Matthew Said

Matthew Said is a columnist for The Times and has authored two widely acclaimed books on high-performance science. One of them is Rebound, published in 2010 and hailed as one of the most intelligent and thought-provoking works on sports ever. The other is Black Box Thought, published in 2015 and is a best-selling book in the UK, which has been translated into multiple languages. Before becoming a writer, Said had been England's top table tennis player for nearly a decade, winning three Commonwealth championships and representing the UK in two Olympic Games, namely the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. His game style is unique in defense, often hitting the ball from the back of the court. His BBC film China and Table Tennis won a bronze medal at the Olympic Gold Ring Awards ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland. He is also one of the founders of the charity Greenhouse, which aims to inspire more young people through sports. It has used 31 full-time school projects to help more than 10000 young people. Said's speech topics include performance, sports, motivation, and psychology.