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They are Olympic athletes used to press. Before each game, a bunch of stars from each country are distinguished as candidates, face-to-face in ads and newspapers, social media, and yogurt ads.
They work with sports psychologists and performance coaches to help them manage the weight of hope, developing mental coping strategies to ensure peak performance: visualization, breathing exercises, adaptability. But Tokyo Olympics it has thrown up unparalleled challenges. Due to support systems, some athletes are feeling pressure.
These games have been unique in that they have brought about the mental health of athletes. US gymnast Simone Biles citing concerns about her state of mind, she has retired from both events, and Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka – the face of these Olympics – has also mentioned her mental health after being knocked out of the individual tournament. They will not be the only athletes to face these challenges.
Sports psychologist Josie Perry has seen a tremendous rise in pandemics for help with performance anxiety. “With so many differences in our lives, we are much closer to the edge of anxiety,” he says. “Some people bring us closer to the edge: being in a place we’re not used to, being around people who bother us, being hungry, being in a pandemic.”
Anxiety can affect performance by triggering what is called a tonsil abduction. Primitive parts of the brain make a short circuit, avoiding more rational areas and flooding the body with stress hormones. This can lead to a response to fighting, running away, or freezing – athletes can panic and make bad decisions, or they can put too much into skills that need to be easy and automatic. But in addition to affecting their performance, anxiety also affects the toll of emotions, which has finally come to be known because the pandemic has pushed underlying issues to the forefront.
When Covid-19 it was first created, a scale of pandemic that few could have imagined. In the case of athletes whose full training schedule reached its peak in the summer of 2020, the delay was a blow to the body; some had to face the challenge of training without access to equipment or places in order to cope with the virus infection and perhaps the length of time it could be weakened. the consequences of returning to action too early.
In the last month or so, we can say with complete certainty that the Games would also be progressing in 2021. “If you put uncertainty in a situation, it leads to psychological stress,” says David Shearer, a professor of elite performance psychology at the University of South Wales. “Some athletes grow up in that and face the challenge; for others, it may affect their well-being. “
The gaming environment is far from what athletes expected — from the support camps they set up on arrival to the support staff they would normally have available but are now stuck behind a video call. Can athletes be distracted from their home situation or did they have to follow the same strict rules compared to their rivals in other countries? Has their training been affected? “It opens up the possibility of leaving negative thinking out of control,” Shearer says. “At that point it’s the individual’s skill level to deal with those thoughts.”
“The whole tournament has been very different from what I’m used to,” Britain said Jade Jones, was a favorite in women’s taekwondo but was lost in the round of 16. “Usually I have the whole family there, so when I’m scared to get out, the encouragement gives me an extra boost to do that. I’m trapped in that way of fear today.”
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