Peak Performance: The Path to Exceptional Athletic Achievement
The 2010 Winter Olympics has been an incredible example of "peak performance". We've witnessed athletes who are stronger, faster and more focused than ever before, shattering previous performance records, conquering the odds and performing under the most excruciating emotional circumstances. What is the ‘top-secret' science behind the training? What are the next advances that are about to emerge? What ethical boundaries are being pushed?
On March 10, 2010, the Providence Heart + Lung Institute at St. Paul's Hospital hosted a public forum to explore these questions during an afternoon of a behind-the-scenes, behind-the-podium look at what makes peak performance. The event featured scientists and the psychologists that work directly with the world's greatest athletes, professional sports teams and 2010 Olympians.
Before the event, we asked each speaker to take five minutes to explain their thoughts on the issues. Hear what they had to say below.
Setting the Stage of Peak Performance
Dr. Bruce McManus, Director, Providence Heart + Lung Institute
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Illuminating the way: A word from the moderators
André Picard, award-winning Globe and Mail public health reporter
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Dr. Edward Coyle, Director of the Human Performance Laboratory, University of Texas in Austin
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What are the Limitations to Endurance Exercise Performance?
Dr. Andrew Jones, Chair of the Department of Applied Physiology in the School of Sport and Health Sciences at the University of Exeter in the UK
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How to Own the Podium by Engaging the Best Scientists in the Pursuit of Excellence
Dr. Darren Warburton of the Cardiovascular Physiology and Rehabilitation Laboratory at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
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The New Frontier of Gene Doping and Genetically Modified Athletes
Dr. Jim Rupert of the School of Human Kinetics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
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Nutrition as the Clean Edge for Athletic Excellence
Cristina Sutter, Sport Dietitian from Vancouver
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New Frontiers in the Treatment of the Elite Athlete and Best Practice in a World of Limited Evidence
Dr. Anthony Galea, of the Department of Family Medicine of the University of Toronto, and Founder and Medical Director of the ISM Health and Wellness Centre in Toronto
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Technologies in Wheelchair Sport to Enhance Sports Performance and Exceptional Prosthetic Achievement
Dr. Vicky Tolfrey, Director of the Peter Harrison Centre for Disability Sport at Loughborough University in the UK
Dr. Brendan Burkett, Director of the Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise (CHASE), at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia
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Performing Under Pressure and Gaining that Mental Edge in Sport
Dr. Saul Miller, Performance Consultant from Vancouver
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Is Talent a Myth?
Dr. David Cox, Director of Clinical Training in the Department of Psychology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver
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Sport is Never Neutral because of Ethical Decisions that always play a part in sports
Paul Melia, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport in Ottawa
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Not all that is Unfair is Unethical: In-Brain and On-Brain Enhancement in Sport
Dr. Judy Illes, Professor of Neurology, and Canada Research Chair in Neuroethics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver
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