Professor Ross Tucker is a Sports Scientist and an ambassador and strategic advisor for Virgin Active. He was a Senior Lecturer with UCT's Exercise Science and Sports Medicine research unit (ESSM), and a High Performance consultant to the Sports Science Institute of SA. Ross obtained a PhD on fatigue and the regulation of exercise performance, and completed a Post-Graduate Diploma in Sports Management from the University of Cape Town. His dual qualification background positions him ideally to bridge the gap between data and strategy, science and commerce. He has been a high performance consultant to numerous sports teams, including SA Sevens (including the 2009/2010 World Series winning team), SA Kayaking, SA Triathlon, UK Olympic Sport, USA Olympic Committee and USA Triathlon. He created and runs The Science of Sport website, and has written opinion articles for publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian (UK), Le Monde (France) and The Times (SA). In 2013, he was named by Mail and Guardian in their list of Top 200 Influential Young South Africans, and by the Minister of Sport as one of the 100 Influential people in South African Sport. He currently researches barefoot running mechanics, the physiology of elite Kenyan runners, fatigue in elite athletes with Cerebral Palsy and the biomechanics of elite kayakers. He also has a particular interest in Talent Identification and Management, and the management of elite sports performance. In his personal capacity he enjoys running 10km and half-marathons, as well as mountain-biking, playing tennis and the occasional social game of very bad football.
