UK Sport

PODCAST: "FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY TO BE IDENTIFIED," SAYS PENDLETON

Lee Taylor 12 June 2008

In this month’s UK Sport Podcast, Victoria Pendleton and Shelley Rudman talk further about the opportunity that Girls4Gold presents, and UK Sport’s Research and Innovation Consultant, Dr Scott Drawer, highlights the work done to help athletes combat the heat and humidity in Beijing this summer.

Pendleton and Rudman both urge potential applicants for Girls4Gold to put aside any reservations they may have, and see if they have what it takes to make the podium in London in 2012.

The scheme is the latest in a series of talent identification initiatives led by UK Sport and the English Institute of Sport (EIS) on behalf of targeted national governing bodies. Girls4Gold will introduce promising female athletes into specific sports and boost Britain’s overall talent pool.

“It’s a fantastic opportunity to be identified,” says Pendleton. “[The age group of] 17-25 is not too late to get involved in elite sport. We want to go to 2012 with the strongest team we’ve ever had and there are girls out there who can be a part of that – so I would urge them to visit the website and register.”

Rudman, who won bob skeleton silver at the Winter Olympics in Turin two years ago, stressed that there may be girls out there who are more than capable of making the Olympic podium – but just don’t know it yet.

“Girls tend to be timid about sports and this mindset needs to be amended. I would never have thought five years before taking up skeleton that I would be doing just that – so have a go, you never know what you might be good at,” she says.

Meanwhile, UK Sport’s Research and Innovation Consultant, Dr Scott Drawer, explains how UK Sport, along with the BOA, have been working with the UK’s leading experts in the management of thermal stress and the effects of travel and jet lag to ensure Team GB’s athletes line up in the best possible shape this summer.

“There is some good scientific evidence that shows that various factors and thermal stress environments can impact on performance, so we’ve done the best we can to provide strategies and solutions to manage them,” says Drawer.

Whilst Drawer concentrates on the impact of the heat chamber in helping athletes prepare for the conditions they will face in Beijing, he is also quick to point out that this is just one element of the work being done through the programme.

“That’s just one part of the picture,” he adds. “There are many other things that are important. We’re just trying to contribute and support sport in the best way we can through this programme of work.”

To download this month’s Podcast, please click here.

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