GSK HPL partners with GB athlete Jodie Williams

Jodie, 22, celebrates a prodigious career as a former junior athlete after winning several World Youth and Junior titles, and is now transitioning smoothly on to the senior stage, winning silver at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships in 2014 in the 200m; her aims firmly set on qualification for the final in the 200m in Rio. 

After visiting the GSK HPL for the first time in December, Jodie met with the lab’s scientists to discuss specific performance questions which she hopes to find the answers to by using the latest techniques in sport science, combined with the wealth of expertise offered by the HPL’s scientists. Training 6 days a week with multiple sessions a day across the track, gym and technical drills, it is imperative that Jodie’s body can meet the demands of the physical stress placed upon it through specific training, recovery and nutrition strategies, which the HPL’s scientists will aim to provide. 

Considering the Olympics, Jodie’s concerns currently lie in the environmental differences between the UK and Brazil and she wants to prepare her body as best she can to compete in those tough conditions. She explained, “Rio is going to be ridiculously hot and really humid and typically my body doesn’t deal well with those kinds of conditions, so for me I think the most important thing is acclimatisation. It will be great to look into why I haven’t coped as well in those conditions in the past and see if we can come up with some solutions before I go out to Rio.” The GSK Human Performance Lab scientists are excited to work with Jodie over a series of visits in which several assessments will be carried out in order to maximise Jodie’s preparations. These visits will include assessments within the HPL’s environmental chamber in a bid to understand how her body copes in conditions replicating those to be expected in Rio this summer.

HPL Senior Scientist, Tessa Morris, and Dietitian, Ana Anton-Solanas, will head up the partnership. Ana described how they hope the partnership will provide benefits for Jodie in the run up to the Olympics; “It is always really rewarding to work with young athletes - this partnership with Jodie will hopefully help her to manage her nutrition better, especially while travelling, and to understand what her body needs to recover and positively adapt. 

Competing in different environmental conditions and adapting to different gastronomies and food availability is challenging; making the right choices is paramount to support health and performance. These are all factors of performance which we hope to assess during Jodie’s visits to the lab, through sweat composition analysis and other physiological and nutrition based assessments.”

The team at the GSK Human Performance Lab looks forward to welcoming Jodie back again soon to maximise her preparations on the Road to Rio.