Pre-Olympic Sprint Camp, Grand Cayman

Olympic sprinters traditionally chase winter sun at training bases built for nothing but training, and the brief was to prove that a luxury hotel could host a genuine pre-Olympic block without compromising a single session. The owners of Palm Heights had the vision to fund the residency and to see Grand Cayman established as a destination for elite athletes, while ALTIS, one of the most respected sprint coaching groups in the world, needed a warm weather base for its athletes in the three months before the Paris 2024 season.

Protean Sports designed the residency so that the training came first and everything around it, from recovery to food to art, was built to support performance while giving the athletes a life outside the track.

The residency ran for three months with eight training sessions a week, splitting the work between Cayman National Stadium for track sessions and Palm Heights Athletics for strength and flexibility. ALTIS head coach Stuart McMillan led the sprint programme alongside Brendan Cole, with Andreas Behm on hurdles.

Around the training sat a recovery and wellness programme built for the island, including open water floats, paddleboard yoga and swimming, with food, music and cultural programming woven through the week. The Palm Heights Athletics gym gave the group a strength floor that opens onto the garden, with a green turf sprint lane between the palms.

The camp brought together sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers from six nations, several of them Olympians and world medallists.

The residency treated creativity as part of recovery, and the programme was built around that idea. Photographer Sam Su worked with the athletes on image making throughout the three months, and the athletes took part in a fashion shoot with the Dolores concept store, turning time off the track into editorial work with a life beyond the camp. Coffee tasting for International Women's Day, food and music filled out a calendar that gave the athletes a reason to switch off between sessions.

“The traditional prescriptive approach to recovery in sport may not be as effective as allowing athletes to be creative.”

Stuart McMillan, ALTIS

“Combining creativity and training at intensity has been a huge unlock for me.”

Jodie Williams

The residency established Grand Cayman as a credible pre-Olympic training base and showed that elite preparation and a luxury guest offer can share one building. It was covered as a new model for athlete recovery, with the athletes themselves describing what it changed for them.

“Floating in open water allowed me to relieve tension and clear my mind.”

Norris Spike

“The residency has allowed me to experience world class training alongside exploring wellness tools.”

Amira Young