Simon O Brien recently supported athletes at his 5th Championships

recently supported athletes at the World Athletic championships, we asked Simon to give us the inside scoop on how it went. 

“THE most incredible 2 weeks working with athletes for the @worldathletics championships in Budapest! To be trusted by world class athletes from various countries in the preparation and recovery from their races is an honour and something I have worked incredibly hard to maintain. I worked with a number of sprinters who compete in the 100, 200 and 400m events and I specialised in the preparation, maintenance and recovery of these athletes through the rounds.

Timings can be tight! World Silver Medal winner @tebogo_letsile take part in semi-finals at 16:35; we then had less than 3 hours to prepare him for the final. One hour before his race we did activations to ensure he was suitably prepared, (see video) I’m pleased to be a small part of this runner’s journey.

My day to day work involves injury assessment if required; activation of key musculature pre-race; administering manual therapy after the post event and athletes load monitoring to shape treatment and recovery strategies in between rounds.”

Simon supports a number of athletes throughout the season to ensure their performance is optimal, this will include travelling around Europe to Screen for injury risk, implement injury prevention strategies and conduct sports science testing to monitor performance. Simon completes this work alongside his lecturing role at the University of Bolton.

Alongside the buzz of being at the Championships, Simon also got to celebrate success with his athlete - Letsile Tebogo won Silver in the 100m and Bronze in the 200m and Muzala Samukonga is the current 400m Commonwealth Champion. 

Simon’s advice – “my best advice for anyone... “be comfortable being uncomfortable, don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone... because when you do... opportunities arise that may help pave a new path”