When UK Sport, the agency responsible for investing in high performance sport, were looking to find the next generation of Olympic champions they turned to Wattbike.

The Power2Podium talent identification programme is a nationwide search for the fastest, most powerful male and female competitors who have the potential and ability to become part of Great Britain’s sporting elite at the 2022 Olympic Games in the sport of Skeleton.

The Performance Pathway team from the English Institute of Sport who are respon- sible for helping to select athletes require accurate, repeatable and measurable data to analyse progression and compare per- formances to aid athlete selection. Given its role as a key part of British Cycling’s marginal gains philosophy in identifying many of the golden generation of British cyclists, the Wattbike is an obvious choice.

Lizzie Wraith, Performance Pathway Scientist at the English Institute of Sport, said: “British Skeleton use the Wattbike as part of their testing battery which allows the coaches to monitor athlete pro- gression. For the Power2Podium talent identification programme, we used the Wattbike not only because of its ability to record extensive levels of data but also because we knew we could have confi- dence in the reliability of that data.”

The talent identification events held across the UK saw over 450 athletes tested over 6 days in a variety of ways. With a requirement for the collection of large volumes of data and significant time con- straints the team at EIS demand robust equipment. Lizzie continues: “We conduct high intensity tests so the equipment we use must be highly durable. The stability of the Wattbike gives us confidence that we can conduct accurate tests such as peak power and peak cadence on a large number of athletes without having to worry about maintenance issues. When the athletes and coaches have confidence in the equipment we know that we are getting the very best results possible.”

Richard Baker, Commercial Director at Wattbike said: “The Wattbike was borne out of a necessity for elite sport to have an af- fordable testing and training solution which offers scientific accuracy and could meet the demands of professional athletes and coaches. Sports organisations across the globe have seen the outstanding success of British Cycling, of which the Wattbike played a key role, and are striving to replicate that. We take real pride in seeing athletes and teams achieving success on the global stage knowing that the Wattbike has played a part in their victory.”