Athletes competing at the UK Athletics Indoor Championships in Birmingham next month will be supported by additional elements of preparation: data provided by PwC.
The Big Four firm is in a partnership with British Athletics’ Olympic and Paralympic World Class Programmes. As the ‘official data intelligence partner’ of the sporting body, PwC will provide a range of services including collecting performance data and analytics, modelling, reporting and visualisation. The deal was signed in 2019, in time for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and also covered Paris 2024.
The data generated at the events can help coaches and athletes make better-informed decisions, and gain a competitive advantage in major international championships.
‘By using data and analytics, British athletes can be the best prepared in the world’
Objective information
Team GB finished among the leading nations in terms of the medal count in Tokyo and Paris. The existing deal runs to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, when there are hopes that Team GB athletes will once again be successful.
‘Speed is of the essence to stay ahead,’ says Jon Andrews, head of technology and investments at PwC. ‘We aim to bring our experience of mining data to give athletes and coaches more objective information to help them make better decisions.’
Athletics is rich in statistics and data, as Neil Black, the then British Athletics performance director, noted when the partnership was announced in 2019. There are, however, ‘limitations as to how successful it is if it is not recorded and interpreted correctly, and then provided to coaches and athletes in a way that they can make use of it – whether it is in planning their year or altering the focus of their day-to-day training.
‘By effectively and efficiently using data and analytics,’ Black continued, ‘British athletes can be the best prepared in the world, [with] access to data and analytics all in one place.’
He added that the improvements would be gradual but continuous as new capabilities are developed and there is learning of what can actually be valuable to help athletes achieve their goals.
Food focus
One key aspect of athletes’ programmes that PwC data aims to improve includes the way they eat. Alex Cooke, former PwC data intelligence partner, said in the firm’s podcast ‘Dealing with change: How elite athletes adapted in lockdown’: ‘The data is orientated to making sure that athletes aren’t pushing too hard on certain aspects associated with their diet, but at the same time not overdoing it with other aspects.’
‘We use data from blood and hormonal markers to make sure the athlete is healthy’
Examples include collecting detailed dietary analysis to gain a more accurate picture of what the athletes are eating in the lead up to key competitions. This enables the analysts to make sure the athletes are getting enough energy and even enough of the specific micronutrients such as carbohydrates, fats and proteins to ensure they’re matching their dietary intake to their daily training needs.
‘This can help certain athletes to optimise their competing weight,’ says Cooke, ‘as within certain track-and-field defence, the part of mass ratio of an athlete can be very important. We will also use data from collecting different blood and hormonal markers to make sure the athlete is healthy and isn’t deficient in any specific areas. And we can also use these markers to help maximise adaptations from such things as altitude.’
Data informs strategy
Other firms are in on the action, too. As discussed in AB in June 2024, KPMG has extended a deal to remain the official data and analytics adviser of the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. It provides data insights and performance analytics through its Performance Insights technology platform.
Data collected includes golfers’ strokes gained, proximity averages and performance indexing, which all provide critical information for players to diagnose and improve their own performances. The platform also serves up some of the data to media, broadcast partners, coaches and fans.
Meanwhile, EY is a sponsor of Italy’s national football teams, having struck a deal with the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The firm has been working with the organisation since 2020 and is set to continue its collaboration until at least 2025.
EY started as advisers for its digital transformation strategy, but over time the role has evolved. ‘We now not only support them in carrying forward the identified strategy, but we also propose and implement new ideas to increase their visibility among their fanbase,’ says Giuseppe Perrone, EY EMEIA blockchain leader and Italy consulting AI and data leader.
‘We integrate data, including insights on fan perception through sentiment analysis’
‘We continue to evolve the digital transformation strategy by integrating data, including insights on fan perception through sentiment analysis on social media, and market trends compared to other European federations.’
Best practice guidelines are developed from this data, Perrone continues. ‘We also conduct benchmark analyses on comparable federations – European and non-European – to compare relevant aspects such as loyalty activities, communication, social media and TV channels that can help the federation to evolve their market and fan base.’
In order to evaluate potential strategic improvements, EY has also created an ‘over-the-top’ observatory to monitor the evolution of the video streaming market in Italy, studying fans’ perception of the national team’s performance.
As firms strive to assist athletes in every aspect of their training, including their diets, their own appetite to be involved in sports-related data is likely to increase.
