The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has entered a partnership with the Australian Army to launch a new program in which Olympic gold medallists support the country’s next generation of athletes by helping them deliver their best performances under pressure.
The new program, Gold Medal Ready, centres around a group of Olympic champions, known as the Gold Medal Alumni, sharing their experiences with athletes and coaches.
The Gold Medal Alumni comprises athletes with a collective 80 Olympic Games appearances and 48 gold medals.
Chief Executive of AIS, Peter Conde said the show of support from the country’s Olympic gold medallists indicated the special bonds and national spirit sport can generate.
“When we asked for expressions of interest from Olympic gold medallists to help with this program, we were overwhelmed by the supportive responses,” Mr Conde said.
“We now have 29 gold medal-winning athletes and two gold medal-winning coaches on this program, building relationships with current athletes and sharing invaluable experiences about what made them successful.”
He said the alumni came from 13 different sports and their athletic careers spanned Olympic Games from 1988 through to the most recent 2016 Rio Olympics.
“Yet even beyond their athletic careers, they are still proudly representing Australian sport and want to see future generations achieve their ambitions,” Mr Conde said.
He said Gold Medal Ready was aimed at helping emerging athletes familiarise and respond to the pressures of the Olympic environment.
“More than 150 athletes and coaches will participate in the program before the 2020 Olympics, including education, skill development, mentoring and specifically designed activities delivered in partnership with the Australian Army’s Special Operations Command,” Mr Conde said.
He said the partnership with the Australian Army was a huge advantage.
“This is not your average boot-camp, it’s about exploring human performance, education opportunities, mentoring, familiarisation techniques and strategies to deal with pressure,” Mr Conde said.
“It’s a chance to develop our top athletes’ capacity to reach their peak performance and sustain that under Olympic conditions.”
