Performance People

If any sport knows how to navigate the negative effects of international travel it’s Formula 1, whose teams are frequently flying their staff across time zones and need them to be firing on all cylinders as soon as they arrive. With over 25 years of experience working with elite athletes from Olympians to Formula 1 drivers, performance coach Pete McKnight reveals what we can learn from their appro...

Sporting history may be full of great comeback stories, but the 2013 America’s Cup will forever take some beating. Oracle Team USA were 8-1 down against a dominant Emirates Team New Zealand team who needed only one more win to lift the Auld Mug and put the Americans out of their misery. In a last-gasp move to change things up, Ben Ainslie was brought in by CEO Russell Coutts to join skipper Jimmy...

In this episode, sleep evangelist and scientist Dr Sophie Bostock shares her mission to help people unlock the life-changing benefits of better sleep. Founder of TheSleepScientist.com, Sophie works with high performers in sport, business and leadership to improve recovery, reduce burnout, and enhance productivity by optimising their sleep routines. This conversation centres around her research-bac...

Alfie Hewett joins the podcast a year after the defining moment of his career: winning his first Wimbledon singles title in 2024. After years of coming heartbreakingly close—including back-to-back final losses in 2022 and 2023—Alfie reveals how that elusive victory became an obsession. He explains the intense personal and professional journey to overcome self-doubt, external expectations, and the...

In this episode, Georgie welcomes James Vowles, Team Principal of Williams Racing and a seasoned Formula One strategist with decades of experience at the highest level of motorsport. From his early days on the pit wall to leading one of the most iconic teams in F1 history, James shares the pivotal moments that shaped his career and leadership style. James reflects the moments that shaped his early...

In this exclusive episode recorded in the clubhouse at Wimbledon, Georgie sits down with Debbie Jevans, the first female chair of the All England Club, to explore what it really takes to deliver one of the world’s most iconic sporting events. Debbie reveals how far in advance the team plans for the Championships and the importance of testing every element before day one. From 50,000 flowers to rai...

Ed Chamberlin is the face of horse racing on ITV, the man who shepherded Gary Neville into TV and also a cancer survivor. On this week's podcast, Georgie catches up with her old Sky Sports News co-presenter, Ed, to talk about: * Why his first attempts at presenting all tanked * The death threats he faced at Sky Sports * Gary Neville's relentless work ethic and how it changed his own approach * How...

British tennis star Katie Boulter is heading into Wimbledon with serious momentum — a chance for a 'three-peat' win in Nottingham and a showdown with Emma Raducanu for top Brit billing. In this week’s episode, Katie lets Georgie in on the behind-the-scenes realities of preparing for the biggest tournament of the year, what she’s learned from her power-couple fiancé, Alex de Minaur, and how the tra...

Jamie Chadwick is one of motor racing’s most decorated female drivers, having won races and titles everywhere she’s gone. Jamie discusses her incredible experiences over the last decade, the pros and cons of being a woman in modern-day motorsport, what she’s learned from her recent time in Indy NXT, when she thinks a female driver will break into Formula One, how she’s preparing for the legendary...

Hayley McQueen is a sports broadcaster, a leading anchor on Sky Sports News, and the co-host of the Not Just Football podcast with Kelly Cates and Christine Lampard. She is also the daughter of the Manchester United and Scotland defender, Gordon McQueen, who died in 2023 from vascular dementia and pneumonia. Hayley explains her family’s battle to discover if Gordon’s death was linked to his profes...

Setbacks are an inevitable part of life, so what tools are most effective in getting us back on our feet and, perhaps, even stronger than we were before? Annalie Howling is a performance coach who works with leaders in business, elite sport and the Armed Forces, and who has personal experience in recovering from life’s challenges. She explains how a back to basics approach can help, the role of ra...

Georgie welcomes her former Sky Sports screen husband, and now Soccer Saturday host, Simon Thomas, into the Performance People studio. Simon opens up about his journey through sports broadcasting, revealing the truth behind his big break on Blue Peter, explaining the personal challenges of overcoming anxiety and the pressures of live television, how the sudden death of his wife, Gemma, left him ut...

Northampton Saints, England and now Lions-elect fly-half, Fin Smith, is one of rugby’s hottest emerging stars. In this wide-ranging chat about his career and ethos, he explains why his biggest low at Worcester taught him to take nothing for granted, why winning gives you extra drive, why the Six Nations surprised him, how he’s learning about leadership and what it’s like having a certain Jonny Wil...

What are the daily and weekly habits that build a life of high performance? Top performance coach to elite sport, military and business professionals, Chris Tombs, breaks down the habits, routines and mindset shifts that drive high performance in any field. From optimising sleep to integrating movement, Chris shares the daily principles that anyone can use to raise their game. Discover why consist...

Georgie reunites with her old Sky Sports News co-anchor David Jones, who now hosts Sky Sports' flagship football coverage on Super Sunday and Monday Night Football alongside pundits including Gary Neville, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher and Jamie Redknapp. David discusses his big break at Sky, the pressure and buzz of live TV, why he prefers asking questions to answering them and how presenting live f...

What can we learn from how athletes approach sleep to improve how we feel and perform every day? Dr Peter Tierney is a performance coach and sports scientist who has worked with Leinster rugby, Chelsea FC, Lulu Lemon and The FA.  Working with elite athletes, he has seen the power of optimising sleep to maximise performance. In this episode, he describes his SLEEP checklist for improving your...

Rugby world cup winner Mike Tindall takes us inside that famous 2003 final, when England beat Australia with a Jonny Wilkinson drop-goal in extra time. Mike looks back at what made that team so special; the characters, camaraderie and leadership that made the difference and how he’s never been in an environment like it since. Now a podcast host himself on ‘The Good, The Bad and The Rugby’, he also...

One of Britain’s most successful downhill skiers, Chemmy Alcott, shares her journey to four Winter Olympics and five top-10 World Cup finishes, including becoming the first Brit to win a World Cup downhill run in 2008 in Solden. In this episode of Performance People, she takes us inside the mental battles and brutal injuries that make up the life of a downhill racer, where euphoric success and cru...

Russell Foster is Professor of Circadian Neuroscience at Oxford University, an ainslie + ainslie advisor, and a world-leading expert on the emerging science behind our bodyclock and the fundamental role it plays in everything we do. He explains how our circadian rhythm works, the role of light and how to change our relationship with sleep for the better. Taking action to get back into our natural...

Dr Tommy Wood is a neuroscientist, a performance coach and – his words – an elite professional nerd. He’s also Hintsa’s head scientist for motorsport. Formula 1 drivers operate at the peak of physical and cognitive performance. Tommy describes the key lessons we can take from how F1 drivers train to push our own limits, and why it could hold the secret to holding off cognitive decline as we get ol...

Broadcaster Natalie Pinkham has been on the Formula 1 rollercoaster for over 13 years as a presenter and reporter. She reflects on her experiences on the road, friendships made and the lessons she has taken from an innovation sport into life outside. She also reflects on her experiences working in a Romanian orphanage, her sleep issues and her take on what promises to be a box office season ahead....

In the first episode in our relaunched ainslie + ainslie Performance People podcast, trailblazing sports presenter and new Match Of The Day host, Gabby Logan, reflects on her life’s defining moment, the death of her younger brother Daniel, a hugely talented footballer who collapsed in the garden whilst playing football with his Dad and younger brother aged just 15. Gabby talks about the impact on...

In our first ever live episode, Ben Ainslie and Hannah Mills joined Georgie for a Performance People special in collaboration with Ned Talks, recorded in The Parlour room at The Ned in central London. The panel looked back at the America's Cup in Barcelona last year, ahead to this year's Sail GP season and revealed a few of the performance secrets that have racked up six Olympic gold medals betwee...

As we head towards our 100th episode, we've been revisiting some of our favourite performance insights from previous guests. This week, sleep and recovery specialist Anna West goes through some of the small changes we can make to optimise our sleep - from how to use our circadian rhythms, how to nap for better performance and why the factors affecting the quality of our night's sleep can start as...

As we head towards our 100th episode, we've been revisiting some of our favourite performance insights from previous guests. This week, trainer Matt Roberts is on a mission to help us take ownership of our health and fitness as we get older. Whatever age you are now, his advice can help you increase your ‘healthspan’ - the period in which we are physically active and healthy. We cover the role of...