HPSNZ and Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games team psychologist, Dr Campbell Thompson, says planning for the Paris 2024 mental game is well underway and findings from the performance psychology team’s research into Tokyo delivery are being used to inform the preparation.
“Tokyo was a unique Olympics and Paralympics in so many ways,” says Campbell. “Because of COVID isolation and MIQ mandates, the psychology support team had I guess you’d say the luxury of being fully immersed in the Olympic and Paralympic bubble, and then had a decent amount of time for reviewing, research and reporting on the learnings from Tokyo.”
One of the most important insights from Tokyo has been the benefit of a group or whole organisation approach to psychology support.
“Athletes will usually be the principle focus for performance psychology. But in Tokyo almost half (45%) of our work in the psych team was with coaches, HP leaders and other support staff. It’s a real strength of New Zealand teams that there is an increasing focus on the psychological environment around the athlete, including how our own psychology as coaches, leaders and support staff impacts athletes’ state of mind when the big day arrives.
“In world leading teams you come across in New Zealand and overseas, coaches and high performance managers increasingly want to know how psychology can help them be more effective for their athlete charges,” says Campbell.
“A good example is a coach working with an individual performer in Tokyo who decided to work on his own mindset and emotions. A year later, he reported a significant impact on his coaching approach.
“By staying focused on the process and connected to bigger purpose and values in the face of performance and life pressure, he reckons he’s better able to help his athlete do the same. He enjoys his coaching much more and in that time his athlete has also progressed from being a finalist to winning medals in major pinnacle events.”
Equally, the role of the psychologist has to be a team approach, integrated with sports at home to deliver at Games time.
“Performance pressure and the resulting energy hit kicks in most strongly at Games time. This energy can fire up worry and anxiety, so athletes need to understand how to redirect the energy back into performance,” he says.
It is also the role of the psychologist to help athletes through the mental challenges if they don’t achieve the performance or outcome they were aiming for.
“In many ways our role is to help athletes to move through the performance cycle in a healthy way with the people they are closest to. Olympic and Paralympic athletes invest so much energy, hope and emotion, still knowing that winning at this level of sport is really elusive. That’s a really vulnerable place to be. Our athletes show a huge amount of courage in accepting that reality and taking up that challenge.
“For me, manaakitanga in the New Zealand team means working with sports, coaches and the wider support team to make sure the athletes know they are genuinely valued for their strengths as people and performers, not just for the outcomes they achieve.
“In Tokyo, manaaki was demonstrated really strongly in the way New Zealand athletes supported, sustained and nurtured each other across sport boundaries, particularly given that everyone was separated from friends and family. It was shown in the way athletes were welcomed into the Village on arrival and then again following competition no matter how it went on the day. A number of athletes including medal winners said this aspect of culture was a performance enhancer.”
With Paris just 12 months out, Campbell says athletes will be on different parts of the psychological journey, depending somewhat on whether they are considered a possible or a probable for selection.
“How will you cope with the qualification and selection phase, can you picture the performance you want to be capable of, and how will you stay on track with what you need to do to make it happen.”
To sum up, Campbell says athletes are often told to expect the unexpected. “To my mind, it is equally important to expect the expected.”
