Artist's impression of the new sports centre at St Mary's
St Mary’s University College
Pre-games training camp 2012
St Mary’s University College (SMUC) is one of the most prominent venues in London to be selected as a Pre-Games Training Camp, and will be home to the South African, Irish and Chinese Olympic teams.
It has been selected for the following seven sports in the Olympic Games:
- Athletics
- Badminton
- Basketball
- Fencing
- Handball
- Volleyball: indoor
- Weightlifting
and for five sports for the Paralympic Games:
- Athletics
- Paralympic volleyball (sitting)
- Wheelchair basketball
- Wheelchair fencing
- Wheelchair rugby
For more information or to contact the College, visit their website at www.smuc.ac.uk/2012, or see the offficial Pre-Games Training Camp guide.
Athletes
Athletes based at, or working out of St Mary’s and with hopes of a 2012 place:
- Mo Farah - Golden double (5K and 10K) in the European Championships in Barcelona. Has moved to Colorado to live and train at altitude but works out of St Mary’s when in the UK.
- Jo Pavey - looking to move up to Marathon for 2012 following a glittering track career
- Mara Yamouchi - 6th place in Beijing Marathon and moving back to Teddington to train out of St Mary’s
- Steph Twell - Bronze medal in Commonwealth Games in Delhi - 1500m. Will be working hard to get over an injury to re-establish herself as a leading middle distance runner.
- Jemma Simpson - Beijing representative (800m), and looking to perform well in the World Championships in Korea
- Charlotte Purdue - Figured well in Delhi with 4th place in 5,000m, and became British Universities Cross-Country Champion in February 2011.
- Andy Vernon - Common wealth Games representative and looking to step up to 10K for World Championships
- Andy Baddeley - Beijing finalist, established international and heading for the European Indoor Championships
- Andrew Osagie - Commonwealth games representative, and preparing for European Indoor Championships in Paris in March
- James Brewer - World Championships representative, and targeting outdoor World Championships in Korea
- Colin McCourt - European and Commonwealth representative - also targeting World Championships in Korea
Contact person - Craig Winrow, Co-ordinator of the Endurance Performance and Coaching Centre (EPACC) - 07850 038 367
Elite sport services for Olympians provided by SMUC
The Centre for Sport, Health and Exercise Medicine located in the School of Human Sciences provides:
- Physiological monitoring and preparation in dedicated environmentally adaptable laboratory
- Sports injury treatment in own clinic
- Nutritional and sport psychology advice
- Strength and conditioning guidance and monitoring
Special Olympics Richmond
SMUC’s first project for 2012 was to work with RUTC to create Special Olympics Richmond. Under the aegis of Special Olympics GB, it creates sporting and recreational opportunities for people of all ages with learning difficulties. There are now over 100 people enjoying a range of activities from multi-skills to football, boccia and swimming.
Training Camps in 2011
The Chinese Marathon squad will come to St Mary’s in April to prepare for and compete in the Virgin London Marathon on 17 April.
In the summer the EPACC will organise the annual Virgin London Marathon training camp for talented young runners - the Olympians of the future.
Following the announcement of the Olympic cycle route, the Irish and South African cycling squads are considering a 2011 summer camp taking in this event. The London Dynamo Cycling Club is assisting St Mary’s by advising the squads on training routes.
Other squads may come depending on the timing of this year’s World Championships in the various sports.
Coaching
St Mary’s has developed its coach education and development portfolio as part of its 2012 strategy. This includes a programme of coach mentoring and seminars for England Athletics as well as an innovative programme to prepare coaches to work as para-professionals in schools alongside PE teachers.