Who were the superstars, and what were the unforgettable moments of 2024? Who failed to launch, and who exceeded expectations? What are your hopes for sport and sports science in 2025? We draw a spectacular sporting year to a close with a look back at the highlights, lowlights, newsmakers and big stories of 2024. In a somewhat tongue-in-cheek "Sporting Awards" show, Mike, Gareth and Ross pick out their winners and losers, and the achievements that got us talking and debating. Inspired by the contributions and nominations from our Discourse community, we make our selections in categories ranging from the Moment of the Year to the Biggest Anticlimax of the last twelve months, with sports science insights and the big sports science stories covered in between.

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Podcast highlights: Some of the podcasts from 2024 that came up in this show:

• Dr Joe Warne on the scientific theme of 2024: Can we trust sports science?
• The Skeptics guide to sports science - Dr Nick Tiller joined us to talk about how marketing undermines sports science, with a little help from sports scientists
• As Gareth noted on the show, the podcast topic that generated the highest volume of Discourse chat was VO2max, your most important training metric
• Prof Louise Burke joined us to talk about why carbohydrates and not fats power most endurance athletes to better performance
• Prof Stuart Phillips on weight training - the one that changed Mike's exercise training routines.
• The science of hydration - this is the one that led to a really lively Discourse discussion about the scientific 'robustness' of hydration claims made on this show
• The Olympic Controversy podcast recorded at the time of the DSD controversy
• Ruth Chepngetich smashed the women's World Record, and the debate kicked off. We did a podcast on it in October
• We named BJSM as "Worst Team of the Year". This is the podcast we did on their shameful stance on women's sport and loss of scientific credibility

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In this Spotlight edition, Gareth Davies and Ross Tucker dive ever deeper into the abyss of sport's Talent Identification and Development inefficiencies. With a nod to our most recent podcast on Gout Gout's meteoric rise and anticipated trajectory to sprint dominance, we discuss how elite sport 'farms' talent in a 'race to the bottom' that characterises the ruthless pursuit of champions. We discuss the costs this creates, both financial and human, using talent pathway practices in cycling, football, rugby and tennis to illustrate why lost young athletes and inefficiencies are features of the system, rather than 'bugs'. We also discuss the latest developments in the world of anti-doping, where WADA have announced changes to contamination cases and accidental doping, and where the UCI have moved to ban carbon monoxide use for performance enhancement, but not measurement.

SHOW NOTES:

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The article discussing the retirement of junior cyclists and the ruthless efficiency with which they are replaced

A research article exploring how U23 performances predict elite cycling performance, perhaps not surprisingly, as discussed in the show

My 2019 article on the curse of the precocious athlete

The Gout Gout podcast referenced in our Talent discussions

The very interesting Discourse topic in which Gareth and others talk about the changes in professional cycling (Discourse members only)

A news article on WADA's announcement about intended changes to the Anti-Doping Code, including the discussed changes to contaminated product and accidental doping rules

The UCI "bans" carbon monoxide use for performance enhancement, but not for measurement. Quite how is anyone's guess.

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Gout Gout is a sprint phenom. At only 16, he recently broke the Australian men's 200m record with a stunning 20.04s, second on the all-time list for under-18 sprinters. That followed 10.04 (wind-aided) and 10.17 100m clockings, as the Australian teen continued his meteoric rise to elite adult performances. The manner of his performances, with astonishing finishing speed, has created huge excitement, with anticipation of Bolt-like times and achievements in his future. But, teen prodigies come and go, many falling short of fully delivering on their exceptional promise. In this exclusive interview, his manager and agent James Templeton opens up about Gout's past, present and future, and shares the vision and specific plans he and Gout's coach have for one of the most exciting talents ever seen in the sport. Along the way, we discuss talent identification concepts,and learn lessons from David Rudisha's career about the dangers and traps that can ambush a young athlete, and how they plan to navigate those for Gout. We also discover how Gout Gout is handling new-found fame and being prepared for the hype, with the ultimate goal of taking on the world of sprinting in 2025 and beyond.

SHOW NOTES:

Join Discourse

If you fancy a bit of the coaching, sports science and sports news conversations with our amazing members, consider a small donation to become a Patron of the site, and get access to our Discourse community, where you can join like-minded fans and sports enthusiasts to keep the conversation going.

Video of Gout Gout's 200m Australian record of 20.04s

The wind assisted 10.04s that Gout ran, with special emphasis on the final 50m

The paper that shows the relatively low conversion of top 100 ranked U18 and U20 athletes into the top 100 adults, and vice-versa

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