EIS review of 2017 – part 2
In the second of two articles looking back at 2017, we round-up the stories that have featured on uksportsinstitute.co.uk during the second half of the year.
Dame Katherine Grainger took up her position as Chair of UK Sport in early July and acknowledged calls for change from some national governing bodies, although she urged caution on the risk to the winning formula, which has seen unprecedented success for GB sport since National Lottery funding was introduced in 1997.
The summer saw the World and Para Athletics Championships return to London, with EIS staff heavily involved as the ‘team behind the team’.
EIS physiologist Kate Spilsbury spoke about her experience at the World Athletics Championships with her main role being co-ordinating event preparation and recovery strategies.
To coincide with #teamparkrun events, where the nation’s sporting heroes took to events across the country, uksportsinstitute.co.uk ran a number of features with advice and tips from practitioners for people who were getting active.
Ian Pyper from the EIS works with British Triathlon as their Head of Physical Preparation and he gave some top tips, from warming up to cooling down and everything in-between.
Dr Sophie Killer, Senior Performance Nutritionist at the EIS, wrote about what runners should be eating and drinking both before and after a parkrun.
The focus turned to Boxing at the end of the month and the impact of Hypoxic training – which produces similar effects to being at altitude – was put under the microscope with the insight of GB Boxing Physiologist Laura Needham.
After the success of the GB relay teams at the World Athletics Championships in London, EIS Lead Performance Psychologist Jennifer Savage provided an insight into some of the work she does with the relay teams, including the theory, trust and teamwork behind the event.
World Mental Health Day took place on October 10 and the EIS highlighted the support it offers to elite athletes across the high performance system.
Olympic Gold medal hockey winner Helen Richardson-Walsh spoke candidly about the help and support she received through the EIS via the Mental Health Referral Programme, and how that specialised assistance was massively beneficial for her.
A three-year PhD study by EIS Performance Nutritionist Becky Townsend looking into the effects of diet and nutrition on bone metabolism was covered on uksportsinstitute.co.uk, with the results now being practically applied with elite sports to reduce injury rates.
The success of the GB Wheelchair Fencers was showcased at the IWAS Wheelchair Fencing World Championships in Rome.
The article looked at the close-knit team spirit between athletes and support staff as Piers Gilliver and Dimitri Coutya both came back with two medals apiece, a silver and bronze for Gilliver and two golds for Coutya.
Dawn Airton from the EIS Performance Lifestyle (PL) team produced ten top tips for becoming a PL advisor, showcasing the growing specialism in this area which supports athletes away from training and their sport, and helps them prepare for their next step after elite sport.
December saw the EIS National Conference take place with guest speakers such as England Rugby Head Coach Eddie Jones and Dave Snowdon. Eddie talked about the need for organisations to be ‘chronically restless’ when they are winning or number one. EIS Chairman John Steele also gave his detailed thoughts on 2017 and the challenges the industry faced.
2018
Next year sees the Winter Olympics and Paralympics take place in PyeongChang, with Short Track Speed Skating – currently managed by the EIS – taking five athletes to compete in South Korea.
The Commonwealth Games take place in April alongside the usual range of sporting events across the calendar, meaning it will be another action packed 12 months with no time for the high performance system to rest on its laurels.