The eyes of the world will be on London again this August as the city hosts the 2017 World Athletics Championships – and there has never been a better time to follow GB’s top competitors and discover how contact lenses can improve sporting performance.

Heptathlon medal hopeful Katarina Johnson-Thompson, 24, is an astigmat, so as a brand ambassador for Acuvue she has been fitted with Oasys 1-Day for Astigmatism lenses.

The athlete, who will be hoping to follow Jessica-Ennis Hill in gaining gold in the seven-discipline event at London 2012, says: “My vision is so important, I couldn’t be a heptathlete without my contact lenses, basically I wouldn’t be able to get over the first hurdle.

“However, when I tried these lenses I instantly noticed the difference, I felt like my vision was sharper even though it’s the same prescription.” 

BBR Optometry offers a wide range of contact lenses which can help with performance in any sports.

Nick Black, Contact Lens Practitioner at BBR, says: “Compared with spectacles, contact lenses offer a number of advantages to enhance your vision for sports competition including better peripheral vision and an unobstructed field of view which can be especially important for people playing ball sports.

“Contact lenses will also continue to provide clear vision regardless of environment or weather conditions such as rain and there is also less chance of injury because spectacles may break and cause an eye injury if competitors take a hard hit.

“People taking part in sport will also find that contact lenses mean they don't need to worry about spectacles sliding down their nose or even falling off at that vital moment,” he added.

BBR Optometry also offers Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) treatment using specially designed contact lenses which are worn throughout the night only and mean perfect sight during the day without the need to wear either spectacles or contact lenses.

New for 2017, the St Owen Street based practice is also pleased to offer MiSight contact lenses developed by world-class research optometrist Paul Chamberlain, who is originally from Hereford himself and is now Head of Research at world-leading contact lens manufacturers Coopervision.

Nick adds: “Many people think myopia isn’t a major problem as it can be controlled by spectacles, prescription contact lenses or laser surgery.

“But what many do not realise are the underlying medical problems that potentially affect myopic people throughout their lifetime, including structural abnormalities such as glaucoma, retinal degeneration, tears and detachments alongside the possibility of loss of central vision by myopic macular degeneration, all of which are potentially blinding.   

“These new MiSight lenses offer a clinically proven way to slow the progression of myopia menaing future generations of athletes will be able to perform at the highest level without the need for continuing sight correction,” he added.

So if all the action at London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park inspires you to take up running or another sport, why not come and see how contact lenses can ensure you meet your own goals.