Cycling shrink Steve Peters to do mental magic with UK T&F, too

Steve is a sprint beast.

Athletics Weekly — the British version of Track & Field News — reports that sprint legend Steve Peters, a renowned sports psychiatrist, has been named to the UKA Performance team. In other words, he gets to advise the British Olympic track team. What took so long? AW says: “Peters, who has spent the last decade working as an integral member of the successful British Cycling team, is the first significant hire under the leadership of UKA’s Performance Director Neil Black. Dr. Peters will work closely with Black on driving forward the winning culture of the sport, as well as focusing on selected athletes. He will also lead a team of handpicked sports psychologists who will work with all athletes on the World Class Performance Programme.â€

The AW report continues:

World and Olympic Champions Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton have both credited Dr Peters with having played a significant role in their success. Dr Peters, who will continue to work with British Cycling in a consultancy role, met the British athletics team for the first time on Friday.

Commenting on his appointment Dr Peters, a former Masters World Record holder in 200m, said:
“I’m very excited to be joining the British athletics team and I am looking forward to working with the coaches and athletes on the road to Rio.

“It’s a fantastic time to be involved in athletics and Neil Black is a great appointment as Performance Director. I will work hard to support him as he strives to maximise the team’s performance over the next four years.â€

Neil Black, UKA Performance Director said:

“We are delighted to welcome Steve to the team, he is undoubtedly one of the world’s best sports psychiatrists. He will add significant value and we must harness his expertise as we move forward and build towards greater success in the coming Olympic cycle.â€

Also joining Dr Peters on the UKA sports psychology team are Sarah Broadhead and Dr Neville Warnke.

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October 22, 2012

2 Responses

  1. Doug Thompson - October 23, 2012

    I would love to sit in on one of his training sessions.

  2. Glen Reddington - November 8, 2012

    No you wouldn’t, a typical session is:
    No jogging/stretching, 4x100m warm up. Then a kamikaze or Suicide 300m at 1000%, then he goes home. If he thinks is not at 1000% he’ll stop and go home.
    This is a totally different way of training to the norm, but it works for him.

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