Member Article

The recent winter Olympics in Sochi have been heralded as “the best ever” and certainly for Great Britain the medal table didn’t lie.  A country more suited by climate to sports on water than snow emerged with real credit.  For entrepreneurs and business owners there are some real lessons that can be taken from the British Sochi experience. Looking at the success of Lizzie Yarnold and before her Amy Williams in the skeleton is particularly informative.  Just why is the UK the dominant force in the skeleton and what lessons can we learn for our day jobs?

PLAN, PLAN AND PLAN AGAIN…Britain doesn’t even have a full length skeleton course.  That said we went for the next best thing and focussed on the key push phase of a run and built a 140m facility at Bath University.  This in combination with a training base in Austria gave Williams and Yarnold optimum preparation.

TALENT IS KEY SO INVEST BIG – UK sport have been focussed on investing in thorough talent identification.  In 2008 Yarnold attended a Girls4Gold workshop as a county level heptathelete.  Within four years she was a world junior champion and now an Olympic gold medallist.  As well as the competitors UK sport has also spent big on coaches – Andi Schmid an Austrian luge world champion leads a team of world class coaches and support staff.

TECHNOLOGY IS KING – UK sport has technology partnerships with BAE Systems and Maclaren working across a range of sports including Skeleton.  Whilst a typical sled costs £15,000 with the technology that goes into a GB sled this rises to £100,000.

THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR HARD WORK  – in common with so many other top sportsmen (and entrepreneurs) hardwork and dedication is the key.  The harder I practise the luckier I get must be one of sports oldest clichés yet it applies again here.  Yarnold and Williams worked on their strength daily in the gym – they were the first to arrive and the last to leave.  Williams summarised their commitment in everything they did –“will this help me win gold yes or no?”

So whilst Sochi may have been ‘the greatest winter games’ for the UK they were a vindication of a structured and well executed plan.  For entrepreneurs and business owners the above lessons might seem a statement of the obvious yet as with so many things keeping it simple; having a plan; investing and sticking at it typically win through.

 

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