How to Support a Champion

Dr Steve Ingham is one of world's leading applied sport scientists. A physiologist by trade he has track record of providing scientific support to over 1000 athletes, of which over 200 have gone on to achieve World or Olympic medal success. Ingham has coached athletics to World and Olympic levels.Ingham was the Sports Science Manager at the British Olympic Association and the Head of Physiology for the English Institute of Sport, where he is currently the Director of Science and Technical Development. Ingham holds a BSc from the University of Brighton and a PhD from the University of Surrey and is a fellow of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences.

If you are contemplating working with a champion, a potential champion, or anyone with untapped talent - be prepared, be very prepared. In 1998 Sir Steve Redgrave stared at Ingham and demanded to know, "Are you going to make me go faster?" Ingham had been trained and developed as a scientist, but in that single instance he questioned everything he thought he knew. Applied science in elite sport has boomed. Science has radically changed elite sport, but one thing remains as the guiding focus - the summit of performing to your best and winning. This applies to the athlete, the coaches and increasingly for the applied practitioner. In this book Ingham draws on the lessons learned from a career in the intense, unforgiving rollercoaster of elite sport; helping, supporting and developing some of the best athletes in the world, including Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Hayley Tullett, Kelly Sotherton, and Jessica Ennis-Hill as they pursue their goals. His journey shows that all the knowledge in the world will get you only so far, but it is with trust, team-work, critical thinking, adaptability, accountability and altruism that you can truly support a champion.