With the Winter Olympics slowly coming to an end, we thought we would look at some of the key themes that have risen from all the events we’ve had so far.
This major international event brings together the best athletes from around the world in one place for a fascinating competition on ice or snow. It is considered the pinnacle of winter sports. There have been many highs as well as lows, but here are some of the things that caught our sport and performance psychologists’ eye at InnerDrive…
The favourites don’t always win
The Winter Olympics often has a handful of stars from different countries that get pulled up as medal contenders, with their faces plastered across newspapers and being named as the “favourite to win.” High expectations are good in a lot of cases, as they can lead to an increase in achievement. However, expectations that are too high can build up a large amount of pressure on the athlete and sometimes this can end up becoming detrimental for the athletes.
Two-time U.S Olympian, Mikaela Shiffrin went into the games as the most successful slalom skier of all time. However, the Olympic champion did not have a good start after failing to complete either of her two races so far thanks to a pair of highly uncharacteristic errors. She was pictured sitting on the snow for half an hour with her head buried in her arms.
With her growing profile came pressure and expectation which is hard for athletes to deal with. In an interview before the games, she said “You feel like this moment is building and building and building and you feel a bit weighed down by it”.
Sport psychologists can work with athletes to help reduce the feeling of pressure, allowing them to perform at their best. But it’s important to remember that all athletes feel pressure and they can’t always perform at their best every time – that’s just all part of the game!
Here are 10 things that we emphasise with our clients that help athletes perform under pressure:
- Complete and deliberate focus – Concentrating on the task at hand
- Intense effort – 100% commitment and work rate
- Heightened Awareness – To both your surroundings and your own mental state
- Being Up For It – Being pumped up for the moment
- Absence of Negative Thoughts – Focusing on what you want, not what you don’t want
- Fully Absorbed – Immersing yourself in the performance
- Confidence – Believing you will achieve
- Control – Focusing on what you can control (your thoughts, feelings and reactions)
- Increased Motivation – Being determined to succeed
- Enjoyment – Fully embracing the challenge
Injuries happen – a lot
Anyone can get injured. However, the Winter Olympics have some particularly dangerous events.
A study has found that the Winter games are more dangerous than the Summer games, leading to a slightly higher rate of injuries.
This year seems to be no exception, with a large number of athletes getting hurt. One example is USA’s alpine skier Nina O’Brien. She suffered a scary fall during the women’s giant slalom event, skidding into the finish area, which she has since revealed caused an open fracture through her leg.
Everyone knows that with sport comes injury, but it doesn’t mean it gets any easier to deal with. Even for the best athletes in the world, they can struggle to come back from injury, mentally as well as physically.
Here are some of our top tips for dealing with injury…
- Set Goals – Goal setting can help you follow your rehabilitation programme by providing focus and motivation. A short-term goal can provide focus whereas a long-term goal helps maintain motivation during tough times.
- Educate yourself – When athletes are educated about the treatment of their injury, they are more likely to believe in the efficacy of the treatment. Knowing is always better than not knowing. Uncertainty is a breeding ground for stress, frustration and anxiety.
- Get Support – Isolated athletes struggle, which is why building a team around you is important. Try reaching out to other athletes experiencing injury, as this helps remind you that you’re not alone.
- Take time to reflect – Something we do with our athletes is help them to re-evaluate their goals. For example, switching goals from being overly achievement-oriented to being emotion-oriented, geared towards making them feel happier and more fulfilled. This can reduce some pressure and any fear of failure, helping them to feel more positive.
- Find another "role" – Take this time out to have a moment to step back and find another "role" in life, besides being an athlete. Research suggests that having multiple “roles” is beneficial for well-being, as opposed to having one single role that defines you and feeling lost when it’s taken away from you.
- Grow through adversity – Being able to see your injury in a positive light will develop your growth mindset, including the belief that you can come back after an injury stronger, healthier, and able to improve your performance.
Teams showing resilience
Elite sport is full of pressures and challenges, on and off the field. Some athletes hold a high level of mental resilience that helps them withstand and overcome these stresses – others crumble and wilt under the pressure.
In elite sport, mental resilience is often as important as physical resilience. And it’s those athletes who dedicate themselves to training their mental resilience too that put themselves above the rest.
The American ice hockey team showed a great example of team resilience in this year’s games. Ice hockey star Brianna Decker suffered a serious leg injury in their match against Finland. She yelled out, unable to put any weight on her left leg and was taken out on a stretcher.
Seeing Decker, their team assistant captain, unable to walk could have pulled the American team down – but on the contrary, it provided a motivating spark that helped the defending Olympic champions turn it around and score 4 more goals, finishing with a 5-2 win.
The team showed great resilience to overcome this challenge. The team captain, Kendall Coyne Schofield said afterwards: “There’s no replacing Brianna Decker, but in that situation, everyone stepped up to the plate in the way they were asked to”. Schofield also said “You saw that in our response after she went down, how much we picked up the game and took control.” They shared the responsibility, creating a strong team identity allowing them to make the best decisions for the team and grow together.
Research suggests that the ability to persevere and overcome setbacks is a key component in helping Olympic champions achieve their goals. Read our blog explaining 9 ways that Olympians develop resilience. Here are a few of our top tips…
- Develop a positive personality
- Identify your motivation for succeeding
- View setbacks as an opportunity for growth
- Concentrate on what you can control
Final thoughts
This year’s Winter Olympics have had many great moments as well as setbacks.
For the athletes that didn’t get the result they wanted, or have come away with injuries, now is an important time for them to remember that setbacks are important for growth and development, and will allow them to become an even better athlete!
