Brady, Belichick And The Bigger Issue With Sports Training Gurus

Guerrero doesn't play for the New England Patriots, but if you ask Tom Brady, Guerrero is a critical piece of his game.

The Boston Globe reported that Belichick had revoked Guerrero's privileges earlier this season. Guerrero, Brady's friend, trainer and business partner, had been allowed to fly on the team charter. He had a sideline pass for game days. Guerrero set up an office in the team's facility, near the Patriots' locker room. He still has the office, but he can only treat Brady there, not the other Patriots who had begun to use his services. The seat on the plane is gone and so is the primo credential.

"Alex has been a huge part of what I do and I'm so fortunate to have him not only as a friend, but with everything we've been able to do together," Brady said when asked about the situation on WEEI. "It takes a lot of people for an NFL player to achieve. Your career and teammates and coaches and family and support and friends, and Alex has been a huge, huge reason why I'm still playing."

There is no shortage of material being spoken and written about this. From Brady being compared to the Scientology-driven couch-jumping Tom Cruise to Belichick fielding strange questions about paternal triangulation between coach, quarterback and trainer. There's plenty out there on Guerrero, too. Those stories center on his qualifications or lack thereof.

Oh, the drama. Grab your popcorn, sit back and enjoy. We'll speculate about a breakup between Yoda and Luke Skywalker. (Yes, I peg them as the good guys, the winners.) But Brady and Belichick will do what they do. They will shut down that line of questioning. They'll say nothing publicly. Both of these guys are too smart and they like to win too much to let this stop what they've already created.

This isn't really about the melodrama. Stay woke, friends. Guerrero's setup with the Patriots isn't that strange. It shouldn't be. The office in the team facility, the treating more than half the team, that's different, but it shouldn't be surprising. Almost everybody has a guy outside of the team's sports medicine and training staff. The New England situation is getting a lot of attention because Brady is Brady. He's built his personal brand on getting older and somehow still looking fabulous and playing like he's 25 years old. With Guerrero at his side, Brady turned the brand into a commercialized product with a brick and mortar shop.

Having a personal sports guru is not new. Remember, Barry Bonds had Greg Anderson. Kristaps Porzingis, the Latvian basketball-playing unicorn, has a Dr. Dan Colker, "a man of movement and some mystery," according to the New York Daily News.

Players will always look for the edge. They want that thing, whatever it is that will have them perform better than the next guy. They want to recover quicker, execute faster, and last longer. This goes back decades. In Jeff Passan's The Arm, there is the story about 20-year-old Jim Palmer and his injured rotator cuff. Palmer went to a sports medicine pioneer who was associated with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The advice: pitch and hope the arm gets better. Palmer also had a friend in the pharmaceutical industry who suggested the young pitcher take the anti-inflammatory drug Indocin. Palmer did. He started throwing 95 mph and he pitched 18 more seasons. There have always been outsiders offering a hybrid of medicinal/training options for athletes.

This isn't going away. Players have grown in power. That's why a player of Brady's caliber could have his sports guru business partner planted in the Patriots' building. What organizations across sports have to figure out is how to maintain trust with the players and balance the relationships between the players' personal trainers and the team's in-house training and medical staff.

Beneath the histrionics of the Brady-Belichick-Guerrero fuss is the tension between the Patriots' medical and training staff, which complained about Guerrero a couple years ago. If teams take the hardline, they risk alienating the player. At the same time, teams view themselves as the standard bearer for treatments and training. They question alternative methods, which is healthy and the right thing to do so long as it is an inquiry versus automatic disregard.

The future is now with sports gurus and teams will either succeed or fail at figuring out relationships with them.

Want to gamble on virtual sports? One firm is betting on it

The virtual sports events might not be real, but the bets are backed by actual money.

The company behind internet gambling website PlaySugarHouse.com became the first in the U.S. to let gamblers bet real money online on the outcome of virtual sports events.

Chicago-based Rush Street Interactive recently received approval from New Jersey regulators to let patrons bet online on the outcome of virtual computer-generated sporting "events," including soccer, horse, dog and vehicle racing. Its site and mobile app launched Wednesday, and is only available to people physically in New Jersey.

The approval comes as the U.S. Supreme Court gears up to hear New Jersey's case next month seeking to legalize sports betting in the 46 states where it is not permitted.

Company president Richard Schwartz told The Associated Press the games are a good way to prepare for the possibility that the high court could legalize real-world sports betting.

"It's computer-generated, and not based on any current active live sports event, so it's not legally considered sports betting," he said. "You can acquire a database of people with an interest in sports betting."

The technology already exists in some Nevada casinos and is widely used throughout Europe, but this is the first time it will be available over the internet in the U.S.

Schwartz said virtual sports betting is popular in Europe, and can account for as much as 20 percent of a sports book's revenue.

"We expect the same results in the New Jersey market," he said. "Virtual sports betting is used effectively to fill in time between races and in time periods where there are no real time sporting events."

He said virtual sports betting is a good way to attract a younger demographic who like sports as well as computer games.

Inspired Entertainment, a technology company that offers virtual sports, created the product, which relies on random number generation technology to select a winner in each game.

It is the same technology behind slot machines, and was tested by New Jersey gambling regulators before they approved it, said Robert Moncrief, deputy chief of the Technical Services Bureau at the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

Soccer is the first virtual team game to be offered, but others are expected to follow shortly, Schwartz said.

Rush Street plans to keep the games in place even if real-world sports betting is approved in the U.S.

Mauricio Pochettino says the Premier League and Champions League are Tottenham's priority

Mauricio Pochettino insists winning the FA Cup or Carabao Cup would not be enough for Tottenham this season.

Spurs have made an impressive start to the domestic campaign, having lost just once in the league, while Pochettino's side sit top of their Group H in Europe - above defending champions Real Madrid.

However, the Argentine is yet to win a single piece of silverware at Spurs, whose last major honour came back in 2008 following a League Cup final win over London rivals Chelsea.

Tottenham host West Ham in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, live on Sky Sports Football, but Pochettino admits he could rest a number of key players at Wembley.

"Our objective is to win the Premier League, to win the Champions League," he said.

"And then there is the FA Cup, of course, I would like to win and I would like to win the Carabao Cup, but if you want to be a big team and fight for big things, I think it is impossible if you don't use all the squad and rotate in England."

Pochettino added: "The manager always wants to win. To win the Carabao Cup? Yes, of course, but it would not change the life of Tottenham.

"The FA Cup? Fantastic, I would love to win all the competitions in the world but it really changes your life if you win the Premier League or the Champions League. That is the truth."

Danny Rose could make his first start for Tottenham in almost nine months against the Hammers, after a making a late substitute appearance in the 1-1 draw with Real Madrid last week.

When asked at his pre-match press conference if Rose could start on Wednesday, Pochettino said: "Yes, we need to wait until tomorrow. But in my head maybe there is a possibility for him to start the game tomorrow, yes."

Amazon's Big NFL Play Could Kick Off a Shake-Up in TV Sports Rights

 

TV network execs likely aren't losing sleep over any serious ratings drop because of Amazon's blitz into pro football: This week, the e-commerce kingpin kicks off its live-streaming of 11 NFL “Thursday Night Football” games to customers across the globe.

Amazon's first “Thursday Night Football” live-stream will be Sept. 28, in a classic face-off between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. The run concludes with a Christmas Day meeting between Pittsburgh and Houston.

The games will be available to Prime Video members in more than 200 countries and territories (excluding China, where Amazon hasn't launched video) — a global reach that Amazon execs say was critical for the NFL. “There aren't many companies that can deliver a worldwide live event like this,” says Jim DeLorenzo, head of sports for Amazon Video.

But the Amazonian gridiron foray could mark just the earliest days of deep-pocketed technology giants pursuing the TV rights to league deals that for years have served as the glue that holds together the TV bundle. “Imagine the scenario when Amazon is joined by Google, Facebook and Apple at the table in direct opposition to the networks that have historically battled for the prize,” says Mike Bloxham, senior VP at research firm Magid.

That's already starting to happen. Facebook earlier this month entered a losing bid of $600 million for five-year rights to Indian Premier League cricket matches (Star India paid $2.6 billion for broadcast and streaming rights). Both Amazon and Facebook have been rumored to be interested in English Premiere League soccer rights, while Twitter (which lost the NFL “Thursday Night Football” digital package to Amazon) has begun streaming weekly MLB games and a bouquet of second-tier live sports.

However, compared with its tech brethren, Amazon stands apart.

That's because its key objective with the NFL deal — along with the rest of the Prime Video service, for which it's spending an estimated $4.5 billion this year on content — is to drive new subscribers to the Amazon Prime membership program. It was widely reported that Amazon is paying $50 million for the “TNF” rights, which would be five times what Twitter paid last year. Sources familiar with the pact say the outlay is actually much lower; in any case, it's little more than a rounding error for Amazon, which generated $136 billion in sales in 2016.

Even at the high end, consider that 500,000 new Prime subscribers, paying $99 annually, would offset the reported $50 million price tag for NFL rights. And that doesn't even include sales of advertising for the games or purchases by Prime members, who spend more on products and services than non-Prime users.

“They can monetize [the NFL rights] through additional transactions,” says Wall Street analyst Michael Nathanson. “That's unlike anything that Facebook or YouTube could do.”

And while the game is being played, Amazon could one day use its massive shopping engine to sell fans team merchandise, tickets and media — or even game-day snacks from Whole Foods (now part of the Amazon empire), says Craig Howe, CEO of sports digital-media consulting firm Rebel Ventures. “Amazon can capture a more meaningful relationship with sports organizations with their proven ability to transact commerce,” he says.

With the NFL deal, Amazon is able to take advantage of its existing video-delivery infrastructure, including apps for connected TVs, game consoles and set-top boxes including Amazon Fire TV. It's also using the mammoth AWS worldwide cloud-based services to live-stream “Thursday Night Football.”

And it only makes sense that, in its football pitch to advertisers, Big Data is part of the Amazon playbook. The company has access to a portion of the ad inventory in the broadcasts of the game provided by “TNF” TV rights holders CBS and NBC. For the advertisers in the Amazon stream — which in the U.S. include Showtime, Pepsi, Under Armour and Gillette — the e-tailer will report the actual purchase data of Prime users who saw their ads and then bought the sponsor's goods or services.

That, the company says, represents the first time anyone's brought together e-commerce metrics and TV. Amazon also is planning to slot in its own ads during the games.

DeLorenzo calls the NFL the “gold standard” of sports, and Amazon's belief is that it will attract a healthy number of viewers: “Sports fans are super passionate … and we have so many people already engaged with Amazon Video.” Amazon doesn't disclose how many Prime members it has, but estimates put the number at 54 million in the U.S. alone.

One of the data points that persuaded Amazon to do the “TNF” deal, according to DeLorenzo, was customer demand for “All or Nothing,” an original docuseries from NFL Films that followed the Arizona Cardinals over an entire season. Season 2 tracked the L.A. Rams, in their first year back in the City of Angels, and Amazon has greenlit another installment about the University of Michigan football team.

Amazon has some other tricks up its sleeve to spur Prime users to stream the NFL games. It's added an Alexa voice-recognition skill to let Fire TV and Echo users just say, “Alexa, watch ‘Thursday Night Football'” to launch the live stream. Along with the CBS and NBC play-by-play audio, Amazon will offer three other audio feeds: one with U.K. announcers for those not familiar with American football, as well as commentary in Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. And this fall, it plans to ship out 10 million boxes in the U.S. for Prime orders with a football-shaped design to drive “TNF” tune-in.

Meanwhile, more sports is streaming its way onto Prime Video. Last week, Amazon announced a pact with the Assn. of Tennis Professionals, under which it nabbed worldwide distribution of the Next Gen ATP Finals men's youth tennis tournament, starting with the inaugural event in Italy in November. The deal runs through the end of 2018.

What are Amazon's plans for other sports? DeLorenzo is cagey, saying the company will analyze the results of “TNF” before deciding to pull the trigger on football next year or engage in future bids. “We're always looking to see what our customers find compelling,” he says.

Today, sports leagues still put top value on broadcast television for maximum reach, Nathanson notes. But going forward, “I think you'll see Amazon at the bidding table,” he says. By grabbing NFL rights, Amazon is showing that it's willing to “move up [in] the stack of premium entertainment and go to sports rights.”

What should worry the likes of ESPN-ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox and Turner is that the Seattle colossus may be willing to write much bigger checks — if the data shows live sports moves the Prime shopping needle.

Missy Dress – Handmade & Beauty Couture Wedding Dresses

I'm here to introduce you to a fabulous British designer and her absolutely glorious handmade couture bridal gowns. Without further ado, let's say hello to Missy Dress.

Created by designer Missy Dress is a name you most definitely need to know if you're looking for an elegant couture wedding dress. Missy Dress has been designing and hand-making couture bridalwear for over 25 years and her wedding dresses are shipped all over the New Zealand and Europe. The collections themselves are also available at a select number of stockists so if you fall in love with a Missy Dress Wedding Gown in this feature, rest assured that wherever you are, your dream dress will be able to get to you!

My styling is based on timeless elegance with an emphasis on inner structure. I only work with quality fabrics and accessories because a high standard of workmanship is a key part of my work. I produce one off designs that are a million miles away from the dresses that are mass manufactured overseas. You can have your very own made to measure wedding gown, now that is special.

Everything is done in house and this gives us a wonderful opportunity to offer a unique and bespoke service to our brides. We've had so many women come to us wanting bespoke changes to designs and, where other designers have said no, we can say yes.

We understand how important your dress wedding dress is and that's why we offer two different services, our phone consultation and a one-to-one appointment. The only thing we want is for our brides to love their Missy Dress wedding gown.

The latest collection from Missy Dress will launch at the prestigious White Gallery bridal show in London later this month. In this new collection, you'll find 11 new designs that have a real fashion-forward edge. There are slender silhouettes and glam ball gowns plus plenty of finishing touches that you're just going to adore. Delicate laces, encrusted beaded tulles and soft fabrics.

Dublin's newest sports store in hot water over planning issues

Dublin City Council has issued an enforcement notice against sports retail chain Sports Direct over planning permission and signage issues.

The chain, which is owned by Newcastle United's owner Mike Ashley, opened a store in Dublin in May of this year.

The six-storey shop is located at the former home of Boyers on North Earl Street in the city centre.

However, the council has taken issue with a number of elements of the store's appearance.

Issues highlighted by the council included a new entrance on Cathedral Street, which didn't have planning permission; blue, red and white Sports Direct.com lettering attached to the store's front entrance; and further brand names and logos on the same sign.

Entrance

A number of other brands and advertising panels were also mentioned in a list of 10 issues raised by the council.

"Dublin City Council also requires the reinstatement of the shop front/entrance on ­Cathedral Street to its ­condition prior to its unauthorised ­removal and alteration," the enforcement document said.

However, no specific ­direction was given to Sports Direct in relation to the signage issues raised. The council has also said that the costs of the investigation will have to be paid by the company.

"You are required by Dublin City Council to refund the costs and expenses incurred by the local authority in relation to the investigation, detection and issue of this enforcement notice," the council said.

A deadline of Thursday, ­September, 28 has been given for the company's compliance.

The council warned that if steps were not taken within the deadline or within an extended deadline - which is a maximum of six months - then further action would be taken.

Enforcement

This could result in the council entering the lands and removing, demolishing or altering the structure.

Sports Direct did not reply to a request for comment.

Dublin City Council was also unavailable for comment on the matter.

Fifa looking into Russia football doping claims from McLaren report

 Fifa says "it is still investigating allegations" that footballers were involved in a state-sponsored doping programme in Russia.

At least 30 sports, including football, covered up samples involving more than 1,000 athletes between 2011 and 2015, according to the McLaren report.

The Mail on Sunday has said Fifa was investigating if Russia's 2014 World Cup squad were part of the programme.

However Fifa says no players from the competition returned a positive test.

"Fifa has simply confirmed that, in close collaboration with Wada [World Anti-Doping Agency], it is still investigating the allegations involving football players in the so-called McLaren report," said a spokesman from world football's governing body.

"However, Fifa did not refer to any particular players, since it cannot comment on the status of ongoing investigations."

Wada added that they "eagerly awaits the outcomes" and that they have "the right to appeal against any decision" where a governing body chooses not to raise an anti-doping rules violation.

The second of two McLaren reports, led by Canadian law professor and sports lawyer Dr Richard McLaren, was published in December 2016.

It alleged that Russian authorities assisted athletes taking banned drugs by swapping their positive samples for clean ones.

But Fifa said that samples taken from players at the 2014 World Cup, including the full Russian squad, were sent to a Wada-accredited laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland.

It added that the same procedure is being applied for this year's Confederations Cup, which is being held in Russia as a dress rehearsal for the 2018 World Cup.

"As far as the Fifa Confederations Cup is concerned, every participating player has been tested through blood and urine in unannounced controls," added Fifa.

"Both the results of the unannounced and the post-match tests have been negative so far."

Russia went out at the group stage of the 2014 World Cup after two draws and a defeat.

Professor McLaren confirmed that 33 football players, including some foreigners, were listed in his report, although no other details were revealed with information passed on to federations and regulatory bodies.

"There have never been and will never be any problems with doping in our football - our team are permanently being tested, they undergo doping tests after every match," Russia's deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko told TASS news agency.

The McLaren reports looked into allegations made by Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, a director of the anti-doping laboratory at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.

The first McLaren report said positive drug tests were secreted through "mouse holes" and swapped for clean negative ones.

Wada recommended all Russian competitors be banned from Rio 2016, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) left it up to individual sports' governing bodies to decide.

Only the International Association of Athletics Federations enforced a blanket ban, which is still in force for this summer's World Athletics Championships in London.

Brandon Jacobs: Jim Harbaugh knows nothing about football

 

Brandon Jacobs won't be sending Jim Harbaugh a Christmas card any time soon.

The former Giants running back played just one season for Harbaugh with the San Francisco 49ers in 2012, but the lone season didn't leave Jacobs with a lasting impression.

"Jim, I had a lot of respect for Jim when I was there — before I got to know him," Jacobs said on CBS Sports Radio. "I enjoyed my time there, but we didn't see eye-to-eye. I knew a little bit more about football than what they led on."

Jacobs and Harbaugh probably never met eye-to-eye because Jacobs practically did nothing to contribute during his lone season in San Francisco. After missing the first two months of the season with a knee injury, Jacobs played sparingly where had just five carries for seven yards in two games for the 49ers. He was then suspended for bashing the team on Instagram and released before the postseason.

The 49ers went 11-4-1 and lost in the Super Bowl XLVII to the Baltimore Ravens, 34-31. But despite the team's immensely successful season, Jacobs said that Harbaugh had no clue what he was really doing.

"Going somewhere where they don't have route conversions into certain coverages was just absurd," said Jacobs, who won two Super Bowls with the Giants. "They're just running routes in the defense, getting people killed. Size and strength is what they had, and that's why they won. Let's be real. They had great assistant coaches, but Jim didn't know what he was doing. Jim had no idea. Jim is throwing slants into Cover-2 safeties, getting people hurt. That guy knew nothing, man."

Harbaugh has been successful everywhere he's stopped in his coaching career. His first head coaching position was with the University of San Diego, where he led the Toreros to back-to-back eleven win seasons in 2005-2006. Harbaugh then had a revelatory three-year stint at Stanford University where he made a program not known for its football team into a Pac-12 title contender.

After his stop with the 49ers, which included two NFC Championship game trips and that Super Bowl run, Harbaugh returned to the college ranks to coach his alma mater Michigan. The Wolverines are 20-6 in his first two seasons.

Saracens’ Billy Vunipola: ‘You build relationships by being vulnerable’

Perhaps it should not be surprising it takes someone of Billy Vunipola’s size to tackle the elephant in the room. “Everyone says: ‘I’m not thinking about the Lions’ – they’re all lying,” he says. “It’s all the media training, everyone is scared of saying: ‘I’m scared of not going.’”

Vunipola is in candid mood. Here is an England international admitting defeat in Dublin may be a good thing, a member of the all-conquering Saracens side shining a light on their secrets of success and a would-be Lion revealing he is kept awake at night for fear of being overlooked by Warren Gatland.

This kind of honesty can disarm. Vunipola’s vulnerability does not fit with his hulking frame, nor his ascendancy over the past 18 months to one of the world’s very best No8s. When he is in full flow like this, it pays to listen – though as far as the call from Gatland is concerned, he should be sleeping easy. “I’ve had dreams about it. I imagine things like, what would it be like not to be picked, or to be picked, and it’s scary,” says Vunipola. “It helps motivate me to become extra cautious when I’m preparing and in how I train. If I’m as good as I can be then whatever happens after that I can be happy in myself.”

Four years ago, Vunipola was only 20 and yet to make an appearance for England when Gatland announced his squad. While his brother Mako and cousin Taulupe Faletau were preparing to face Australia, Billy won his first two caps off the bench in Argentina, before flying out to watch the Lions clinch the series victory in Sydney. “It’s a dream I’ve been chasing ever since my England debut. I was envious of my cousin and Mako going in 2013,” says Vunipola.

“But I was never in a position to go, so I couldn’t get upset. Now I can try my best and see where I end up. It’s like being the little kid that misses out, or on a night out. You don’t want to be the one missing out. Even if you get a fight with your missus, you still want to be on a night out with the boys.”

Injury is the only thing that will result in Vunipola missing out this summer. Coming off the bench against Scotland, then starting against Ireland, he was not quite at the peak of his powers after returning from a knee injury, but any lingering rust has gone after bulldozing performances in resounding Saracens victories over Bath and Glasgow. “It’ll make next year more interesting,” he says of the Six Nations, “because what if we did win the double [grand slam]? I’m sure Eddie would never let us be complacent but it’s hard to always be the team that is leading from the front. It’s like if you’re running a race, if you’re leading from the front you don’t always know who is behind you.”

It is put to Vunipola that Saracens – defending champions in both the Premiership and Europe – have been leading from the front for a while. They are the only English team left in the Champions Cup and, boosted by the return of their internationals, are building up some steam as the domestic season reaches a climax, starting with Harlequins at Wembley on Saturday.

“The culture here is so strong, that’s what we fall back on … I’ve seen some of the boys at their worst,” he says. “It’s good to see people vulnerable, you build relationships by being vulnerable. When we do lose games, we don’t just take the on-field learning, we take the off-field learning – how we could talk to each other better, how we can deal with situations better and that just comes from our interaction.”

While Eddie Jones would disagree, there is a school of thought that believes Vunipola – and indeed Gatland – will benefit from his layoff after knee surgery in November. “I’m excited about playing rugby but I was excited before [the injury] anyway,” says Vunipola. “It’s no different, it’s the same mentality – do everything you did before but better.”

Vunipola’s commitment to improvement is commendable and a frightening prospect considering he is yet to reach his peak – but it was not always the case. Defeat for Saracens in both the European and Premiership finals in 2014 proved the turning point who until that point had, in his words, “always landed on my feet”.

“It was [about] how interested was I in getting better and becoming a better rugby player rather than just a rugby player who has a good life,” he says. “That was the difference. I used to enjoy the life of coming in, training, going home, doing nothing.

“I used to think: ‘Why aren’t I as good as these other guys?’ I always wanted the big moments, but didn’t want to put in the little ones, like extra fitness. I’d get to the middle of the season and think: ‘I’m nearly at the end of the season so I can relax.’”

While Vunipola pinpoints those losses three years ago, it was not until Jones’s arrival that he reached his current level with England. Indeed, Jones’s investment in Vunipola – he is one of England’s three vice-captains and the two have evidently hit it off – has been among the Australian’s shrewdest moves. “It’s all kind of coincided, but you don’t have a team going from zero to 100 in a year,” he says. “The World Cup, we had to go through that, being ridiculed, being told we were mugs. Then we win a grand slam and all of a sudden the Six Nations is weak. Then we don’t win it and suddenly the Six Nations is strong – it’s perspective.”

Adam Peaty eyes Olympic repeat and chance to create British swimming history

Adam Peaty says the chance to become the first British swimmer to defend an Olympic title is driving him towards Tokyo 2020.

The reigning Commonwealth and European champion destroyed the field by more than a second and a half in winning 100m breaststroke gold at Rio 2016.

But the world record holder's drive to succeed is showing no signs of abating.

"I think I can defend my titles, but defending my Olympic title is my main motivation," Peaty, 22, told BBC Sport.

"Before Rio it was no British man had won Olympic gold in 28 years. Now it is no British person in swimming has ever defended an Olympic title. It is definitely achievable, so why not?"

The next event on Peaty's horizon is the British Swimming Championship at Ponds Forge in April - yet another chance to retain a title already in his grasp.

But the six-day event is not his priority, with the four-year Olympic cycle already well under way.

Peaty's extraordinary swim in Brazil brought a first male British swimming gold since Adrian Moorhouse managed the feat in the 100m breaststroke at Seoul 1988.

Peaty is happy with his training and progress and is convinced he has the ability to go even faster on his way to making history in Japan. He is intent on breaking the time of 57.13 seconds he set in August last year.

The Uttoxeter-born star added: "At Rio, 57.1 was very, very fast, but I went 56.5 in the relay so I am guessing that there is a little more in there.

"Getting 56 would be outrageous because it would be two seconds and a bit above everyone else in the world, which is unheard of in swimming."

Running advice from a professional: Olympic champion Desiree Henry

As we approach spring, more and more of us are preparing to put on our running trainers and take to the road in the name of charity.

The Bath Half Marathon is just weeks away (12 March). The dreaded London Marathon is only round the corner (23 April). The Great Manchester Run is getting ever closer (28 May).

And you’re planning to take part in any event for the first time, it can be difficult to know where to even start.

The amount of advice and inspiration on platforms like Strava and Instagram can be overwhelming. Even if you started your training weeks ago, it’s easy to plateau or not know how to progress beyond a certain point.

So to help clear a few things up, over the next few weeks we’ll be putting a series of questions on training schedules, diet plans and motivation tips to different athletes, veteran runners and experts.

This week, we caught up with Desiree Henry – the 21-year-old Adidas athlete and sprinter who won an Olympic bronze during the 4×100-metre relay in Rio last year.

How and why did you get into running?

My older sister was really into athletics, and I used to watch her train and compete – she was incredible, and it really inspired me.

It then got to a stage where I really wanted to have a go myself, so with help from my sister and school, I started training and it all went from there! I started when I was 11 and had been scouted by age 15.

What’s a typical day of training like for you now?

My days start around 11am with a track session which involves sprint and resistance runs for an hour or an hour and a half.

Then I have a short lunch break before I’m in the gym working on explosive techniques getting my glutes strong, strengthening my core and working on my upper body to make sure it matches. I do this seven days a week – I don’t have rest days!

And when you’re achy and tired, how do you motivate yourself to head back onto the track the next day?

I like the way my training makes me look and feel. Knowing what my body can do and maintaining an athletic physique motivates me not to miss a session!

What do you eat the night before and on the morning of a race?

The night before a race I eat foods heavy in protein, so a 250g steak and an omelette with tomatoes, spinach and cheese, finished off with a cup of tea.

On race day I’ll probably have a small bowl of porridge, a whole banana and a cup of tea and that will last me until the competition.

Bearing in mind the London Marathon is just eight weeks away, would you ever be tempted to do one?

I’m a sprinter, so I’m used to running for seconds not minutes but I think at the end of my career I will probably do a marathon for charity. For now, I think I will stick to running for seconds!

Do you have any tips for people who want to start?

My main tip for people looking to get into running is to ensure your feet are comfortable and you purchase the right pair of shoes.

As a runner, I’m on my feet all day, whether it’s in the gym or on the running track, so having the right support from your shoes is the most important thing for me.

I love the new Adidas UltraBOOST X because they’ve been specifically designed for a woman’s foot and because they’re adaptive, they feel like they’ve been tailored to me.

They help get through a session feeling comfortable and strong.

As a London-based athlete, do you have preferred areas to run around?

I have the Lee Valley Athletic Centre close to my home where I train regularly.

I’m also part of the Adidas Runners group, which runs a number of free, London runs during the week, including a women-only run from the new Adidas Studio LDN twice a week.

New Zealand debates a hiking fee

NEW ZEALAND’S chief conservation officer, Lou Sanson, caused a stir in October by suggesting that it might be time to start charging tourists for using the country’s wilderness trails. New Zealanders are keen fans of their national parks. Many would be outraged at having to pay. But many also worry about a huge influx of foreigners who have been seeking the same delights.

In 2016 New Zealand hosted 3.5m tourists from overseas; by 2022 more than 4.5m are expected every year—about the same as the country’s resident population. Tourism has overtaken dairy produce as the biggest export, helped by a surge in the number of visitors from China. The national parks, which make up about one-third of the territory, are a huge draw. About half of the foreign tourists visit one. They are keen to experience the natural beauty promised by the country’s “100% Pure New Zealand” advertising campaign (and shown off in the film adaptations of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”, which were shot in New Zealand’s breathtaking wilderness).

But for every happy Chinese couple snuggling up for a selfie next to a tuatara there is a grumpy New Zealander who remembers the way things used to be—when you could walk the tracks without running into crowds at every clearing. Many locals now wonder why their taxes, as they see it, are paying for someone else’s holiday. Mr Sanson would seem to agree. Entry fees could be used to upgrade facilities such as cabins, car parks and trails. A varying levy could also help reduce numbers at some of the popular locations by making it cheaper to use lesser-known, but no less beautiful, trails farther afield.

Some are not so sure it would work. Hugh Logan, a former chief of conservation for the government who now runs a mountaineering club, worries it would cost too much to employ staff to take money from hikers at entrances. It would also be difficult to prevent tourists from sneaking around the toll booths.

Some argue that it would be easier to charge visitors a “conservation tax” when they enter the country. The Green Party, the third-largest in parliament, says that adding around NZ$18 ($12.50) to existing border taxes would still make the total amount levied less than visitors to arch-rival Australia have to pay. But some travel companies oppose the idea. They note that tourists already contribute around NZ$1.1bn through the country’s 15% sales tax. Better, such firms say, to use foreign tourists’ contribution to this tax for the maintenance of the parks.

Among the fiercest critics of a charge are those who point out that unfettered access to wilderness areas is an important principle for New Zealanders. It is enshrined in a National Parks Act which inspires almost constitution-like devotion among the country’s nature-lovers. Mr Sanson has a rocky path ahead.