Speed Festival 2026: Two Days, Two Formats, One Goal

Speed Festival 2026 will take place in Bergamo, Italy, on 10–11 October, with a programme built around the theme:

The fifth edition introduces two different but complementary learning formats:

• Saturday will be dedicated to two extended practical workshops in a smaller and more interactive environment.
• Sunday will feature an eight-hour international conference, during which seven speakers will explore speed development from different scientific, coaching and athletic perspectives.

Saturday: two in-depth practical workshops

Saturday, 10 October, is designed for coaches and practitioners who want to explore specific topics in greater depth than would be possible during a standard conference presentation.

The programme includes two workshops lasting approximately three hours each.

The longer format will allow participants to understand the reasoning behind each approach, observe practical applications, ask questions and consider how the proposed methods could be integrated into their own training environments.

To preserve the interactive nature of the workshops, Saturday will be limited to a maximum of 60 participants.

Marco Airale: integrating resisted sprinting

Marco Airale is an international sprint coach and the founder of Team Air, a high-performance training group based in Padua. His work combines sprint coaching with a background in physiotherapy and performance support.

His workshop will focus on how to integrate resisted sprinting into a sprinter’s training programme.

Resisted sprinting is now widely used, but adding external resistance does not automatically produce an effective training stimulus. Coaches still need to determine the purpose of the exercise, select an appropriate load and decide where the work should be placed within the training week and the wider seasonal plan.

The workshop will examine resisted sprinting as part of a complete sprint programme rather than as an isolated exercise.

Marco was selected because he applies these decisions daily with high-level international sprinters, connecting technical execution, load selection and long-term planning.

Dr Jo Brown: movement, posture and force application

The second workshop will be led by Dr Jo Brown, a performance physiotherapist, biomechanist and movement specialist with extensive experience in elite sport.

She will explain how to assess movement, posture and potential problems in the way an athlete produces, transfers and applies force.

An athlete may be strong and powerful, yet still be limited by inefficient positions, compensations or movement strategies. Identifying these factors can help coaches and practitioners better understand why performance is not improving as expected.

The objective of the workshop is to provide participants with practical tools to observe athletes more effectively and develop better-informed, more individualised interventions.

Sunday: seven perspectives on speed and performance

Sunday, 11 October, will feature approximately eight hours of presentations and discussion.

Seven speakers will contribute their knowledge and experience to the central theme of Speed Festival 2026.

The conference is designed for athletics coaches, strength and conditioning professionals, researchers, physiotherapists, athletes and sports science students.

Sunday will have a maximum capacity of 170 participants.

Dr Jo Brown

The Speed Equation: Pressure, Position & Processing. A Nervous System Component?

Jo Brown will explore how pressure, body position and nervous-system processing interact during high-speed performance, encouraging participants to view speed as the expression of a coordinated and adaptable system.

Amit Batra

How Science Supports Elite Performance: Lessons from Working with Olympic-Level Athletes

Amit Batra is a sports physiologist who works closely with elite athletes and coaches. He was selected to demonstrate how testing, monitoring and scientific knowledge can support practical coaching decisions without replacing the coach’s experience.

Stefano Serranò

Postural Conditioning: From Posture to Performance

Stefano Serranò combines experience in athletics coaching, physical preparation, osteopathy and athlete assessment. His presentation will examine posture as a dynamic performance quality connected to movement, force production and sporting demands.

Laura Turner-Alleyne

Hurdling Along the Athlete Development Journey: Finding Rhythm, Creating Chaos

A former Olympic sprinter and now an experienced performance coach, Laura Turner-Alleyne will examine how hurdlers develop rhythm and learn to manage increasing complexity throughout their athletic journey.

She was selected because she combines the perspective of an international athlete with experience coaching athletes at different stages of development.

Anna Ryzhykova

From Athlete to Coach: A Journey Through Elite Performance

Olympic medallist and Ukrainian 400-metre hurdles record holder Anna Ryzhykova will share the lessons gained during her career and explain how the perspective of an elite athlete evolves when experience begins to inform the coaching process.

Johan Lahti

Multidirectional Speed

Researcher and performance practitioner Johan Lahti will extend the discussion beyond straight-line sprinting.

His presentation will explore how athletes accelerate, decelerate, change direction and manage force in less predictable environments, connecting sprint principles with the demands of field and court sports.

Gennaro Boccia

Plyometrics

Gennaro Boccia is a university researcher specialising in neuromuscular performance and rapid force production.

His presentation will provide a scientific framework for understanding plyometric training, helping coaches make more precise decisions about exercise selection, progression and programming.

A technical moderator will guide the discussion

We will soon announce the technical moderator for Speed Festival 2026.

An experienced coach who has already presented at previous editions of the event will connect the different contributions and guide the discussion with an expert, rational and practical perspective.

Which ticket should you choose?

The Full Experience ticket includes both Saturday workshops and the complete Sunday conference. Since Saturday is limited to 60 participants, availability for this option is restricted.

The Sunday Conference ticket provides access to the full eight-hour programme on Sunday, with a maximum capacity of 170 participants.

The Saturday workshops cannot be purchased separately and are available only through the Full Experience ticket.

Early Bird registration is currently open for both options, but availability is limited and the offer is subject to expiration.

Two days. Two formats. One goal: helping athletes move better so they can move faster.

Discover the programme and choose your Speed Festival 2026 experience