collision running and face slapping risk fatal injuries

A concussion expert told a parliamentary inquiry that death is a distinct possibility in emerging contact sports such as collision running and face slapping, the Guardian reported. The impacts in these events were compared to a coward punch or king hit. [1]

The New South Wales inquiry is examining whether events like Run Nation and Power Slap should be classified as combat sports. In Run Nation, two participants run directly at each other to collide at high speed, while Power Slap involves competitors taking turns slapping each other across the face. According to the Guardian, the neurologist warned that these activities cannot be made safer through regulation. [1]

Medically, death occurs through cardiopulmonary arrest or brain death, which requires confirmed irreversibility through clinical examinations. Global mortality figures showed that approximately 61 million people died in 2023, with non-communicable conditions such as ischaemic heart disease and stroke causing the most deaths. [3]