The science behind sporting success

Having heard fellow columnist Derval O’Rourke sing the praises of David Epstein’s The Sports Gene, nothing would do me but to track the man down for a chat, and we made contact last week.

You can read the ensuing interview in the near future on these pages, but I can’t let the day pass without alerting you to the treasure trove that is The Sports Gene.

A subtitle of Talent, Practice and the Truth about Success should alert you to the subject matter, and Epstein certainly comes through on the what, where and how of elite sports performance. He specialises in writing about sports science for Sports Illustrated, and one of the top compliments I can pay the book is that he doesn’t spare the science, yet it remains engrossing from start to finish.