Olympic legend Daley Thompson launches ‘old-school’ gym concept

Olympic legend Daley Thompson has opened a new gym in Putney, London, with a team of former Great Britain athletes on hand to help members reach their personal best.

Thompson, the first person ever to hold the World, Olympic, Commonwealth and European titles at the same time, has brought in former athletes Gavin Sunshine (chief executive of Daley Fitness Gyms) and Steve Gutteridge (general manager) to help realise his vision of a modern fitness facility with an “old-school approach to training.”

“I have gained a lot of experience from a lot of different gyms and I have used it to design a gym I hope people like,” said Thompson.

“We are integrating the best equipment and technology with highly experienced trainers and an old-school approach to training – results come from hard work.”

Spread over two floors, Daley Fitness features more than 100 stations, with strength, cardio machines and studio bikes from Star Trac. The club also uses Myzone, with every member receiving a free Myzone heart rate belt monitor and their own cloud-based account where all activity is automatically uploaded, acting as an online logbook of all physical activity.

The gym studio area hosts 100 classes each week and has been created to look like the gym hall from Daley’s school. Modern updates come in the form of TRX and Crossfit apparatus, while there is also an on-site Nutribullet bar, where members can order a nourishing post-workout juice.

Thompson plans to be a regular fixture at the gym and hopes to harness his wealth of knowledge to get the best out of members.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have sport in my life forever and it has been fantastic to me. One of my dreams has always been to share that enthusiasm and knowledge with other people and Daley Fitness has given me that,” he adds.

“We have the best trainers available and they pass on that knowledge and they make it fun. The thing that sets us apart is that all of the instructors here plus the management team are really passionate and enthusiastic about our clients getting better and feeling better.”