Sonia O’Sullivan: Dealing with the pressures and expectation of an Olympic year

Olympic year again. No other sporting event puts greater pressure and expectation on the athlete, no matter what their goal, and there is no sure or best way of dealing with it all.

It does start with the proper management of the training and preparations, and those expectations, all while balancing any outside influences and distractions that can come in-between.

Because in Olympic year, that sort of outside circus only grows as the Games approach. It would all be very simple if an athlete and coach were left to their own devices, to plan out their own training and racing schedule. But with just under 200 days to go, just more than six months until the Games begin in Paris, time is starting to press.

That’s also a lot of hours to fill, a lot of sessions to recover from and races to use as practice for the big dance waiting at the Stade de France when it all begins on Friday, July 26th.

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[ Sonia O’Sullivan: Serbia will be a true measure for Irish athletes ]

Not that the so-called Road to Paris only begins now. For the eight Irish athletes already qualified with automatic standards, they have the luxury of mapping out their journey, with the benefit of some flexibility for any unexpected hurdles they may encounter along the way.

My sense is it would be better to have something in the bag and go to Paris with a boost in confidence heading on to the biggest stage of all

For those yet to qualify (and there are currently 10 more Irish athletes within the qualifying quota, with more likely to follow), they will be more restricted in their planning. They will have to pick and choose events that give them the better opportunities to achieve the qualifying standards and ranking points required to fill the fields in Paris.

This can have positive and negative implications, particularly when the racing turns in to chasing times. That’s when athletes can be distracted and lose focus of the bigger picture.

Athletes also need to make smarter decisions in an Olympic year. Sometimes that means having a little more faith to back themselves, rather than thinking that they need to turn up and be at their best for every race available.

The focus needs to be both narrow and specific. There is also a need to put some blinkers on, to avoid looking at what others may be doing. That can often lead to questioning – am I doing the right thing?

In my view, the best any athlete and coach can do is not to overthink things, to keep things as simple as possible and not look too far ahead. Things can change a lot in six months, both mentally and physically.

Even at this stage there are so many pieces to an Olympic year, and many options for athletes on the road to Paris. The World Athletics calendar has plenty of options for athletes to pick short-term goals along the way, not put all their eggs in the Olympic basket.

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For any professional athlete, Olympic success is the ultimate fortune, but there is no harm in checking progress along the way. The one sure thing for many athletes in an Olympic year is the decisions they make for racing are not taken lightly: the risk factor is always looming if an athlete is not quite ready to race or overcoming an illness or injury. Better to be safe than sorry, get to the Olympic start line in the best shape possible for the ultimate decider.

There will also be chances for athletes to use the indoors to qualify, one anomaly that has not yet been pulled in to line by World Athletics, as indoor times now count for outdoor qualifying purposes.

There is no doubt some athletes will achieve qualifying times on these fast indoor tracks, mainly in North America. That option is not practically available to all athletes without taking the risk to travel many time zones around the world. There’s also the risk times run indoors won’t be easily replicated come Paris.

The new statistical listing of performances on “short tracks” adds nothing only a more cluttered way to navigate, when all you want to check is the latest indoor race performances, now intermingled with outdoor performances.

There are also the World Indoor Championships in early March in Glasgow, The World Cross-Country Championships in Serbia at the end of March, then the World Relays in the Bahamas in May, which will confirm relay team selections for Paris. (Ireland are currently inside the top 16 in two relays, ranked 10th in both women’s 4x400m and the mixed 4x400m.)

The decision will need to be made whether to sit on the current mark or make the trip and ensure qualification. This will require athletes focused on individual events to commit to the Bahamas to take advantage of potential automatic qualification with a top 14-placing.

In an Olympic year there is always a sense, too, that more work is required. There just needs to be more purpose in what the athlete is already doing

There is another complication in this Olympic year with the European Championships in Rome, the second week in June, which no doubt will be in some plans. Even though peaking for two championships so close together is not ideal, Rome certainly offers major championship practice and potential medals, which will be a lot harder to win in Paris.

My sense is it would be better to have something in the bag and go to Paris with a boost in confidence heading on to the biggest stage of all.

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Sometimes the physical preparation is less complicated than the mental management. There is the unavoidable talk of the Olympics, not just in the training environment, but when exposed to the media and sponsors, who all want a story and know more about the athlete.

This can all subconsciously add an extra layer of expectation and pressure, a reason why some athletes will avoid early season competition and just focus on quietly putting the work in.

In an Olympic year there is always a sense, too, that more work is required. There just needs to be more purpose in what the athlete is already doing; a greater focus on areas where you may be weak in or not enjoy, ensuring that every aspect of training is productive.

These are the controllable small things that every athlete can do a little better. There is also a need for coaches to lead by example, and even the media and sponsors, appreciating that there are no real secrets or special training.

In an Olympic year, as with any other, it’s simply about ticking the boxes each and every day along that road to Paris. It won’t be long coming now.