A mental battle

Faster, higher, stronger. Three words of encouragement from the founder of the International Olympics Committee, Pierre de Coubertin.

The words were introduced as the official Olympic motto in 1924 to encourage athletes that “giving one’s best and striving for personal excellence were worthwhile goals.”

It is an important life lesson that is still as equally valid today and one that many of Manchester Metropolitan University’s students and alumni were hoping to tuck under their belt as they prepared the make their mark on the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer.

But on March 24, 2020, 13 days after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic because of COVID-19, the International Olympic Committee and Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced that the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games would be postponed.

It was the first time since the opening of the modern Olympic Games in 1896 that the world’s most prominent sporting event would be delayed.

Suddenly what would normally be a very busy life, training, travelling the world and competing, came to an abrupt halt. The hard work and dedication many athletes had put in pursuing their Olympic dream suddenly seemed fruitless – potentially having a huge psychological impact.

But long before COVID-19, mental health of elite athletes has been a topic for discussion, from the ‘Olympic blues’ to impacts of injuries and public scrutiny.

Athlete identity

Dr Martin Turner, a Reader in Psychology at Manchester Metropolitan University and a Sports and Exercise Psychologist, says that while there is little evidence to suggest athletes experience mental health conditions over and above population norms, there are aspects to being an athlete that lends itself to some risk factors.

“The uncertainty that’s part of being an athlete can really put a big strain on them as human beings,” he said.

“Sport is uncontrollable and could essentially end at any time.

“But maybe one of the biggest risk factors and what is becoming more and more apparent when looking at the mental health of athletes is the idea of athlete identity. The idea that if you invest yourself wholly in something, then your identity becomes wrapped up in it. Being an athlete isn’t just part of what you do, it is the totality of who you are as a human being.”

He explained: “It often feels like a natural and instinctive thing to do for athletes – they don’t question whether they’re going to train or compete – that’s just what they do and who they are. But sometimes if their entire identity becomes consumed by being an athlete, and they sacrifice friends, family or other opportunities, and if being an athlete doesn’t quite work out for them, they can be in quite a precarious position.

“After all, if being an athlete is everything that you are, and you fail at this, then who are you?”

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the most anticipated sporting event of the year was postponed and the world was put into lockdown, many athletic careers were threatened and many athletes found themselves in this “precarious position.”

“Some people have likely felt that their opportunity is gone,” said Dr Turner.

“A year in the world of an athlete can be quite a long time and things change, people age and new athletes start to peak; it challenges their position in the team and it challenges their opportunity to get funding.

“Athletes’ goals are extremely specific and always in line with what competitions they have at which point of the year. The athletes aim to peak at a certain time – they want to be in the best condition they’ve ever been, performing better, stronger and faster than they’ve ever performed before. So, to postpone events and to push them back throws that all out of line – they peak at the wrong time, and it’s very disconcerting and can be really challenging for athletes.”

A “whirlwind”

Helen Scott is a Sport and Exercise Science student at Manchester Metropolitan University and Paralympic tandem sprint cyclist.

With her most recent partner, Sophie Thornhill, who is also a student at Manchester Metropolitan, the pair have eight world titles, two Paralympic medals and two world records.

Feeling on top of their game following a gold medal win at the World Championships in February 2020, ready to defend their winning title at the Paralympic Games for the first time in the summer, the event was postponed.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” said Scott.

“It was so disappointing to realise that all of our hard work in preparation for the Paralympics this summer wouldn’t come to fruition. Sophie and I were on a great streak – we were so focused on that goal.

“We had sat down and planned all of our training up to going to Tokyo and once it was postponed we had to completely reassess – we didn’t have the velodrome or the games anymore, so everything had to change.”

But shortly after the announcement, Thornhill made the difficult decision to retire and focus on her education, now studying History at the University. The decision left Scott without a partner and her career in question.

Scott said: “When Sophie decided she was going to retire I knew I didn’t have a cycling career without another partner, so that added another level of uncertainty in the middle of lockdown.

“I continued training, but I didn’t know how to train or what I was training for – I had to do a bit of everything and wasn’t able to be specific and focused, which is a big change for me.”

But the track cyclist would not allow herself to lose sight of the goal.

“Of course, I had a bit of a cry and a moan, but then I knew I had to crack on. I knew the Paralympics would happen eventually, I’d find myself a new partner, and training would not stop for it.”

Scott used lockdown to spend time back home in Birmingham with her family, turning their conservatory into a gym and focusing on different aspects of training she might not normally do.

“I decided I wanted to plan my own training for a little bit to work on things I never normally have enough time to do,” she said.

“I gave myself horrific sessions, and whilst everyone else was sunbathing in the garden, I’d be chewing my handlebars in effort.

“And at some points I did ask myself ‘why am I doing this?’ – it’s strange training not knowing when you might be able to compete again properly, but it was so important for me to keep the goal in sight.”

But the main support for Scott has been through technology and her fellow ‘Para Queens’ – a WhatsApp group she created with other para-athletes from a range of disciplines all working to boost morale and keep up team training sessions over video calls.

The rational pursuit of excellence

But other athletes couldn’t necessarily find the same motivation and drive to keep going. So, in response to the pandemic, Dr Turner offered a credo for athletes.

A credo is a set of beliefs which guide a person’s actions. Dr Turner’s credo was designed to help athletes to integrate a more logical and balanced thinking into their sport, rather than demanding success and reacting in extreme ways to setbacks.

“In this time of uncertainty, it is possible for athletes to take some perspective on what it is to be an athlete, and to take the opportunity to realign or reaffirm their vision of who they are and who they want to become,” explained Dr Turner.

“We know that athletes face constant pressure and adversity, and that current events can’t have been easy.

“They sacrifice parts of themselves – time with family and friends, things they enjoy doing, eating and drinking – they sacrifice all that for these bigger prizes and to really push themselves. And when that goal can’t even happen and you can’t even attempt that goal, it starts to put into question the sacrifices they made.

“So, it is hoped that the credo resonates with athletes, and gives them an opportunity to develop some balanced, rational, and helpful ways of approaching their sport from this point forth.”

The credo has been written in line with research evidence and is geared towards wellbeing. It is a philosophical viewpoint on some of the realities of being a human being. The credo includes phrases such as “I may want to be successful, perform consistently, be secure in my team, and keep developing my skills, but I know that these desires do not ‘have to’ be met.”

“I recognise that when my desires are not met, I fail, face setbacks, this is bad and unfortunate but not terrible or the end of the world.”

“Although I may feel frustrated and upset and my goal attainment may be hindered, I know that I have the capacity to tolerate failure, setbacks, and being let down. Importantly, I accept that facing tough situations that do not meet my desires is OK as this provides me with valuable opportunities to grow as a person.”

Facing adversity Scott is one of those athletes who recognises setbacks, and after a fair share of her own is keen to show you can keep going and come back stronger.

She said: “Athletes will always face adversity in their career whether it’s through rejections, injury, changing coaches, or funding.

“At the very beginning of my career I tried to make it as a solo rider, but I just wasn’t good enough – I thought it was all over and I was ready to give up. But fortunately for me, I was offered a chance to ride on the front of a tandem with the para-cycling squad and as clichéd as it sounds, as soon as I got on the tandem, I just loved it and I knew I was meant to do it.

“I do miss out on a lot; it’s busy trying to train your hardest, live your life and finish a degree, but it’s just finding a balance. I’ve been doing this for so long now my friends and family are very accommodating and willing to plan their events around my events, but as a new athlete it’s hard. You don’t want to do anything other than train, so you miss out on a lot more.

“But if you’re not happy outside your sport you can’t possibly perform well inside your sport, so that’s really important to remember.”

But even with so much success, recent events have made her stop and think about her career and reassess her goals.

“I’ve had an amazing run in my athletic career, but now Sophie has retired I have had to take time to reflect on my career,” she said.

“As an athlete goals and dreams change when different events happen.

“I’ve asked myself if I’m happy doing what I’m doing and if I don’t find a new partner and I can’t take my career any further, would I have achieved everything I want to? And the answer is yes.

“Now I’m working on getting a new stoker (rear rider) who has never been to a Paralympic games, so now my goal is of course to win but also making sure that someone else can have that same amazing experience as I did.”

Sports psychologist

Many elite athletes are equipped with sports psychologists or welfare officers within their clubs, who help athletes with many areas of their sporting life, such as to rehabilitate after injury, deal with anxiety, improve athletic performance and achieve their goals.

As a sports psychologist, Dr Turner has seen elite athletes struggle with that he calls ‘irrational beliefs’ – thoughts which are illogical with no reason or understanding.

He said: “Athletes can often feel that if they fail they’re a complete failure at everything – it’s the end of the world for them, and this way of thinking is not good for their mental health.

“One of the fallacies that we have about success in general is that being successful will in some way make us happy. And that’s not true. What you tend to see is people that achieve a goal tend to feel relief but then relief quickly turns into anxiety of having to repeat the success.”

And the anxiety is a feeling all too familiar to Scott.

“Everybody thought that Sophie and I were certain to win every time – they thought we were always guaranteed two gold medals and that’s a lot of pressure. Sport can be unpredictable and although we always go into a race knowing we’ve done everything we can to prepare and we always know we can race with a good time – you just never know.

“I always used to say that if someone can race quicker than us then they deserve to win because no-one has worked harder than us.”

At the World Championships in 2016, just a few months before the Rio Paralympic games, Scott and Thornhill lost their world title to the Dutch squad.

“It came out of the blue and really shook us,” said Scott.

“But I learnt so much from that moment and now I always train every day as though someone else is training harder.”

Scott and Thornhill went on to win a Gold medal in the kilo event, breaking the Paralympic record at the Rio Paralympic Games and have held their winning streak at competitions ever since.

But with the pressures of sport not going away any time soon and the future under COVID-19 still slightly uncertain, Dr Turner believes we can do more as a society around mental health in general – not just in sport.

“We can do more to educate children at a young age and support people much better in all contexts: workplaces, schools, universities, everywhere. And those things will contribute to athletes having a greater understanding of the mind and be able to look after themselves a little bit better sometimes.”