We'll Help Them Over Finish Line

Aug 3 2008 By Euan Mclean

5 Days To Go

THE start of the Olympic Games this week is the moment the world's elite athletes have prepared for all their lives.

But how many of them are prepared for the stardom that awaits if all those years of training, toil and tears are rewarded with medals?

That's the problem facing athletes so focussed on reaching the top that they never gave much thought to how they'd cope with life once they got there. An avalanche of media requests, invites to appear at dinners in your honour, even meeting a Prime Minister or President.

It all comes with the package once that gold medal is hung around your neck and it can be an overwhelming experience.

Fortunately the Great Britain team, particularly the 31-strong Scottish contingent, are better prepared than most.

The Scottish Institute of Sport is leading the way with a performance lifestyle initiative.

In the 10 years since the Institute set up an athlete care programme, it has developed into a vital support network for athletes struggling to balance their ambitions with the everyday demands of life.

From relationship problems to juggling studies with training, nothing is out with the remit of performance lifestyle coach Susie Elms and her team.

But it's the bigger picture beyond personal bests and medals that the East Lothian woman sees as the most crucial part of her role.

Because memories of sporting glory won't put food on the table when your career is over.

That's a harsh reality athletes from other nations, including the hosts China, will discover at the end of these Games when they find themselves redundant with little or no support network.

Susie said: "Retirement is a dreaded word for a lot of athletes and we are here to help them prepare for life away from sport.

"A lot of athletes will become redundant after Beijing and not all countries have prepared their people for life beyond sport.

"Sportsmen and women can be seen as superhuman but they are affected by relationship problems, money worries or other things.

"So we set up the performance lifestyle programme to help."

Among the medal contenders Susie has worked with are judo trio Euan Burton, Michelle Rogers and Sarah Clark.

The latter needed a total overhaul as a hectic schedule of training and coaching kids to make ends meet threatened to affect her health.

And the preparation work Burton has done in handling media demands will prove vital if he strikes gold in Beijing.

She added: "When Rhona Martin's curling team won gold at the Winter Olympics we learned a lot about the demands of a sudden rise in profile.

"They were inundated with requests from as high as the Prime Minister and trying to cope with the massive interest can bring huge distractions.

"Euan has already faced a lot of interview requests, including an appearance on Blue Peter, as he's likely to do well.

"So we spoke about setting him up with an agent to handle those extra demands for him.

"We've worked with most of the athletes, cyclist Chris Hoy and swimmer Kirsty Balfour included, since their teens.

"That's when we lose a lot of youngsters because they think they have to sacrifice sport for schoolwork. But we can devise a schedule that allows for both.

"I even ended up being the invigilator for a young golfer's higher Business Studies exam!

"Kylie Walker was invited to a coaching clinic with Butch Harmon, Tiger Woods' former coach, at The Belfry on the same day as her exam.

"So I got special permission from the school and she sat the exam in the Sam Torrance Suite at the resort after her clinic."