PhD research helping elite sprinters chase gold ahead of Brisbane 2032

Published: 12 June 2026

With the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games on the horizon, two Southern Cross University graduate researchers are working trackside with Australia’s top sprinters to turn marginal gains into medal-winning moments.

The students, James Aggett and Georgia Collins, have been awarded PhD scholarships co-funded by Southern Cross University, Australian Athletics, the Queensland Academy of Sport, and the NSW Institute of Sport, embedding them within high-performance environments to support the nation’s sprint program.

For James, his research will focus on what happens before the gun – optimising warm-up strategies and methods of passive heat maintenance.

“The time margins of winning in a 100 and 200-metre sprint are hundredths or even thousandths of a second,” said James.

“So, if we can accumulate these marginal gains across competition day by preparing the athletes as best we can physiologically, then we’re giving ourselves a better chance of winning,” he said.

“The time margins of winning in a 100 and 200-metre sprint are hundredths or even thousandths of a second,” said James.

“For athletes, coaches, and practitioners operating at this level, the quality of preparation in the hours before competition may be as consequential as the training that precedes it.”

Georgia’s research will focus on enhancing the understanding of training and event demands.

“This is a really good opportunity to lead the field somewhere new,” Georgia said.

“To make a difference for these athletes who dedicate their lives to what they do would be really fulfilling for me.”

Industry partnership drives research

The unique research opportunity is a collaboration between Southern Cross University’s Physical Activity, Sport and Exercise Research Theme (PASER), Australian Athletics, the Queensland Academy of Sport, and the NSW Institute of Sport.

James and Georgia will conduct their research with elite athletes at their training camps in Queensland and New South Wales respectively.

The research is being supervised by Southern Cross University academics Associate Professor Chris Stevens and Associate Professor Jodie Cochrane Wilkie.

Associate Professor Stevens said the partnership reflects a shared commitment to applied, impact-driven research.

“Doing research on elite athletes is notoriously difficult and therefore rare, however, this has been made possible through our commitment to involve coaches and athletes in the research from the outset, and working with industry to identify priority research areas,” he said.

“The overall goal is to support the coaches and athletes to make actionable decisions to get them to the start line healthy, and in an optimal state to perform their best for Australia.”

Australian men’s national relay team head coach and Australian Athletics Director of Performance Sustainability, Craig Pickering, has been appointed as the industry supervisor for both research projects.

“The purpose of these PhD projects is to improve in some areas which we’ve noticed are holding us back from taking the next step towards becoming medal winners across all relays. As a result, they’re really important to us. Although it’s early in both projects, so far, the athletes and coaches have engaged very well, and we have already made some great progress,” Mr Pickering said.