title: The Great British Medalists Project: A Review of Current Knowledge on the Development of the World's Best Sporting Talent.
abstract: The literature base regarding the development of sporting talent is extensive, and includes empirical articles, reviews, position papers, academic books, governing body documents, popular books, unpublished theses and anecdotal evidence, and contains numerous models of talent development. With such a varied body of work, the task for researchers, practitioners and policy makers of generating a clear understanding of what is known and what is thought to be true regarding the development of sporting talent is particularly challenging. Drawing on a wide array of expertise, we address this challenge by avoiding adherence to any specific model or area and by providing a reasoned review across three key overarching topics: (a) the performer; (b) the environment; and (c) practice and training. Within each topic sub-section, we review and calibrate evidence by performance level of the samples. We then conclude each sub-section with a brief summary, a rating of the quality of evidence, a recommendation for practice and suggestions for future research. These serve to highlight both our current level of understanding and our level of confidence in providing practice recommendations, but also point to a need for future studies that could offer evidence regarding the complex interactions that almost certainly exist across domains.
authors: Department of Sport and Physical Activity, Faculty of Management, Bournemouth University, Dorset House, Talbot Campus, Fern Barrow, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK. trees@bournemouth.ac.uk.
authors: Tim
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5498-0145
authors: T
authors: Rees
authors: Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University, George Building, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2PZ, UK.
authors: Lew
authors: L
authors: Hardy
authors: Department of Sport Science, University of Kaiserslautern, Erwin Schrödinger Street, 67663, Kaiserslautern, Germany.
authors: Arne
authors: A
authors: Güllich
authors: School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health and Behavioral Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, 4072, Australia.
authors: Bruce
authors: B
authors: Abernethy
authors: School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, SKHS Building 28 Division Street, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N, Canada.
authors: Jean
authors: J
authors: Côté
authors: Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences, Bangor University, George Building, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2PZ, UK.
authors: Tim
authors: T
authors: Woodman
authors: School of Life and Medical Sciences, University College London, Rockefeller Building, 20, University Street, London, WC1E 6DE, UK.
authors: Hugh
authors: H
authors: Montgomery
authors: UK Sport, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF, UK.
authors: Stewart
authors: S
authors: Laing
authors: UK Sport, 21 Bloomsbury Street, London, WC1B 3HF, UK.
authors: Chelsea
authors: C
authors: Warr
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D001076:Aptitude / Q000502:physiology*; D003163:Competitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D010551:Personality; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human; D012944:Social Support; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology* / Q000523:psychology