From SportsDock to sports gold
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Published
06 April 2022
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As part of its London Olympics 2012 ten year anniversary legacy work, the University of East London (UEL) recently revisited the experience of living on its Docklands campus during the iconic Games with a member of the Team USA track coaching staff, Andreas Behm.
Andreas coached the London 2012 110m men's hurdles gold medallist, Aries Merritt and was voted the US Olympic 'Track Coach of the Year' in the same year. An alumnus of the University of Texas in Austin USA where he gained an ME in Sports Management, Andreas started his athletics career as a volunteer assistant coach before coaching Aries Merritt.
Andreas was interviewed by Richard Prescott a member of the UEL communications team, who also worked at the London Olympics as part of the Team GB press attache support staff, working with the boxing, weightlifting and wrestling squads.
During the interview, Andreas talks about his experience of staying on campus, seeing the 'phenomenal' sports facilities at SportsDock and Aqua East, which were used by a number of Team USA athletes and support staff including basketball legends LeBron James and the late Kobe Bryant.
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It was a phenomenal set up and it was also for a multitude of different sports. So it was cool to be able to see different coaches from a variety of different sports in that venue. That the gym is still there and accessible. And I believe that was part of the arrangement for Team USA to come in and use that facility was to equip it and then leave all the equipment post Olympics."
Andreas Behm on SportsDock and UEL's Docklands campus
Andreas also discusses the legacy of the 2012 Olympics, his successful coach-athlete relationship with Aries Merritt, who still holds the world record for the 110m hurdles from a Diamond League meeting in Brussels in September 2012 with a time of 12.80 and offers advice to any aspiring sports coaches and sports science students.
For the last eight years, Andreas has been the sprints and hurdles coach, education director and recruitment director for the sports company ALTIS. ALTIS provides elite training facilities for athletes and provides education to enhance sport performance from its base in Phoenix Arizona.
Andreas has worked with athletes at three Olympic Games and eight World Athletics Championships and recent successes include the Chinese athlete Xie Wenjun winning the Asian Championships and finishing fifth at the World Athletic Championships in the men's 100m hurdles, which were both held in Doha.
ALTIS provides elite training facilities for athletes and provides education to enhance sport performance from its base in Phoenix Arizona.
Further interviews with athletes and support staff with a connection to UEL and the local community from the London Olympics in 2012 will be posted on the UEL website and social media platforms over the next few months.
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