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Are Olympians Born or Built? The Edinburgh Science Festival Are Looking To Solve the Question…

Paralympian Dr Dan Gordon among panelists for lecture in Scottish capital

What does it take to make an Olympic champion? It’s a question that hundreds of the world’s greatest athletes will be hoping they have the answer to in the run up to the Games in Rio de Janeiro this summer.

Most would assume that only hard work and dedication, built on a foundation of raw talent of course, could get you on top of that podium with gold slung round your neck, but just how important is that natural instinct?

It’s a question that the Edinburgh International Science Festival are asking tonight, in an event chaired by Paralympian Dr Dan Gordon and featuring a panel of experts made up of Scottish Marathon Champion Megan Crawford, geneticist Yannis Pitsiladis and sports psychologist Edward Coughlan.

Dr Dan Gordon was on the national British Cycling squad from 2003 to 2005. At the time, he was also the European Champion for 1km Time Trial and Match Sprint and broke the world records for the 1km time trial both outdoor and indoor.

Dan has now retired from competition but works on in sport as Principal Lecturer of Exercise Physiology at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, working to provide support services for a number of elite young athletes.

Tickets are still available for the talk, and can be purchased from the ‘Olympians: Born or Built’ event page on the Science Festival website, here.

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