Winning is not the only option for success
Growth and winning are two different things. To handle the increased performance pressures due to the intensifying competition and public exposure, we need to learn to determine when the next push will result in our growth or serious physical, psychological injury, or even death.
“And the Gold medal goes to…” are the words that every athlete dreams to hear. Climbing on the highest podium step waving to the cheering crowd in awe. The image that makes eyes fill with tears and heart explode. Excruciating pains of the grueling sacrificial efforts and the ecstasy of the achievement of the improbable takes over our essence.
Over 11,200 athletes compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games who envision their names called for Gold. Only 339 Gold medals and 1017 medals in total to win.
For over 11,000 athletes who are the best in the world at what they do, the Olympics will be a losing experience scrutinized publicly. 11,000 broken hearts will need to constantly replay the painful images of their failing performance and explain to the world why they didn’t win.
However, those amazing ones who win the weight of the Olympic Gold could bring them down to the depression. More athletes open up about their dark moments of becoming suicidal after winning Gold at the Olympic Games.
If we only focus on the results, the losing or winning experience could be deadly not only for the performer but also for society.
Sports psychology gives us tools to handle high-performance demands that are rising exponentially due to the increased competition levels and public exposure.
1. Pressure to win
Everybody wants to win!
When we step into the competitive arena, our bodies flood with adrenaline, elevating our performance to never before experienced heights. This moment can be felt as highly stressful, filled with overwhelming fears, or with curiosity and excitement about what will happen next.
Seeing competitors reach superior results, our hearts start beating faster, believing that we can do it too! However, now, when major winnings can be achieved only by breaking World Records and athletes are separated from each other by mere centimeters or milliseconds, competition is becoming scarier than inspiring.
The widening gap between the expectations to win and the possibility to do so becomes the hardest part for the elite athletes to handle.
“It’s easy to think of earning an Olympic gold as a simple matter of winning and losing. You either race faster than everyone else, or you don’t. But it’s almost impossible to fathom what it takes to not just reach the podium, but earn a chance to compete, in the first place. The countless details that suddenly converge into a single, crucial moment to determine whether you dive into the pool at one end and emerge at the other with your name written alongside the greatest athletes of all time — or not.” Ian Thorpe, the most successful athlete at the 2000 Summer Olympics, winning 5 medals in swimming.
Elite performers are not only facing the harshest realities of the sport, that their chance to win is based more on pure luck and not on the effort, but also, needing to withstand the public judgment when they are at their most vulnerable state.
The journalist is ignoring the significance of mental health by encouraging Simone Biles to put herself at the risk of injury:
“You’re a great champion @simonebiles (as I had reaffirmed when we met 2yrs ago) and great champions don’t quit — they get back on their feet when they get knocked down. So, re-engage in these Olympic Games, win Gold, & inspire with the power of resilience, not resignation. Go for it. 👊” Piers Morgan
The headlines and opinions are written to catch attention for clickbait power disregarding the psychological damage they do to the performer. The reporter is being upset that Naomi Osaka asked not to talk to the media before a competition:
“Poor @naomiosaka blocked me while taking a shot at me (guess she’s only tough on the courts). She is apparently arguing that she shot her many covers b/4 publicly claiming she was too socially anxious to deal with w/press. The truth is she just doesn’t like Qs she can’t control. Admit it.” Megyn Kelly
If you reached the elite performers level you are never allowed to make mistakes or be weak. You are expected to always be perfect everywhere, win humbly and graciously.
“When you are #1 in the world anything but winning a tournament is a bad result. It becomes a big deal when you are on top, which means, in a way, the public opinion, the media, everyone takes away from you as an athlete the right to fail. And you feel those expectations as an athlete every single day in every single match.” Patrick Mouratoglou, coach of the greatest tennis players as Serena Williams
Winning is important however, overfocusing on it takes away our ability to grow.
Even the winning is not in our complete control but what we do to win is. In sports psychology, we learn to approach results as a great marker at the point in time that gives us concentrated feedback to create more meaningful next actions.
Pressure to win also comes from wanting to prove our worth to ourselves and others, needing to earn people’s admiration and recognition. However, reached results are not our worth, but the learnings and the joy of fulfillment are.
“I don’t skate to be the best, or to be famous, or make money, or to be an Olympian. I skate because I fucking love it, and it’s the funniest thing on earth,” Nyjah Huston, one of the most decorated skateboarders, responds after his 7th place appearance at the Olympic Games.
2. Performers are more than their title
Only because elite athletes have genetic talents and spend enormous amounts of time, effort, and sacrifice developing that talent does not mean that they are excluded from the everyday life we all are living.
At the Olympic startline, these godlike athletes also bring complicated realities. Dealing with difficult relationships, uncertain financial stability, unknown future of wellbeing, very low self-esteem, fears, pains, death…
“Don’t judge me, because I am human… I just happen to run a little faster. It was difficult to have to go in front of the world and put on a face and hide my pain.” Sha’Carri Richardson spoke about her experience dealing with her biological mother’s death and, at the same time needing to compete at the Olympic trials.
Cultivating our description beyond our main career title is a significant part of keeping a healthy relationship with our growth. We are not only an athlete, coach, journalist, doctor, director, artist, assistant we are always so much more than the title says.
“The outpouring of love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.” Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast of all time, tweeted after withdrawing from competition at Olympics.
3. Focus on growth means respecting limits
High-performance in ancient Greece meant to be closer to gods pursuing the connection between mind and a body. At the peak, the body is at its most beautiful. Being a winner was also considered to be closer to death. After every peak comes a fall.
At the Olympic level, high performers need to master the ability to manage the most extreme feelings and conditions. Athletes are approaching a very thin line between performing at their record level or injuring themselves physically or mentally.
Accepting our limits and weaknesses does not mean giving up. The word “accept” comes from a Latin root that denotes “to receive; as if to receive a gift.” The gift of seeing the true us and life.
“Acceptance is the full embrace of our personal experience in an empowered, not in a victimized, state. It’s choosing to feel with openness and curiosity so that you can live the kind of life you want to live while inviting your feelings to come along for the ride. We develop emotional flexibility.” S. Hayes, “A Liberated Mind”
Acceptance means a faster springboard to develop more precise actions moving towards the goals.
Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles acknowledging and accepting their limits showed bravery and high-level professionalism. They dared to remove the invisible shield of the impossible image of gods and bring the elite sports experience closer to reality. By standing up for their health, these ladies became heroes.
4. It’s never the same
High-performance at the elite level is described as reaching consistency. However, it’s never the same.
In over 10 years of my sporting career as a javelin thrower, in every competition, I needed to deal with a new external or internal challenge that I never encountered before. Even at Olympics, I learned that no athlete is 100% perfectly prepared for one of the most important performances. Many compete with injuries, severe pains, still underdeveloped techniques, bodies, and minds, not at their very best.
When pushing limits, the technique of the movement is always in development, always a work in progress, never final, always experimental.
Even techniques and processes that worked before to reach the winning marks cannot be fully repeated. The developed techniques only work for one season. The human body is constantly transforming, and everything has to be modified again.
That transformation can affect a major dip in the results even for a few years before the body transitions to another level. No one knows when finally all will come together. The time cannot be rushed the same as we cannot speed up the baby’s maturity from seed to birth.
All these changes, unknowns, and uncertainty greatly test psychological capabilities to sustain constant stress.
Every year the world records are improved. All the world-breaking performances have mistakes in them. They are never all that’s possible. The winning performance is not about doing everything perfectly but is about trusting in ourselves and our growth.
To take advantage of the opportunities that constant change brings is a skill that needs developing. During sport psychology sessions, we spend a lot of our time training our self-control.
5. To grow and support is to inspire
High-performance is required in every career. However, high performance is not a normal or sustainable state for our bodies. Our human nature is designed to protect ourselves from any perceived physiological or psychological threat. Pushing our limits is considered by our brains a danger for our bodies and our survival. Sports psychology teaches us how to use our bodies, minds, and emotions to the highest progress.
To grow means:
- shifting focus from results to learning. If we only see the result, we don’t see anything that is useful for us to develop and grow;
- expanding our definition beyond our main title. We need a diversity of experiences to innovate and push our limits. By overfocusing on one title, we often find ourselves in desperation and impatience for growth;
- developing a high-level awareness and acceptance of the present states to have healthy growth instead of pushing ourselves to injury and stagnation;
- giving ourselves time and trust for transformation. The ability to handle stress, adversity, life balance requires ongoing and systematic attention and training. Without strong mental health, we cannot reach peak performance;
- building a strong support system. Seeking support for growth is a sign of courage, professionalism, and strength.
By providing systematic, structural, and social support for the high-performers, we are securing our individual and community’s growth.
“The ancient Olympics were a religious experience for both athletes and spectators. The sport was a sacred time and separated from daily life. Athletic heroes are believed to exist halfway between humans and gods. Athletes performance pushing human limits provide genuine inspiration where viewers can aspire to push theirs. This is something that cannot be overemphasized or overvalued. It is a true gift.” Dr. Charles Stocking, Professor of Classics
Inga Stasiulionyte, Olympian, Master Performance Coach, and sports industry consultant, shares the high-performance insights and case studies of the challenges that her clients face.
