MAKING A PERFECT ATHLETE

HUNGRY BEAST:
MAKING A PERFECT ATHLETE
Episode 11, Hungry Beast - Wednesday 1 June 9.30pm ABC1
In the second last episode of Hungry Beast, which explores the theme of Speed, we
look at what it takes to make the perfect athlete.
24 year old Australian cyclist Shane Perkins became the world’s fastest man on two
wheels in March this year, when he won the Keirin sprint at the Cycling World
Championships in the Netherlands.
Hard work and determination got him over the line first, but he didn’t do it on his own.
It takes a whole team to build an athlete who can push enough energy through his
pedals to power 12 flat screen televisions. A veritable pit crew of mechanics services
Shane’s nutrition, preparation and recovery.
All that backup helps the cyclist push himself to, and through, his limits...
“It’s quite a bit of pain. You feel like you need to go to the toilet, number twos, Like
you need to throw up, sometimes you black out, someone tries to talk to you, you
can’t understand. Yeah it’s fairly intense,” says Shane Perkins.
Kirk Docker and Scott Mitchell investigate the science, technology and team-work
that go into making a world champion like Shane Perkins.
Plus other stories on the theme of SPEED and regular Hungry Beast segments: The
Beast File, Vox Pops, Follow The Money and Stuff Said.
Hungry Beast is presented by Monique Schafter, Dan Ilic, Kirsten Drysdale and
Nick Hayden.
Repeats Thursdays, 10.15pm ABC2. Available on ABC iview.
HUNGRY BEAST: The World Remixed.