Concussion expert warns of fatal risks in collision running and face-slapping contests
A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry has heard conflicting views on whether regulation can protect participants in emerging collision and slapping competitions.
By Luka Evans ·
Death is a possible outcome of collision running and face-slapping competitions, a concussion specialist has warned a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry examining how the events should be regulated. Neurologist Dr Rowena Mobbs compared the impacts to a coward punch or king-hit and said she could not identify a modification that would make the activities safer.
The inquiry is considering whether competitions including Run Nation and Power Slap should fall under combat sports regulation to improve participant safety. Run Nation involves two competitors charging into each other at high speed, while Power Slap contestants alternate slaps to the face. Mobbs, whose expertise includes concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, described death as a “distinct possibility”.
A 19-year-old in New Zealand died last year following a critical head injury sustained in a tackling game believed to have drawn inspiration from the viral “run it straight” challenge. Run Nation organisers have described their competition as a safer version of that challenge, adapting rugby league hit-ups into a separate sport.
Established in August, the inquiry follows a dispute over a planned Sydney Run Nation event. In September, a NSW supreme court judge classified Run Nation as a combat sport and upheld the NSW Combat Sports Authority’s cancellation notice for the event that month. It has since been moved to 28 November after the authority’s medical advisory board approved its permit. Power Slap has not held an official Australian event.
Giving evidence on Friday, authority chair Darren Kane favoured bringing new combat sports under regulation so that ambulance coverage, medical personnel, accreditation and concussion training would be required. He said unregulated events lacked those safeguards. Run Nation organisers have said doctors and paramedics are present on the field at their events. Neither competition’s organisers gave evidence to the inquiry, which received submissions from medical specialists, bareknuckle boxing representatives and grassroots combat sports groups.
The financial burden of compliance was raised by Petero Taremwa, founder of Get That Guap fight club, which stages mixed martial arts, kickboxing and boxing bouts without a promoter’s licence. He cited participation costs for fighters and organisers’ expenses for permits, insurance, venues and medical services. Taremwa said the club wanted an achievable route to compliance and reported no significant injuries at its events, where a nurse who also works as the DJ checks fighters afterwards.
Questioned by inquiry chair and Labor MLC Sarah Kaine, Taremwa said he did not believe his knowledge exceeded the authority’s, but considered mandatory on-site ambulance costs unreasonable for an entry-level organiser. Mobbs, meanwhile, said repeated impacts that do not produce obvious concussion symptoms could accumulate in football codes and traditional combat sports and lead to brain disease.
Mobbs warned that the greater force involved in collision running and face-slapping could mean fewer impacts were needed to trigger a neurodegenerative disease later in life. She said participants could not defend themselves and received blows in a particularly consequential area, although she did not recall treating anyone injured in either activity. The inquiry is expected to deliver its findings in December.
