Universal Speed Rating is proud to announce a new partnership with ALTIS, the performance coaching and education organization behind some of the most respected sprint coaching in the world. This collaboration brings together two organizations committed to advancing how speed is measured, taught, and developed.
Through this partnership, ALTIS becomes the Official Education Partner of Universal Speed Rating, and Universal Speed Rating joins the newly formed ALTIS Speed Collective as a Founding Member. ALTIS coaching education will be made available directly to the Speed Lab network through a co-branded course built for Speed Lab coaches, discounted access to ALTIS programs, partial scholarships to the ALTIS MSc, and an ALTIS coach speaking at the annual Speed Lab Summit.
ALTIS coaches elite athletes, educates coaches through digital and in-person programs, and offers an MSc in Strength & Conditioning and Coaching. ALTIS has worked with more than 120 Olympians who have collectively earned 56 Olympic medals, and CEO Stuart McMillan has personally coached 70 Olympians across 12 Olympic Games, including 40 medalists. The ALTIS Speed Collective is the organization's partnership program, collectively advancing how speed is trained, taught, and measured.
Universal Speed Rating has built a national network of more than 250 Speed Labs measuring athletes against a single verified standard. As that network continues to grow, this partnership represents an important step in pairing trusted performance data with the coaching education that turns it into athlete development.
Bringing ALTIS Education to Speed Lab Coaches
The centerpiece of the partnership is a co-branded coaching course developed by ALTIS specifically for Speed Lab coaches. The digital course will be produced as a Universal Speed Rating production, offered free to the Speed Lab community, and made available commercially outside it.
Alongside the course, the partnership establishes a set of ongoing education benefits for coaches inside the USR network:
Reflecting on what the partnership means for the network, Drew Zwiers framed it around what coaches have been asking for.
"Our Speed Labs have never had a shortage of data. What they have asked for is guidance on what to do with it. ALTIS is among the most trusted names in coaching education anywhere in the world, and this partnership builds that education directly into the network." Drew Zwiers, Co-Founder and COO of Universal Speed Rating
Universal Speed Rating also joins the ALTIS Speed Collective as a Founding Member and will serve as a primary partner of the ALTIS Speed Summit, with integration into pre-event content and post-event distribution.
Stuart McMillan Joins the Speed Science Institute
As part of the partnership, Stuart McMillan, CEO of ALTIS, joins the Speed Science Institute as a founding member. The Speed Science Institute is the research body responsible for how Universal Speed Rating performance data is developed, interpreted, and taught. Its founding members include Dr. Ken Clark, Executive Sports Scientist, who holds a Ph.D. in Applied Physiology and Biomechanics and serves as a biomechanical consultant to USATF Sports Science, and Peter Ruppe, Executive Director, who spent more than 20 years at Nike and was a founding leader of Nike SPARQ.
McMillan will contribute webinars and educational content, bringing applied elite sprint coaching practice into the body that governs how the standard is developed and taught. The two organizations will also collaborate on a standardized evaluation protocol and shared performance standard for youth athletes, connecting how young athletes are evaluated to how elite athletes are developed.
Speaking to the shared vision behind the collaboration, Stuart McMillan pointed to the relationship between measurement and coaching.
"Speed is coachable, but only when you can measure it honestly. Universal Speed Rating has built the measurement layer this sport has been missing, and joining the Speed Science Institute allows us to put our coaching education directly behind that standard." — Stuart McMillan, CEO, ALTIS
"Stu is one of the most influential speed coaches of this generation, and he has spent his career making other coaches better," said Les Spellman, Co-Founder of Universal Speed Rating. "Bringing him into the Speed Science Institute means the methodology behind every USR gets pressure-tested by someone who has coached at the highest level in the world.”
Interested in Joining the Speed Lab Community?
Speed Labs give athletes verified performance data, a trusted benchmark, and now direct access to ALTIS coaching education. To learn what it takes to become a certified Speed Lab, schedule a strategy call with our team.