Olympics 2024

I’m sure many of you have spent a large amount of time watching coverage of the Summer Olympics from Paris. I must admit that I am probably on the low end of amount to time spent watching, but I have tried to catch some of the events during the day, especially basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, swimming and track and field.

I especially love hearing the background stories of the athletes and the time and commitment they put in to get them to this point as well as the support they received from family and friends. For the majority of the individual sport athletes, the Olympics are the pinnacle of their careers and often times, being a medal winner or not comes down to a very small time or distance. The men’s 100 meters was crazy….the 4th place finisher was in a photo finish and didn’t medal, while Noah Lyles of the US wins the gold medal and the title of the “world’s fastest human!” These athletes sacrifice it all, just to make their countries teams, and sometimes come up short of their goal. None of us has any idea how much pressure these athletes are under and once the Olympics are over, we don’t hear from most of them again.

It makes me wonder about the aftermath of the Olympics and how athletes handle the mental letdown once everything is over. Obviously, some athletes continue their work for the next 4 years, but this is it for many athletes and who often times are not even in their 30’s yet. We all know the story of the amazing gymnast, Simone Biles, and the mental health issues she faced at the previous Olympics. She did an amazing job of bringing this issue to the forefront and received a lot of criticism in Tokyo for withdrawing from a number of events for her mental health. What it did was bring a lot of awareness and discussion with regards to athlete mental health, which we are discovering is just as important as discussion of an athlete’s physical health. Biles has talked openly at this year’s Olympics about her battles and the importance of therapy to help her successfully navigate her career. All of her success in gymnastics is amazing, but the impact she has had on thousands of athletes and on the public view of athletes, is just as important.

As a coach and leader of athletes, I am thankful for the increased awareness of the mental health of athletes of all ages as because of social media and increased awareness of and emphasis on activities, the pressure on athletes to succeed and the criticism of failure is clearly ramped up. With the Olympics held only every 4 years, the pressure on these athletes has to be overwhelming.

My hope is that we all keep this in mind as we view the remainder of the Olympics. Just making it to the Olympics is an amazing accomplishment and when an athlete falls short or doesn’t reach the level that was expected doesn’t make them a failure. Take time to appreciate the process they have all gone through to get to this point and the sacrifices each individual has had to make to be this successful. We can all learn from their dedication and commitment and should also appreciate the amazing amount of sportsmanship that takes place as well. Sometimes the team sports have some unsportsman-like behavior, but individual events almost always have amazing sportsmanship and great appreciation for what their competitors are going through. We could all follow the lead of these competitors and treat our “competitors” with the courtesy, empathy, and respect that the athletes do. That’s not too much to ask, is it?!

Have a great week!

Coach K