The Taff Suite at the Sport Wales National Centre is primed to once again transform into the home of Team GB’s Performance Analysis Hub during this year’s Olympic games in Paris.
From 26 July, every moment of the Games will be studied by six Cardiff-based performance analysts, including two of our Institute colleagues, Carys Jones and Jen Roach.
They’ll be spending the three weeks offering support to the coaches and athletes on the ground in Paris with live video feedback and technical analysis. This support is a vital part of ensuring our athletes perform to their very best when the stakes are at their highest.
It will be the second time that Sport Wales has hosted Team GB’s Performance Analysis hub, with the Taff Suite hosting the hub during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, too – and even though the set up will be much of the same, the atmosphere will be very different!
Carys said: “The last Games fell during a time when COVID restrictions were still in place. Mix that with the time difference and it could be very quiet at times!
“It will be great to be able to have more people involved this year – we’ll be able to work in closer proximity with each other and more closely with reps from sports, too. I’m really looking forward to a more social environment."
And this won’t be the only performance analysis Jen is taking part in during the Games.
“I’m really excited to be supporting with performance analysis during the Paralympics this year, too.” She added, “I’ll be heading to London to support our para-athletes in Paris later in August.”
As with Tokyo, there’s a huge amount of technical and operational set-up involved to make sure the team in Cardiff can work closely with their counterparts in Paris and give feedback quickly.
Add to that the team’s accommodation and meals, and it’s clear that the Performance Analysis Hub wouldn’t run without the support of a number of Sport Wales colleagues.
“I must say a big thank you to our colleagues in the catering team, everyone in Tech Solutions and the team in the National Centre,” Carys added. “Without their hard work we wouldn’t be able to host the Analysis Hub here, and it means a lot to everyone in the team to have their support.”