QAS athletes blitz Beijing
An incredible 70 per cent of Australia’s medals at the Beijing Olympics were won by Queensland athletes, thanks in part to the Queensland Academy of Sport’s new $10 million Recovery Centre.
The ‘one-stop-shop’ for the training and rehabilitation of athletes is the only facility of its kind in Australia. Swimming, cycling, track and field, hockey, rowing, water polo and triathlon athletes were able to take advantage of the centre’s rehabilitation hub in the run-up to the Games.
On hand were sports scientists who provided cutting-edge analysis and advice to the athletes. Facilities to assist scientists and coaches include a pool equipped with underwater viewing windows, and new cameras with 3D motion analysis.
One of the state’s many Olympians to benefit from the specialist support and advice provided by the Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) is Beijing 100 metre hurdles silver medallist Sally McLellan.
Sally and her coach, Sharon Hannon, have been working with QAS Biomechanist Jennifer Manning and Coordinator of Scientific and Technical Support Mark Andrews. The focus has been on Sally’s starts, force production and general hurdling technique.
‘The work on starts has involved regular testing in the lab, and on the track using our instrumented starting blocks. These enable us to work out how much force Sally is exerting on the blocks. From that we are able to calculate other variables that assist us in giving feedback to Sharon and Sally,’ Ms Manning said.
‘We can tell how long Sally is in contact with the blocks, how fast she’s leaving the blocks, how she’s accelerating out of the blocks, and at what angle Sally is leaving the blocks. Mark’s software greatly assisted in data collection and analysis. Getting this type of data regularly enabled Sharon to determine if Sally was improving and how she was adapting during training.
‘During all domestic competitions, we collect data while Sally is racing. From this we can work out how long she is running for and how long she takes to clear the hurdles.
‘More detailed analysis indicates how far Sally is taking off before each hurdle, how far she is landing after each hurdle and her velocity throughout the race. This is really important for Sharon to know so that she can adjust Sally’s training depending on where weaknesses exist within the race,’ Ms Manning said.
The QAS represents a perfect marriage of sport and state-of-the-art science.
‘Working together over the last five years has been a great experience for us all, each taking away more knowledge and experience than ever imagined,’ Ms Manning said.
Story: Antoinette Bauer.
Last reviewed 15 December 2008
