Interview with Sara Symington

The Focused Mind Podcast

Sara Symington is a former GB Olympic cyclist (2000 and 2004 games). After the Athens games she retired and worked as a policewoman and as a performance advisor for UK Sport. We met after the 2012 Olympic games when I worked as her psych for the GB Olympic Archery team where she had taken her first Performance Director role. In 2015 she left to work in the same position for England Netball. As PD she oversaw bronze medal success in the 2015 World Cup and in 2018, the team won Gold against the favourites, Australia, in a thrilling last second victory. In 2020, Sara became the Performance Director for UK Athletics.
In the build-up to the 2019 Netball World cup, I wanted to find out about the mindset, thinking and skills Sara has used in her career in order to successfully run both the business and sporting performance parts of her role and what makes her tick. We cover her background, sporting history, and upbringing in this fascinating insight into one of the country's leading Performance Directors.