Alex O’Gorman, a physiotherapist undertaking a Masters degree in Strength and Conditioning, will join Salford lecturer Duncan Mason in Guiyang, China, on Saturday 28 March.
Alex has previously worked with Team GB at their European Championships holding camp last summer but this is his first trip with the British Athletics team to a Championships.
Together Duncan and Alex will be tasked with ensuring some of the UK’s top athletes are fighting fit and ready to bring home medals from the World Cross Country Championships.
Duncan, who has been with the University for 12 years and is studying for his PhD, has previously travelled to Kenya four times with the British Athletics team to work with them at their training camps.
In previous years he has worked with world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe and current Olympic, World and European champion, Mo Farah.
This year’s team includes Gemma Steel, the European Cross Country champion, Andrew Butchart, the Scottish Cross Country Champion and Dewi Griffiths, the Welsh Cross Country Champion.
Duncan and Alex will also be working with the next generation of British sports stars with Charlie Hulson, the youngest ever winner of the English National Cross Country Championships and Amy Griffiths, the 2014 English Schools Cross Country Champion, being just two of the junior athletes heading to China.
Speaking ahead of the trip Duncan said: “Like the rest of the team and staff I’m really looking forward to the Championships in China.
“Team GB are bringing some of our most talented athletes and some of our brightest prospects for the future to these Cross Country Championships. I’ve no doubt that we’ll see the start of some stellar careers this week.
“To be able to swap the classroom for these Championships is a great honour but I’ll always have one eye on what I can learn and bring back for my students in Salford.”
Alex added: “I’m delighted to have been asked to join the Team GB staff at the Championships in China; it really is a privilege.
“It’s a great reflection on the University and our physiotherapy department that not one, but two of the three medical staff on this trip are coming from the University of Salford.”
Photo:Duncan Mason, Alex O’Gorman
