In 2012, on the eve of the Opening Ceremony at the London Olympic Games, the British Medical Journal and the Panorama television documentary program released an attack on sports science, with much of the critique focusing on sports nutrition themes and products.  A feature article in the BMJ, entitled “Forty years of sports performance research and little insight gained” listed a range of flaws in the conduct and interpretation of the underpinning research related to sports drinks, but applied to sports science research more largely in other pieces.  Specific criticism included small sample sizes, poor surrogate measures of performance, poor standardization of moderating factors and the bias of industry funding. The overarching message: was poor quality science with a lack of generalisability.  Having spent forty years undertaking sports performance research, I feel able to respond with the insight that was missing in this critique.  Undoubtedly (and perhaps even more frequently, due the explosion of open access journals), poor quality publications contribute to a lack of respect and understanding of sports nutrition, just as they do in other areas of science.   However, navigating the path from molecules to medals is challenging, requiring an array of research skill sets and knowledge. This presentation will outline the unique issues of the investigation and implementation of sports nutrition science, identifying key themes such as extreme energy and fuel demands, optimisation of training adaptations, performance supplements, special models of working with elite athletes, and the neglect of key populations including female athletes.  How sports nutrition research can address the specific demands of world records and gold medals, while scaling to recreational athletes and community benefits will be explored.