How do athletes deal with the pressure of the Olympics?
Posted February 16, 2018 7:13 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO (NEWS 1130) – Canadian athletes did not pick up any more medals on Day 7 of competition at the Winter Olympics. But there is optimism ahead where several podium opportunities exist.
Veteran figure skater Patrick Chan will try to overcome a rough start, while skeleton racer Elisabeth Vathje will start the day atop the standings after two of four heats.
But there is no doubt those performances on the world stage are pressure-packed.
“Some athletes do perceive those stressful situations as more threatening, and some athletes perceive them more positively, more challenging. And some of the distinctions have to do with athletes who have a better sense of control over things that they might face,” says Dr. Katherine Tamminen, a kinesiology and physical education expert with the University of Toronto.
It boils down to knowing what they can and can’t control.
“If they know what they’re going to encounter, what stressors are controllable, and what they can do to cope with those stressors, that can lead to more of a sense of this challenge appraisal. So they approach these competitions in a more-positive frame of mind,” says Tamminen.
“Different athletes are going to experience these things in different ways. However, some of the things that tend to lead to more positive or negative outcomes have to do with that distinction between appraising the situation as a threat, which might lead to more debilitating outcomes versus appraising it as more of a challenge from a more positive perspective and that can lead to more positive outcomes. Having a better sense of the resources they have available to them might also then lead them to see those situations in a more favourable light.”
Canada sits third atop the medal standings, tied with the Netherlands, six back of first-place Norway and two behind Germany.
