UK Sport’s Talent ID days are designed to take those with natural athleticism and sporting talent, figure out where their major strengths are, and match them up with a sport they may never have tried or even heard of before.
The analysis at a Talent ID day includes a series of tests measuring power, stamina, speed, and agility.
Anybody aged 17 or over can apply online, and athletes who drop out of one sport in the early stages of their career are often invited along to see if something else may work for them.
Examiners also assess each athlete’s character, scoring their ability to regulate emotions, control their performance and under pressure, and understand and respond to feedback.
Though applications are open to anybody, eventual selection for a sport still requires a high level of natural ability.
“Talent ID is an opportunity for us to find athletes a little bit later in the journey than you might normally join a programme,” says Dr Kate Baker, director of performance and people at UK Sport.
“If you’re not super fast, or able to build fast twitch muscle quickly, you’re probably not going to make it in skeleton.
“Then we’ve got sports like cross-country skiing, which require extraordinary aerobic capability. So if you are someone who loves a long run and can go forever, then it’s those kind of sports that you’re probably going to want to look towards.”
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