Interview with Bradley Wiggins – Performance

Here’s some extracts from a recent interview with Bradley Wiggins. There’s some interesting insights into the mindset of a great performer. Have a read.

At this stage I seem to be getting better all the time and I’m not conscious of time running out. I want to keep progressing on the gains I’ve made.

I’m very close at the moment and I’m coming into my prime as an athlete.

In two years’ time I might have had enough of it and walk away. If I win the Tour next year I certainly will not want to go back and win it again.

Wiggins revealed he has “never really put the work in before”.

It’s taken a long time to get the maturity as an athlete to realise what it takes to compete at this level.

In the past I’ve done a lot on pure talent and short periods of hard work.

In the last few years the Tour has opened things up for me as to what the human body is capable of and how good you can be.

This time last year I would never have imagined having the season I’ve had by constantly evolving and constantly making gains. It’s not an age thing, these are the prime years. It’s more the mental thing – how long can you sustain that high level of concentration and intensity of training that goes with it?

Within those word we see several things that come up time and time again in the attitudes and beliefs of highly consistent, elite performers:
  • a recognition that talent alone is not enough
  • hard work
  • a desire to improve
  • self-awareness through feedback (coming 24th in the 2010 Tour de France was “a wake up call”)
  • wanting to be the best you can be
  • a curiosity that encourages making changes proactively

Which of these might make the biggest difference to your quest for increased consistency at the highest levels?