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Learn to ‘sell yourself’ at every opportunity

ONE of the most entertaining characters on television at the moment is an explorer called Bear Grylls. After breaking his back in a parachute accident, he went on to become the youngest man to climb Everest and has since presented survival documentaries and appeared on chat shows with Oprah Winfrey and Jonathan Ross.

When it comes to action man-style feats of endurance, Grylls is clearly very talented. But his trademark party piece on every TV programme is to eat something revolting. The latest episode, on the Discovery channel, saw him in Kenya and holding fresh elephant dung above his head before squeezing the ‘liquid’ out so
it dribbled down into his mouth to prevent him dying from thirst.

It was disgusting – and probably completely unnecessary too – but in doing this, Grylls’ demonstrated another fine talent – his ability to generate publicity for himself.

Today’s crop of British athletes should learn a trick or two from this. The lesson is clear, in modern life it is not enough to excel in sport (in Grylls’ case by climbing mountains). If you want to make a name for yourself, the performance does not end when you cross the finish line.

Earlier this month I was travelling back from an event when the televised grand prix meeting in Glasgow was taking place, but fortunately heard most of the action on BBC Radio Five Live. Many of the athletics performances were encouraging, but some of the interviews were shocking.

Precious few opportunities exist during the course of a year for athletes to sell themselves to a national audience on radio or television, but this fact seemed to be lost on many of the competitors.

One athlete, clearly disappointed, mumbled half a dozen grumpy words in reply to the question. The interviewer tried a couple more questions then gave up. Another, more successful athlete, made vague references to a recent competition – a comment that would have been lost on 99 per cent of listeners. Apparently the athletes receive media training, although you would not have believed it.

British athletics not only has a short supply of champions, but it is also lacking characters. There are some notable exceptions. The magnificent Dean Macey stands out. There are a number of cool customers too, such as this week’s AW coverstar, Phillips Idowu. Few can match Jimmy Watkins for entertainment value. Many of the younger athletes are also impressively articulate and interesting – such as Jessica Ennis, Martyn Rooney and Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, to name just three.

In a recent interview published in AW, UKA chairman Ed Warner spoke of the sport’s need to “develop its personalities” in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

Of course the actual athletics performances are all-important,
but working with the media is increasingly vital if the sport is to maintain its precarious foothold in the public’s consciousness.

The European Cup this weekend is a perfect chance for British athletes to start selling themselves. Hopefully the GB team will deliver performances to be proud of – and interviews the public will remember them for. Otherwise, a whole generation of youngsters will start looking toward role models such as Bear Grylls instead.

Jason Henderson, editor

From this week's Athletics Weekly, - available in WH Smith and all good newsagents, or on subscription

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