GB sportspeople of that time were devoted and not so successful en masse. Their little success did though spark the incredible 80s and early 90s where a decade of champions came from the medallists at the Los Angeles Olympics. Our rowers are where they are now because of the PR that Redgrave started in Atlanta, with his multiple win

It can also be said that rowing did not allow any complacency to halt its progression through to now, something athletics did do.

We live in a completely politicised and homogenised world, one where sport has been integrated in the West as it was in the East (in the 70s), vital to a countries 'well being'. Whether this premise and the management will actually produce excellence in numbers for 2012 is the 'big' question

If you have any sort of sporting ambition, you should be able to get better facilities and support than in decades gone by - training this Christmas Day will not be as iconic or sacrificial as it was. A heart rate monitor would have cost Seb Coe a fortune then, rather than being a gift in a 2007 cracker. How 'good' they were then wasn?t very scientific.

'In Pursuit of Excellence' by Terry Orlic will not be a throw-away funny of a Christmas book gift. If your intended recipient is anything of a sportsperson, someone who shows even a glimmer of hunger to do well in their chosen pursuit, its a top guide to how build the best personal and support commitment to making the most of their efforts.

This is a planners and analysers field day of a book, fitting perfectly with the 'process' that any present day sportsperson has to go through. As such it needs to be as practical as possible and it passes that test with flying colours. What was once an individual, maybe a single coach, a lot of guts and not so much publicity is now a planned process under a magnifying glass that brings with it expectation right from day one.

Analysis is everything so if you want the complete background to why the Andy Murray / Brad Gilbert split occurred, then all the theories you can chose from are in this book in the chapter on Coaching Relationships.

You can't give excellence and the resulting perfection - 'In Pursuit of Excellence' is a guide to answering the questions a sportsperson asks of themselves and of their surroundings and support when under the heaviest scrutiny.

If effort matches expectation and the talent is enough, then success comes along, even under the most adverse conditions and the stories which are the best parts of this book are when the text moves away from the theories to real times. That is the crux of why you would give this book. Covering every base, or just guts - when you can see a dream and you offer just the smallest bit of help, you are along for the ride.

In Pursuit of Excellence by Terry Orlick is published by Human Kinetics and available from all good book stores and on-line retailers.

ISBN No 978-0-7360-6757-7