"Striving For Excellence" - Paris Saint-Germain and Aspetar welcome the world's leading sport performance experts to the Parc des Princes

More than 300 experts from around the world have taken part in Striving for Excellence, a two-day sport performance conference held at the Parc des Princes for the second year running by Paris Saint-Germain and Aspetar, one of the world's leading specialised orthopaedic and sports medicine hospital.

“For this the second edition of Striving for Excellence, we managed to assemble one of the best possible panels of experts in performance, data analysis and sport medicine,” said Martin Buchheit, the club’s director of sport performance. “The participants discussed their methods for optimizing athlete and team performance, and the discussions they had were extremely rewarding for everyone. More than 30 nationalities and some of the world’s leading sports franchises were represented.”    

The high point of the event came with the final of the Sports Analytics Challenge, which was organised in conjunction with France’s prestigious École Polytechnique. The Challenge got under way in March 2019, with more than 3,000 students in 110 countries taking part. After fighting his way through the selection process and making a successful pitch to the Striving for Excellence jury, Théo Nazon of the the Telecom Paris Tech school was declared the winner. He now has the unique opportunity of working at Polytechnique and receiving the support of the club’s specialists in helping to optimise the club’s approach to data analysis. 

An event partner for the inaugural Striving for Excellence, Aspetar is stepping up its long-term commitment to the club. Paris Saint-Germain and Aspetar have been working together since 2011 and are involved in a number of joint projects. Aspetar offers first-rate medical examination facilities for Paris Saint-Germain’s players.  Several of them, including Brazilian star Neymar, have visited this world-renowned centre of excellence to receive treatment for their injuries. 

“The organisation of this international event reflects Aspetar’s aim to become a global leader in sports medicine and exercise science by 2020” said Aspetar CEO Dr Abdulaziz Al Kuwari. “Thanks to our lasting collaboration with Paris Saint-Germain, we are developing innovative methods that help athletes exploit their full potential and achieve their maximum level of performance.” 

In seeking to build on the success of this second edition, Paris Saint-Germain and Aspetar are already discussing the organisation of a third Striving for Excellence conference next season, underlining the club’s commitment to making the event an integral part of the industry calendar.