Olympic gold BMX medallist praises 'legend' Essex coach

The 24-year-old BMX star has thanked Justin Mills for kickstarting her gym journey and setting her on track to competing at the highest level.

Beth, who grew up in Essex, started working with the University of Essex Strength and Conditioning Coach just before winning the Junior World Championships in 2017 and continued training with Justin privately until 2019 when she was offered to move to Manchester and work full time with the British Cycling BMX programme.

She went on to win gold at Tokyo 2020 after crowd-funding her trip to Japan, secured 1st in the European championship and this year claimed the top spot in the UCI BMX World Championships.

'He's a legend'

Now Justin is sharing his knowledge with our performance athletes and helping our students reach their potential while training, working and studying here.

Reflecting on her time working with Justin she said: “Justin started my journey in the gym, taught me about form, why we do certain exercises and had fun doing it.

“I learnt a lot from Justin in the early stages of my career and I’ll be forever grateful for that, as it prepared me for the demands of becoming a full-time athlete.

“I always had trust in what Justin programmed for me, and that is what is most important when working with a coach. He’s a legend.”

Justin steers off-court work outs and monitors rehabilitation off athletes to ensure they are at peak physical fitness.

Using labs within the on-site Human Performance Unit he works closely with academics in the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences to ensure he is at the cutting-edge of training.

He also gives hands-on training to students helping undergrads on crucial workplace placements.

Justin said: “Beth was a fantastic athlete to work with, demonstrating the work ethic and commitment of an elite level athlete from a young age.

"I am honoured to have played even a small role in Beth’s development and am so happy to see all the success she has gone on to achieve."