UK Sport, the agency responsible for investing in high performance sport, is searching to find the next generation of Olympic champions and has turned to the Wattbike for assistance. The Power2Podium talent identification programme is a nationwide search for the fastest, most powerful male and female competitors who have the potential and ability to become part of Great Britain’s sporting elite at the 2022 Olympic Games in the sport of Skeleton.
Lizzie Wraith, performance pathway scientist at the English Institute of Sport, said: “British Skeleton use the Wattbike as part of their testing battery which allows the coaches to monitor athlete progression. For the Power2Podium talent identification programme, we used the Wattbike not only because of its ability to record extensive levels of data but also because we knew we could have confidence in the reliability of that data.”
The talent identification events held across the UK saw more than 450 athletes tested over six days in a variety of ways. “We conduct high intensity tests so the equipment we use must be highly durable,” said Wraith. “The stability of the Wattbike gives us confidence that we can conduct accurate tests such as peak power and peak cadence on a large number of athletes without having to worry about maintenance issues.”
Richard Baker, commercial director at Wattbike, said: “The Wattbike was borne out of a necessity for elite sport to have an affordable testing and training solution which offers scientific accuracy and could meet the demands of professional athletes and coaches. We take real pride in seeing athletes and teams achieving success on the global stage knowing that the Wattbike has played a part in their victory.”
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