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Olympic hopefuls should be shielded from the pressures

Former athletes and sports administrators have warned that young prospects are at risk of burnout from the pressure placed on them in the run-up to the London 2012 Games.

Jason Gardener, a member of the 4x100m team who won gold at the Athens Olympics in 2004, warned that the success of athletes like the 15-year-old world champion diver Tom Daley and Paralympic gold medallist swimmer Ellie Simmonds risked placing unrealistic expectations on young shoulders.

"It should not be forgotten that the likes of Tom and Ellie are exceptional talents and the danger is we put other young athletes in that bracket too soon, which could have potentially damaging consequences," said Gardener, a school sport ambassador for the Youth Sport Trust. Click here to read more...

New Career for Olympic Athlete – February 27th 2010

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan/06/jason-gardener-olympics-burn-out

More stories of Jason in the press can be found here: http://www.journalisted.com/