Keeping the Olympic Torch Alight: Supporting athletes’ psychological wellbeing at the Paris Games

Around 10, 500 athletes will be competing at the Paris 2024 Games, which begin tomorrow. In the run up to the Games, athletes may experience stress related to various factors, such as the risk of injury and media obligations. In addition, athletes may, for example, be attending the Games as 'gold medal favourites' and will be carrying the weight of the nation on their shoulders. 

The weight of expectations

Expectations regarding their upcoming performances at a major event can be beneficial for athletes' confidence and motivation, increasing their profile and the profile of their sport. When athletes face mounting expectations from a range of people such as journalists, coaches and staff, as well as the public, this can be challenging for them to manage, and result in a fear of failure, reduced confidence, increased heart rate, nausea, and underperformance. 

In the long-term, the weight of these expectations has been reported to result in symptoms that could be likened to post-traumatic stress disorder. These threats to athlete wellbeing are often acknowledged by their support network, yet knowledge is lacking on how they support or thwart it.

How positive and social psychology can help

Both positive and social psychology offer a means which the athlete support network, including psychologists, psychiatrists and performance lifestyle advisers, can draw upon to aid athletes' psychological wellbeing [PWB]. Indeed, while roles and responsibilities within the athlete support network will vary, commonalities in approaches to athlete PWB can be found in the learnings of wellbeing sciences (e.g. positive psychology) and interpersonal expectancy (e.g. social psychology) literature. 

Below, we offer 10 suggestions, drawn from knowledge in these areas, for staff who are supporting sportspeople to flourish within and beyond the 2024 Olympic Games.

1. Psychology before, during, and after

Athletes should be supported through their whole journey from before the Games, to during and after the Games. It is important that any application of psychology is not merely dedicated to performance maintenance or enhancement, but to also provide spaces and systems for decompression and aftercare, and moments for reflection on and savouring in their experiences. 

2. PWB is collective and contagious

PWB is more than an individual experience. It can be shared and influenced through significant others. Practitioners should consider how, for example, emotions may be contagiously spread leading up to, during, or following competition; and how they can engage in social appraising, for example, shared reflection opportunities, to continuously evaluate and appraise athlete PWB.

3. Celebrate all storylines that unfold

During the Games, there will be a kaleidoscope of storylines playing out. Some athletes could view success as being at the Olympic Games, while others may view it as making the podium, or achieving gold. Athletes are too often labelled as a 'disappointment', even when this is incongruent with their own goals. We should consider how PWB is tied to these stories and that any notion of success should be celebrated regardless of whether a medal is won or not.

4. Caregiving and caretaking PWB

We have seen the increasing value placed on self-care, which places responsibility on the athlete. However, there is a need for all to reflect on and consider how support provision can act as 'caregivers' to athletes, or as 'caretakers' of environments that can sustainably nurture PWB at the Games.

5. Ameliorating suffering 

PWB can sometimes be discussed as a pursuit or optimal point for sport performers to attain. However, alternative understandings of a good life point to the importance of ameliorating suffering. One way of doing this could be through embedding principles of compassion and gratitude into decompression periods (during or after the Games) as a pathway to flourishing.

6. Developing and maintaining perspective 

Despite deflating comments within the media when athletes do not achieve what is expected of them, it is important for athletes and their support network to put the event and expectations into perspective. Winning at these events, while important for an athlete's career, is not a life-or-death situation. Developing such perspectives, in turn, may be a way for athletes to experience a sense of psychological richness in one's life that reaps benefits for PWB.

7. Blurring the lines between the ordinary and extraordinary

Athletes who are expected to win a medal are often labelled 'superhuman'. Such labels can create a culture where these athletes become fearful of talking about times where they fear failure. It is important that a culture is created around athletes where they feel able to talk authentically about and humanise their experiences. At the end of the day, having moments of fear is normal. 

8. Being mindful of interpersonal expectations  

Staff involved in high-performance sport, including coaches and sport psychologists, are advised to critically assess their expectations of athletes and understand how these can influence their behaviors towards them (e.g. attention given, language used). Where necessary, they should modify their behaviors associated with these expectations because, by behaving in line with these expectations, they could be amplifying the pressure on the athletes. Being mindful of our expectations could help alleviate some of these pressures. 

9. PWB doesn't just belong to psychology

Insights and support on PWB can be provided from a range of sources, from coaches to physiotherapists, performance directors, to significant others. This suggests that PWB is not just the responsibility of a psychologist but is indeed important to all within a multi- and trans-disciplinary Olympic team.

10. Make PWB sustainable 

Any course of action, intervention, or strategy needs to consider longevity in its impact on PWB. Some approaches, for example, avoidance-based coping, may have a desirable short-term impact on PWB by, for instance, reducing negative effect for an athlete but may not be sustainable when considering its influence on their wider support team. It is important to consider how to find balance and harmony across systems that could sustain PWB.

About the authors

• Dr Richard A.C. Simpson is a lecturer in psychology at Leeds Trinity University. Richard's work is dedicated to advancing understanding of psychological wellbeing within sport. Richard is a committee member for the BPS Division of Sport and Exercise Psychology.
• Dr Helen J. Heaviside is a chartered psychologist and senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Trinity University. Helen's work focuses on the formation and consequences of interpersonal expectancies within performance settings.

*The BPS's Psychology Matters campaign aims to demonstrate the benefits that harnessing the power of psychology can bring.