Marlon Devonish’s Elite Performance A-Z

In this week’s A-Z of Elite Performance, Olympic Gold Medalist and BISS Puxi Elite Performance Coach Marlon Devonish, takes on J for Journey. Marlon’s journey to Olympic Gold is well documented but the mindset of how he and his peers reached that level of success is less clear. Marlon shares some personal stories about his approach to elite performance and how he works at The British International School Shanghai Puxi to help others make their journey to success.

The BISS Puxi Temple Fair remains one of our most popular school events and this special Year of the Pig fair was no exception! BISS Puxi parents and children enjoyed a host of activities, performances and pig-related fun. This year we saw an even wider range of activities including traditional Chinese performances from students and parents alike. The younger ones delved into making pig pictures, pig business, lanterns and faces. The older ones tried their hands at calligraphy and even a dynamic and very competitive badminton tournament.

Knowledge applied is the process of gaining both the prerequisite knowledge and the hands experience you need to excel in the shortest possible timeframe. My thirst for knowledge has driven me to travel the world seeking new ideas and different perspectives. I have never been intimidated by those who are better than me – I see them more as an opportunity to learn and push myself to the next level. However, it is my dedication to training and my appetite to take a calculated risk and try something new that has over time, given me invaluable experience, on the track, in business, and in education.

Learning has shifted from solving a problem with a single, definitive answer to identifying problems in a given situation and offering multiple, possible solutions, Nord Anglia Education, Education Director Andy Puttock says.