Podium: What Shapes a Sporting Champion?

What does it really take to make the podium? Which of the biological, environmental and psychological factors really shape a champion's route to the top?

To answer these questions, Ben Oakley has taken the original step of combining existing research with a study of leading athletes' autobiographies. Looking at the early histories and initial challenges of serial champions in their own words, Podium sheds new light on their commonalities.

A similar focus in training, similar influences ar...