From Athens 2004 to Rio 2016, the UK doubled the number of medals won at the Olympic Games and became one of the leading nations in global sport, competing with powers such as Russia, China and the United States. To achieve this feat, the sovereign state, made up of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, created a government agency specializing in this sector.
UK Sport was established in 1997, a year after the UK concluded the Atlanta Olympics with just one gold medal, and is responsible for investing in and managing British high-performance sport. Since then, the country’s performance has grown dramatically, jumping from just one gold medal. The medal from 1996 to 29 in 2012, a result that crowned the work of the national body with an honorable third place in the event that was held “at home”, in London.
One of the players responsible for making UK Sport so successful, Chelsea Warr joined the agency in 2005 and has been directly involved in the emergence of discoveries such as Helen Glover (two-time Olympic rowing champion), Tom Daly (world diving champion, at 15), and Lizzy Yarnold (Two gold medalists in skeleton at the Winter Olympics).
Warr mastered the art of discovering talent, and gradually developed within the organization until he assumed the position of Performance Director in 2016, after the United Kingdom’s impressive performance in Rio de Janeiro, where it won 67 medals, surpassing London 2012.
“One of the proudest moments in the transformation of the UK’s high-performance sport ecosystem was becoming the first Olympic and Paralympic nation in the modern era to increase the number of medals won after hosting the Games (London 2012).
In an exclusive interview with Sports newspaperthe “big leader” of British sport, who will attend the Brazilian Olympic Congress, on April 13, at the World Trade Centre, has revealed the secrets of the sovereign state, which owns a territory smaller than that of São Paulo, to become the protagonist of world sport in less than two decades, Or five Olympics.
Gazeta Esportiva: What are you doing to retain your key coaches and leaders?
Chelsea Warren: “Continue investing long before the Games, in order to provide essential personnel in advance.”
Sports newspaper: What are the three key measures for the British team Will it outperform London 2012’s performance at Rio 2016?
Chelsea Warren: “Firstly: quickly, after the London Games, British Sports set out a plan which we called ‘BHAG’ – a big audacious goal so that the system could win at least 66 Olympic medals and 121 Paralympic medals. We took this very seriously to reshape system, keeping people excited and full of ambition about future possibilities—and letting them know that we believe in them, and that we can strive to be better. I’m proud to be able to say that our high-performance system thrives in the face of big, scary goals, goals that ask us to find something More, as long as it is something that unites us and motivates us to be better.”
“Second: continued investment based on a credible strategic plan – thanks to the National Lottery and our government that has trusted in our strategic plans (developed long before the Rio Games) and in our tradition of keeping promises, thus keeping our funding.”
“Third: 8-year path – We invested in an 8-year path, where about 60% of our funding is directed to athletes who can win in the next 4 years, and 40% to those who can win in 8 years. (Period 2 cycles). We were We knew that a new generation of athletes in whom we had systematically invested was arriving, and had been developing over the 8+ years leading up to the Rio Games, such that this new wave had the potential to achieve something very special and with that, athletes needed to perform at The need, and thanks to the expertise of our coaches, performance leaders, support staff and our panel of Olympic and Paralympic experts who look after the results post-Games period, our athletes performed when needed and, in fact, performed so well they achieved the second highest conversion rate, second only to the USA.
How does support work for athletes in less popular sports, who do not have sponsorship or other support from the private sector?
Chelsea Warren: “Our experience tells us that it is team success – not necessarily success in individual sports – that attracts and inspires audiences the most. Having a wide range of sports that reach a wide range of populations in terms of races, Olympic and Paralympic sports, urban sports versus traditional sports, Team, individual, endurance, speed, acrobatics, youth and senior sports, etc. Having a range of sports that can be presented as winning (they have to be winning to be able to inspire!) is in turn able to generate a connection with an audience. Broader – something that interests everyone. In Rio, we have won more medals in more sports, more gold medals in more sports than any other country and we believe that has allowed a large portion of the population to be inspired and connected with what we do with it.
What does the system created by UK Sport consist of for reaching a very high level of performance and, even more so, maintaining that level over the various Olympic cycles?
Chelsea Warren: “Envision a clear, fact-based and compelling vision that describes ‘how far can we go’, a vision that excites and challenges the discipline/sport/athletes who want to participate, and a clear set of guidelines for our community to develop a high-performance strategy, which will have a significant impact on all decisions.” “The decisive point we will need to take over time is the reference point for the system.”
“Capabilities in terms of WITTW, both at the level of national strategic bodies and at sport/coach level. Direct all resources to those most capable of achieving results according to WITTW models in the future – not the past. It is not about being famous. It is about doing the thing The right thing to do is to allow those with the greatest potential, in a world where there are not unlimited resources, the best opportunity to shine. Be transparent in the way this is done both in the national system and in relation to the sport.
“Translate this vision into a clear strategy, into goals, taking into account the actions and tactics that will be implemented, and in the same way, clearly defining what is not part of the goals that need to be achieved, and why. You cannot have a successful high-performance system without talented athletes and coaches.” Invest exceptionally proactively in finding and developing them – intentionally, not by chance. Recruit, develop and reward the best, guided by values so they achieve results at a national and sporting level. These people need a growth mindset.
“Encourage innovation and learning to maintain excellence and develop new leaders. Take calculated risks and experiment without wasting time. Learn by doing, not theory. Keep athletes and their ambitions at the heart of the system. Think long term and ensure sustained long-term investment that allows the athletes who will stand on the podium In 4 and 8 years from now, by developing in a comprehensive way, and remaining steadfast in the goal of becoming the best in the world, developing athletes who are capable of winning medals requires time and continuous commitment.
To quote the most apt words of Frank Dick, the famous British athletics coach, who summed up where the UK is at the moment: “Our fight to the top is uphill.” Once you achieve this, everything becomes more difficult because the goal is not to stay there, but to climb higher. Opponents believe it was the performance to overcome that allowed us to get there. But that is not the case. We need to define a new level of excellence, and then exceed it.
Gazeta Esportiva: How many millions of pounds are spent annually to support this entire high-performance sports project?
Chelsea Warren: “The current total investment is $550 million over 4 years, but this amount also covers major events, our sports institutes, our international influence department, etc. The value of resources directed to sports is approximately $490 million over 4 years.
Gazeta Esportiva: Hiring foreign coaches who are considered authorities in their sports was a plan for Brazil to achieve good results in the short term at Rio 2016. What do you think of this strategy and the dismissal of many of these professionals after the end of the season? the Olympics ?
Chelsea Warren: “Early in the UK high performance system, we brought in several foreign coaches with world-class technical expertise in a range of sports as it was clear we were not keeping up with the world and needed to progress quickly. But we also knew that the future was not Many foreign coaches have been very effective in helping us develop improved technical development models, especially in combat and acrobatic sports. Although there has been great progress in performance from a technical standpoint, at the same time, challenges and conflicts have frequently occurred. UK Sport has launched a wide range of programs aimed at developing high performance sports coaches to foster a new cadre of high performing British coaches across all our sports and in many cases these coaches have been ‘apprentices’ to foreign coaches until they have gained the necessary knowledge, and have since Since then, many of them have been promoted to national team coaches, and have worked with many of Rio’s medalists.
Of all our achievements in Rio, I would say that watching the British coaches act calmly, competently and skillfully on the Rio arenas, always under pressure, was one of the moments I was most proud of. As with any successful business venture, succession planning and the development of future coaches, dedicated professionals and performance leaders form an integral part of the UK’s high performance system.
*Special for Sports newspaper
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