65 delegates expected for 2nd European Race Walking Conference

Organisers of this weekend's 2nd European Race Walking Conference in Leeds, Great Britain, are looking forward to welcoming at least 65 participants from more than 10 countries to a programme that will address twin themes of 'performance' and 'development'.

The conference, the second of 2012's European Athletics Coaching Summit Series, is hosted by UK Athletics and England Athletics with support from the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund and will take place from 2-4 November.

The programme will start with a reflection on the declaration issued after the 1st European Race Walking Conference Declaration in 2010 and be followed by a mix of presentations, interviews and practical workshops.

Among the presenters scheduled to appear are:

• Paulo Murta (POR), Technical Coach for the Athletics Association of the Algarve. He will discuss the progression of two-time top-10 Olympian and Portuguese record holder for the women's 20 km walk Ana Cabecinha, whom he has coached since she was 11 years old.

• Malcolm Brown (GBR), the Olympic Performance Manager for British Triathlon for London 2012 and the coach of Olympic Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee and his bronze medal winning brother Jonny. He will discuss the performance managment challenges of coaching an Olympic Champion.

• Marko Kivimaki (FIN), the 2012 Finnish Olympic Race Walk Coach. He will present ideas and reflections on his work at the IAAF Training Centre in Kuortane.

• Olive Loughnane (IRL) has competed in four Olympic Games and five World Championships in Athletics: winning a silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in the Women's 20 km Walk. She will reflect on the role of coaching in her career.

The workshops planned (and the workshop leaders) include:

• Conditioning for race walking - Martin Rush (GBR) and Dave Rowland (GBR), England Athletics National Coach Mentors

• Sport psychology interventions with junior athletes - Andrew Manley (GBR), Sport Psychologist from the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University

• Technical analysis - Brian Hanley (IRL), Biomechanist from the Carnegie Faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University

• Physiotherapy screening for race walk athletes - Alison Rose (GBR) and Oli Williamson (GBR) from the Coach House Physiotherapy Clinic and Andy Walling (GBR) from Athlete Matters and Salomon Trail Running

For further information on the European Athletics Coaching Summit Series, click here.