'Breathwork' advocate Adam Burgess hoping to prove cynics wrong at Paris 2024 Olympic Games looking to make Tokyo amends
BySportsbeat
Published 29/12/2023 at 17:29 GMT
Adam Burgess spoke about how functional breathing has proved to be beneficial in his career Paris 2024, where he will have a second chance to win an Olympic medal. Next summer's games offers an opportunity for Burgess to right the wrongs from Tokyo where he finished 0.16 short of the podium. Burgess came through a tough selection battle with close friend Ryan Westley.
TOKYO, JAPAN - JULY 26: Adam Burgess of Team Great Britain reacts following his run in the Men's Canoe Slalom Final on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Kasai Canoe Slalom Centre on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Ima
Image credit: Getty Images
As a practitioner of yoga, 'breathwork' and cold-water therapy, Paris Olympian Adam Burgess is no stranger to cynics.
The 31-year-old will have a second shot at an Olympic medal next summer having been named in Team GB's four-strong canoe slalom squad.
It's fair to say Burgess does things very differently to his team-mates and he first tried breathwork, a conscious form of breathing practice, as rehabilitation for a shoulder injury in 2017.
Met with scepticism in some quarters, Burgess believes the practice has been key to reviving a career which also includes European gold and three World Cup medals.
"When people hear 'breathwork', their mind jumps to lying on the ground or sitting quietly in meditation," he said. "I'm interested in functional breathing.
"There is also a performance element and there are certain things in my warm-up that I don't see any other athlete doing.
"It's the niche that I find myself in with this knowledge. It's complementary to the work we do with strength and conditioning and the physios, but it is a different feel.
"The barrier for most athletes is that their ego gets in the way. It sounds too simple to be true and you might have a physiologist or a coach that tells you one thing and I'm telling you another.
"It can feel like a step back to take two forwards, which is where people struggle - I've gone there and the proof is in the pudding, I think.
"I'm hoping that another Olympic Games will inspire me to raise the profile and teach it in schools."
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LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 15: Paris 2024 Team GB Canoe Slalom Team Announcement group photo featuring left to right: Kimberley Woods, Joe Clarke, Adam Burgess and Mallory Franklin at Lee Valley White Water Centre on November 15, 2023 in London, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
Paris 2024 offers an opportunity for Burgess to right the wrongs from Tokyo, where he finished fourth and missed out on a place on the C1 podium by just 0.16 seconds.
He was edged out of the medal places again at a home World Championships in the summer, finishing fifth at Lee Valley, but is confident he has learned his lessons and can deliver when it matters most.
"I've built on the Tokyo performance, and it has been a couple of seasons since," he said.
"I remember leaving there feeling that I really had a good grip on what it means to deliver on the day and what it means to perform.
"It's such a mythical thing in canoe slalom but my level of consistency is unmatched worldwide."
Burgess came through a tough selection battle with close friend Ryan Westley, who secured Team GB's qualification with his European Games victory but was not chosen to take up the quota place.
Juggling expectations has brought its challenges, but Burgess is ready to take risks in his pursuit of glory.
"I really wanted to leave the selection panel with no doubt, so I was there to perform," said Burgess.
"As his competitor, I was never going to make it easy for him and I'm very happy to secure the spot again.
"It's super conflicting because, as Ryan's friend, I would have loved for him to compete at an Olympic Games.
"He's been one of the outstanding athletes over the past ten years. In 2018, I considered him to be the best in the world.
"We're both fast because we drive each other, it's difficult to be quick unless you've got that competition within your own nation.
"We have so much mutual respect for each other and I'm really proud of the relationship him and I have despite being rivals."
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The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com
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