Experience versus Naivety
Dr Mark Bawden is out in Vancouver with the GB Speed Skating Team. Below are some of his thoughts on the Olympics as he reflects during his downtime.
Experience Vs Naivety – which mindset works best at the Games?
Who has the advantage, the experienced Olympian who knows what they are going to face or the fresh faced newcomer who approaches the Games with a certain sense of naivety?
There appears to be two schools of thought here. The experienced Olympian understands the Olympic environment and tends not to fall into the same practical traps that the Olympics can bring (getting too caught up with the media, engaging too much with village life, getting caught up in the circus of it all). Experienced Olympians tend to ensure that they manage the circus well and ensure that they focus on their performance in a very practical way. You see experienced Olympians making very performance focused decisions such as not going to the opening ceremony if they are performing the next day, or choosing not to engage in the social aspects of the Games. Treating the games the same as any other event has its advantages but it also has its setbacks. Firstly, the Games are not the same, and to try and make it so can result in not engaging with the inspiration that the Games can bring. Also trying to suppress the experience can often result in greater stress than the distraction that engaging in it can bring.
However, there are also advantages of being new to the environment. You tend to be less aware of what the Olympics means and can be unaware of the consequences that success or set backs brings. Sometimes being naïve to the Olympic experience can be a significant weapon in your psychological armoury. Usually the eyes of the media are on the more experienced campaigners and thus they have the opportunity to slip under the radar unnoticed and thus keep expectation to a minimum. The buzz from the Games can be a major factor in athletes being able to produce greater performances than they have ever been able to deliver. That buzz can often come from the inspiration that the Games brings. The key here is to use the Olympic environment to fuel positive emotion and not allow it to build stress. For many first time Olympians they engage in the inspiration and thus, the Games can feel like a wonderful opportunity and not a threat.
The Olympics is like any other event within the sport (e.g. in short track everything related to the performance environment is the same) but it is unlike any other event outside of the sport (the preparation, social and living environment). Thus, Olympians that tend to perform in this environment manage the distractions well and treat their performance pretty much the same as any other event.
In our team we have two skaters who have been to previous Olympics (Sarah Lindsay & Jon Eley) and the rest of the squad will be experiencing the Olympics for the first time. Who has the psychological advantage? At the last Games our only GB medal came from a first time Olympian. In short track our only medals have come from skaters who have experienced Olympics previously. However, statistically there appears to be no correlation between winning medals and having Olympic experience.
It would appear that the real winners are those who can blend their experience with the inspiration of the Games without becoming distracted by the circus itself. – a finely balanced approach that only a few can master.
