In the latest episode of the Experts in Sport podcast Host Martin Foster (Applied Sport Management Lead) chats to alumna Paula to discover what it’s like preparing to compete on the global stage.

Radcliffe MBE, a world-renowned athlete and former Women’s Marathon record holder also discusses how preparation and support has changed for sportspeople including insight into her different experiences at major competitions.

Paula is a former Sports Personality of the Year, a three-time winner of the London Marathon (2002, 2003, 2005), three-time winner of the New York Marathon (2004, 2007, 2008), and the 2002 Chicago Marathon winner.

She graduated from Loughborough in 1996 with a first-class degree in Modern European Studies and headed out to her first games in Atlanta, USA, in the same year.

During the podcast, Paula talks about what her goals were as an athlete and a student, how she managed these two major parts of her daily life, and how she worked hard to achieve in sport and in the classroom.

As well as sharing some Loughborough anecdotes, Paula talks openly about her personal experiences with menstruation and pregnancy as an athlete as well as what it was like going back to sport after giving birth.

Throughout the episode, Paula also discusses competitiveness, friendships, motivations, coaches, and meeting Gary – the man who would become her husband – at Loughborough.

She also shares how her passion for getting people active is translating into life as a retired athlete.

Listeners of the podcast can subscribe and download the latest episode by visiting iTunes, Spotify, and TuneIn. All subscribers will receive an alert once new episodes are published.

The Experts in Sport podcast is a regular series that brings together experts from across Loughborough University with external thought leaders to discuss the latest research and hot topics in sport and academia with new episodes launched regularly.

Sam’s interest in cycling began at a young age. When the Tour de France piqued his interest during his teenage years, a friend lent Sam a racing bike to try out. Whilst he loved riding, Sam was interested in the bikes themselves. This led to him finding an education path that would get him into the design area of the cycling industry. 

Sam currently works as Design Engineer at Hope Technology and the team has engineered this bicycle frame for the games. The bike was a collaboration between some of the top names in engineering, including Lotus Engineering and Renishaw, aiming to enhance performance and speed.  

The frame for Paris is a refined version of the Tokyo bike to give riders a further advantage – and it has already proved a medal-winning hit.  

Current Loughborough student Sophie Capewell, alongside her teammates Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant, won the Women’s Team Sprint and broke the world record to win a glorious gold on the opening day of the velodrome in Paris. 

The bike’s frame tooling is designed so that the sections can be added or removed. This allows the team to develop new ideas in specific areas on the bike.  

The new version of the frame has a smaller head tube to reduce the frontal area and now has the integration of the handlebar into the top tube of the frame. The seatstays are also brand new and designed for a reduction in drag and for improved servicing of the frames for the mechanics. Combined with new forks from Lotus and a new seat post from Renishaw, it provides a significant improvement on the Tokyo frameset.   

For the Paris bike project, Sam got involved with everything from managing the project and ensuring it got completed and delivered in time for the games, to designing all the mould tooling for the frames, manufactured by Hope Technology in-house.  

Having utilised his degree in Sports Technology, from which he graduated in 2018, Sam shared some advice for students or graduates aspiring to enter the engineering industry: 

“From my own experience, the best thing you can do is take the opportunities available to you and make sure you take maximum from them, even if they may not seem like the ideal fit within a particular role or the “dream” job. All I wanted was to work in the cycling industry but one of the best experiences I had was a year working for Ping Golf. 

“I owe a lot to the people I worked with there and it really set me up for my future career with a large chunk of engineering knowledge and a great experience of how to work in a positive environment that allows for success. I'd say the best thing you can do to better yourself is to be proactive, pop your head in the door of a place that interests you and meet people. I think that really does go a long way compared to an email or a CV.” 

Although the track bike does not have a low price tag, the company has found that there is still interest from customers who would like one of their own. Sam is currently working on developing the bikes further to reduce the cost of custom parts such as handlebars, forks and seat posts.