One of the pioneers of sports science at the AIS has backed a plan to revitalise the "heartbeat" of the institute after a review recommended commercialising the campus innovation genius.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
Dick Telford was the first sports scientist employed by the AIS in 1981, overseeing the creation of a system that became the envy of the sporting world.
He has looked on in despair over the past decade as buildings were decaying, but the brilliant minds inside were still helping the AIS function.
Telford took part in the federal-government commissioned review into the future of the AIS, adamant it must remain in Canberra and giving his ideas to help it become a world-best facility again.
The government listened, pledging $250 million in funding for three key recommendations: an indoor facility for 24-7 training for track and field athletes, new accommodation for 192 athletes and a high-performance testing centre.
The indoor facility was one of Telford's key points, adamant it would make the AIS a destination for athletes from around the world and keep some in Australia instead of in the US college system.
It's unclear if the indoor facility will be a full-sized track, but commission chief executive Kieren Perkins is already investigating options.
Telford - a respected innovator and coaching guru - hopes the biggest investment in AIS history in the trigger for Australian success in all sports.
"We had a handful of coaches and administrators when we started and that's when the heart started beating," Telford said.
"It was ridiculous to look and see that we didn't have that in Canberra any more. Now it's a bit of a resuscitation of that heartbeat as far as I can see.
"We need a full-sized indoor track in Canberra, it's the ideal place for it. It has to be a top priority.
"An indoor athletics track in Australia at the AIS would be the jewel in the crown and the heart of the other institutes and academies. It would bring the best runners from around the world."
The AIS investment ended decades of neglect in Canberra, with previous federal governments failing to act on calls to upgrade the facilities.
The $250 million is aimed at boosting Australia's chances of a massive Olympic Games medal haul in Brisbane in 2032, and Telford has lived experience of watching that happen for the Sydney Olympics.
"We developed a reputation as the best sports science area in the world in the 1990s. The medals started creeping up every year from hardly anything to in the 50s in the Sydney 2000," Telford said.
But the review into the AIS focused on more than just athlete results. As part of the 11 recommendations, it suggested formalising a sports innovation hub.
"This could be modelled on CSIRO commercialisation initiatives and be professionally marketed to the [national institute network], professional sports bodies and the international sporting world more generally," the report said.
"In conjunction with critical stakeholders, the ASC should formalise a Sports Innovation Hub (either virtually or in an underutilised building on the Bruce campus) to lead innovation and commercialisation of cutting-edge research in sports medicine, rehabilitation, materials science, sport science, biomechanics, physiology, engineering and artificial intelligence."
Telford backed that move, which builds on the foundations he and Allan Hahn created in the 1980s.
"Back then the director of the AIS, Don Talbot, wasn't my boss. My boss was the coach," Telford said.
"We had to try to make life easier for the coach. Being [the CSIRO of sports research] is the way to go. Using all the institutes and academies. We didn't deny them access ... the AIS was the heart in the middle."