![\"Blummenfet](\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/VO2.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nTeam UAE performance guru leads chorus of top physiologists questioning the ‘record’ VO2 Max figure achieved by Kristian Blummenfelt.<\/p>\n
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(Photo: Getty Images \/ Blummenfelt Instagram )<\/p>\n
Updated February 2, 2026 04:17AM<\/p>\n
Triathlon superstar and Tour de France-fancier<\/a> Kristian Blummenfelt just became \u201cthe fittest man in the world\u201d by setting a record high VO2 Max figure.<\/p>\n Or did he?<\/p>\n Footage posted on Instagram last week shows Blummenfelt, a multiple Ironman world champion and Olympic gold medalist, recording a VO2 Max of 101.1 mL\/kg\/min.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a measure of aerobic fitness that blows all existing benchmarks way out of the water.<\/p>\n Until last week, the VO2 Max \u201crecord\u201d stood at 97.5 mL\/kg\/min, set in 2012 by teen Norwegian cyclist Oskar Svendsen.<\/p>\n U.S. legend Greg LeMond recorded a VO2 Max of 92.5 when he was at his competitive peak, while modern-era dominator Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a> was recently estimated to boast a VO2 Max in the high 90s<\/a>.<\/p>\n VO2 Max is widely regarded as the \u201cgold standard\u201d indicator of aerobic fitness. Tested via a heinous ramp-to-exhaustion protocol on a trainer or treadmill, it establishes the maximum amount of oxygen the body can utilise per minute, per kilo of bodyweight.<\/p>\n The higher the VO2 Max, the more oxygen that can be transported to working muscles.<\/p>\n \u2018Big Blu\u2019 and his big VO2<\/p>\n A series of slides posted last week by Blummenfelt includes a clip of the burly Norseman deep in the pain cave in the ugly aftermath of his treadmill-based VO2 Max test.<\/p>\n The video first shows Blummenfet sucking air through his ventilation mask in a state of excess distress.<\/p>\n The camera then pans to the money shot: A computer screen that breaks down the results, revealing that 101.1 mL\/kg\/min VO2 Max. Blummenfelt did not comment on the score in the blurb that accompanies the post.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Blummenfelt has long been regarded as one of the world\u2019s greatest endurance athletes. Working with acclaimed trainer Olav Aleksandr Bu, he and fellow Norwegian star Gustav Iden dominated world triathlon for years.<\/p>\n Bu is now also chief trainer for the rising Scandinavian WorldTour team, Uno-X Mobility<\/a>.<\/p>\n The news last week of Blummenfelt\u2019s triple-digit VO2 Max blew up several niche corners of the internet.<\/p>\n Triathlon fans, physiologists, and performance nerds like me all took note.<\/p>\n \u2018The physiological maths don\u2019t add up\u2019 on Blummenfelt\u2019s record But not everybody was impressed.<\/p>\n In fact, many piled in on the plausibility of this new record.<\/p>\n UAE Emirates-XRG<\/a> performance co-ordinator Jeroen Swart \u2013 the expert who oversees the training of Poga\u010dar, Isaac del Toro, and the rest of the world\u2019s No.1 team \u2013 led a chorus of skepticism on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cCan someone please go to Norway and teach the physiologists how to calibrate a metabolic cart,\u201d Swart wrote on Twitter\/X<\/a>. \u201cSeems we get dodgy VO2 data every second year with wildly inaccurate values and sensational stories about incredible endurance athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly ever happens in Norway. Bizarre,\u201d Swart continued, referencing previous record-holder Svendsen and the long list of \u00a0Norwegians who have recorded monstrous VO2 Max scores.<\/p>\n Multiple world-leading physiologists piled in<\/a> to question the accuracy of the \u201cmetabolic cart\u201d device used during the test and to point out loopholes in the protocol and results.<\/p>\n Some even questioned the mathematical plausibility of Blummenfelt\u2019s score.<\/p>\n \u201c[This] happens a few too many times, and in a few too many places, to be fair!\u201d acclaimed British researcher Jamie Pringle wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThat the user hasn\u2019t realised the data doesn\u2019t make sense \u2013 the physiological maths don\u2019t add up \u2013 is really quite eyebrow-raising. That they then put something out to the public doesn\u2019t do anyone any favors,\u201d Pringle wrote.<\/p>\n This won\u2019t be the first time \u201crecord\u201d VO2 Max results have been questioned.<\/p>\n As Outside Online contributor Alex Hutchinson once pointed out<\/a>, the metabolic testing equipment used to conduct these tests isn\u2019t designed \u201cfor freaks who can churn through more than seven liters of oxygen per minute.\u201d<\/p>\n Tour de France dream on pause for Blummenfelt Whether Blummenfelt\u2019s 101.1 is valid or not, it will go down in the record books as a reference-point for peak human performance.<\/p>\n
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Blummenfelt is the king of modern Ironman triathlon. (Photo: Ezra Shaw\/Getty Images for IRONMAN)<\/p>\n
\n![\"Blummenfelt](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2234867440.jpg\"\/)
Blummenfelt was disappointed with 2nd and 3rd place finishes at the Ironman and 70.3 world championships in 2025. (Photo: Nigel Roddis\/Getty Images for IRONMAN)<\/p>\n