Let me introduce myself. My name is Zoë van Mulken, I have a masters degree in human movement sciences (also known as sport science) with the specialization sports and biophysics.

Since I was a little kid, I wanted to be in high performance sports. At an early age I realized that I wasn’t going to make it as an athlete myself. The dream of being in high performance sports never went away. My new drive? Well, if I wasn’t going to be a professional athlete, then I wanted to make sure others would.

During my studies this goal and dream only grew. I got fascinated by the human limit and trying to get the best out of each individual athlete.

The interest in racing came a little later, when I heard someone in an interview talk about the high heart rate in racing drivers. This at the time was strange to me. So I decided to write a bachelor thesis about it, after that I was hooked. I got inspired by the influence sport science can have on the racing performance and on the well-being of the individual driver. The car is important but at the end of the day, the car will do what the driver says, so he (or she) better is at his best. Placing value back on the driver is therefore a key point in what I am doing.

It is important to me to underline that as a sport scientist I am uniquely equipped to look at all aspects of athletic performance. I am however  not a psychologist, nor a physical therapist or doctor. I can recognize underlying issues but am not able to treat mental and physical illnesses. Not being able to treat illnesses is not an issue, since the goal of coaching and training is to improve healthy peoples performances. 

I for one am excited to see what the influence of sport science in racing is going to be!

-Zoë van Mulken