Executive summary

VIKKI McPHERSON PULLS NO PUNCHES IN HER INDEPENDENT SUMMARY OF THE RECENT PERFORMANCE REVIEW

THE interviews with the Olympic athletes and their personal coaches which were carried out as part of an earlier piece of work indicated significant progress has been made in the current cycle in the provision of individualized support to athletes based at the National Performance Institute (NPI), elsewhere in the UK and overseas. Whilst there is room for improvement in the documentation of Individual Athlete Plans these individual relationships have been the focus, and are the strength, of the World Class Programme (WCP). In each instance, time had been devoted to developing the right relationship with the athlete, their coaches and the other stakeholders supporting them. The relationships required to manage these challenging dynamics had been built up over many years and in some case over decades.

The Performance Director (PD) has played a pivotal role in maintaining relationships with several Podium-level Olympic athletes and was the team leader at all major able-bodied events over the last seven years. Given this, the impact of his departure from post less than a year before the Tokyo Games should be of acute concern.

Identification of and rapid response to injury was commonly cited as best illustrating the positive impact of the WCP. The programme also invests heavily in the logistical delivery of training camps, holding camps and support within the competition environment. Delivery in this area is widely acclaimed by athletes, coaches and staff and recognised as being a competitive advantage over rival nations.

The focused attention in these areas has, however, been at the expense of other activities, particularly managing relationships with internal and external stakeholders and communicating to the wider athletics community.