When the gongs are dished out after 2012 – and there will be bucket loads if, as we anticipate, London's Olympics are a rip-roaring success – it will be something of a dilemma for the person responsible for deciding who gets what.

For as well as heading up the Games' organisation, Lord Coe also chairs the Sports Honours Committee, which sifts nominations and recommends recipients to Downing Street. Not that he'll be awarding anything to himself, of course – anyway, what can you give a man who has everything, from a peerage downwards?

But there'll certainly be no argument if a knighthood wings it way to his anchor man, Paul Deighton, as one already has to John Armitt, chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA). Hiring the high-flying city financier as LOCOG's chief executive was, says Coe, "the best move I have ever made". He adds: "We would not be where we are today without him."

And where are we? Certainly well ahead of any previous Olympics at this stage of the Games.

And that is not just in terms of infrastructure and funding. The readiness of Britain's athletes is apparent from recent results which are due in no small measure to a body whose involvement with Team GB's Games plan tends to be undervalued.

Oh yes, we laud the Lottery and the massive difference it has made in enabling so many of Britain's elite performers to train without worrying unduly what their dedication is costing them; we acknowledge the input of resources and expertise by UK Sport and applaud the way the British Olympic Association (BOA) has got its act together so professionally for the benefit of Team GB.

But there is another organisation, relatively, unsung, without which Britain's medal hopes would be nowhere near as optimistic with the Games just half a year away.


The English Institute of Sport (EIS), centred in a state-of-the art complex in Sheffield but reaching out into several other parts of the nation, is the engine room of Britain's Olympic machine, helping to ensure that , elite performers can get to their marks in peak condition by providing the best possible back-up facilities including medical, psychological and coaching expertise.

In other words to reach and maintain peak fitness by next July and recover speedily from any injuries that may impede them along the way.

When you talk about the nuts-and-bolts backroom workings of any operation it can be mind-numbingly boring, and sport's coach-speak is no exception.

Eyes – particularly those of sports editors – tend to glaze over when terms like physiology, sports science, nutrition and bio-mechanics come into play.

Indeed, anything which includes the letters 'io' or has an 'ology' at the end. Especially sports psychology.


Here I admit I am also something of a sceptic, and have been since covering the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville when Britain's four-man bob, led by Mark Tout (pictured front), were in pole position overnight.

Here was something worth writing about but the team psychologist banned all interviews, insisting on locking the squad and himself away for the night to keep them 'in the zone'.  They finished seventh.

However, I accept that it may work for some.  And what is happening at the EIS certainly seems to be working for a substantial number of our prospective Olympians.

So what exactly is the EIS and what does it do?   A brief run-down of its activities tells us that:

•         More than 250 practitioners work with 49 Olympic and Paralympic sports, delivering 4,000 hours of support to over 1,500 athletes every week.

•         It worked with 65 of the 70 athletes (94 per cent) that won a medal at Beijing.  This included all of those who won gold and silver medals and 80 per cent of those that secured bronze.

•         Worked with 16 of the 17 Paralympic sports represented by Paralympics GB.

•         Practitioners cover a range of disciplines including: sports medicine, physiology, physiotherapy, psychology, strength and conditioning, performance nutrition, performance psychology, performance analysis, biomechanics, talent identification and performance lifestyle.   EIS also has a range of practitioners that work specifically with Paralympic sports.

•         The sports that invest the most in EIS' services are athletics, canoeing, hockey, swimming, rowing, badminton, boxing, gymnastics and cycling.

The EIS chair is former Olympian Steve Cram and the chief executive the former Welsh rugby star and international hurdler Nigel Walker, one of that rare breed of black sports administrators.

He tells us: "There are a lot of good people in this organisation doing a lot of good work.  Our contribution in the build up to 2012 in terms of support for the athletes is vital.  Our main function is to provide sports medicine and sports science support to both the Olympic and Paralympic bodies.  This can be psychology, physiotherapy, nutrition, strength and conditioning – the sort of thing that a governing body may feel gives the athlete that extra edge.

"We supply a range of practitioners to cover those needs across a range of disciplines.  This is a crucial back-up role.  UK Sport are the main body providing the funding and checking that it is used appropriately and from that money the governing bodies can buy our services."

He gives heptathlon star Jessica Ennis as an example of how the EIS provides crucial assistance. "Just before Beijing, Jessica broke her take off foot in long jump.  The medical prognosis was that she couldn't continue to take off with that foot so our physios and strength and conditioning coaches helped her and with a bio-mechanist worked on changing her take off foot.

"Jessica is a fantastically talented athlete and it was great that the EIS could help her further her career.  We like to think that what the EIS can do is help make the difference between silver and gold or between fifth and sixth.

"Improving performance is at the centre of everything EIS does and our practitioners work daily with coaches and athletes as part of their elite performance programmes.  We work in multi-disciplinary teams to provide a holistic service that supports coaches and performance directors in helping to improve the training and performance of their athletes, and a lifestyle programme which prepares athletes for life after sport by helping them to become coaches or get other employment.

"If we are not indispensable at the moment, we hope to make sure we are at the time of the Olympics and Paralympics."


According to triathlon world champion Alistair Brownlee (pictured) it is "fantastic to have such a back-up system, even if you don't need to use it". Actually he did need to use it when he suffered a stress fracture in his femur two years ago. The EIS worked with him to develop a bespoke rehab programme which enabled him to regain his world title last year. As he spoke he was receiving treatment there from Emma Deakin, British Triathlon's head physio, who says: "The EIS pieces together all the parts of the jigsaw," describing it as "an on tap service, with immediate access to medical care. The quicker the diagnosis, the more efficient the treatment and the quicker you can get back into sport.

"It gives athletes that peace of mind that they have somewhere to go pretty well 24 hours a day when something goes wrong."

One sport which owes much to the EIS is amateur boxing. It is housed within the institute itself and the 'togetherness' of the squad there was a contributory factor to the unprecedented Olympic triple medal success in Beijing.  Now with a fistful of boxers already qualified for London and five (including female flyweight powerhouse Nicola Adams) rated in the top three of the weight classes globally, 2012 is potentially a ring-of-roses.

Head coach Robert McCracken says the EIS has been "a massive factor" in recent successes which have included a best-ever world championships (three silvers and a bronze) and five gold medal winning performances in the Olympic test event.

Flyweight Andrew Selby, European champion and world silver medallist, is one who has personally benefited from EIS expertise. He says: "I was struggling with the weight at the end of 2010 when I performed poorly in a couple of tournaments when I felt drained of strength because I had difficulty in making the 52kg limit.  I began to work closely with the nutritionist from the EIS (Mark Ellison) who works with GB Boxing and together we developed a diet and a way of managing my weight in training and competitions.  It has had a fantastic impact on my performances and been an important contributor to my success in 2011."

Super heavyweight Anthony Joshua, who won a world championships silver in Baku and could be the pugilistic poster-boy of the Games, explains how the boxers are reaping the benefit as a squad. "We don't just have good boxing coaches but nutritionists, physios and psychologists as well, while before every fight we get videos of our opponents. We really leave no stone unturned.

"There's a lot of science behind the fists."

The appliance of that science makes the EIS the sort of set-up which the Russians and East Germans would have been proud of in the days of the old Soviet bloc supremacy. Without the drugs, of course!

So when we go gong-ho this time next year let's hope Lord Coe will remember the contribution that has been made in his erstwhile home town by the EIS and its back-room boffins; the team behind Team GB.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title from Atlanta to Zaire.