Sonia O’Sullivan: Athletes could take a leaf out of McIlroy’s book

There’s not much that goes on behind the scenes anymore that we don’t know about, not much that happens without being recorded or published in some form.

The Irish team arrived at the European Athletics Championships in Amsterdam earlier this week to a warm welcome at the airport, including from Adam, the official mascot, who we'll see jumping out of our TV screens over the next few days, celebrating with the medal-winning athletes.

There was a team launch last week, and shortly after the team landed in Amsterdam, there were photos appearing of the athletes completing their final preparations, running around the warm-up track, or happily checking into their hotel rooms. We know all that because most of them are engaged with the various social media platforms.

This is the first senior championships for a large number of the Irish athletes. It is an exciting time, and in ways they’re right to embrace it.

I can remember back to 1990 when I first competed at the European Championships in Split, Yugoslavia, as it was at the time. I was still on a scholarship at college in the US, and it felt like nearly every race I ran was a personal best.

Those Europeans were a great learning experience. I ran the 3,000m, and comfortably qualified for the final. I was still young and certainly naive and even though I led into the final lap, the maturity and closing speed required at that level just wasn’t there, and I finished 11th. Still, I ran another personal best, and a new Irish record.

As disappointed as I was, there were still many positives to take back to Villanova, as I started to look ahead to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The lessons from Split were many, and stood to me in later years, as I ran faster times. That said, I never thought I’d go on to win six European championship medals.

So, for many Irish athletes, that future is being sown in Amsterdam, especially for those competing at a higher level of competition than they have ever experienced before.

It can be quite daunting to line-up against some well-known athletes, with much faster times beside their names. I know I once felt that way, thinking my name stood out like it didn’t belong there, until I was actually on a comparable level. With that came increased confidence and belief in my ability.

It's just that transfer of information was much slower in 1990. No tweets, no Instagram, and no Snapchat. A photo in the newspaper was big news. Now, it seems that information is everywhere, even with so much sport competing for it. Euro 2016 is reaching its climax, the Tour de France is starting to gather momentum, Wimbledon, all that. And athletics needs to find its space too.

Shout too loud

But I’m not always comfortable with this much social media interaction by athletes leading into a big competition. I was always a bit reluctant to shout too loud, say too much, before a major competition, even when I knew everything was going well in training. I didn’t want to jinx myself in any way, and would rather stay quiet and let my feet do the talking when the time came to race.

It is a different world now for athletes, and there is more than just the pressure to perform. There seems to be a pressure to maintain relations with sponsors, friends and family. It’s so difficult to keep everyone happy, and stay focused on the most important job at hand – to run the race and get the best result you can

Quiet confidence is one way of achieving success; contain the emotions and keep people guessing. It’s not important that everyone knows your every move and final preparations. It is interesting, of course, but at what cost? What is more important – winning or keeping everyone happy?

I remember spending time in Split, before those European Championships, away from all distractions. Easy runs and meal times were the structure of each day, making sure to drink enough water and adapt to the warm Mediterranean conditions.

There was very little contact whatsoever with home. This was the time to focus and put all the energy where it needed to be. No worries or distractions, just willing the time away as you counted down the hours to race time. Certainly not worried about that people back home were thinking.

Which also brings me to Rory McIlroy's decision to decline his Olympic place, which I'm sure was not easy.

In some ways, in order to keep the peace, it would have been easier for him to just suck it up and go to Rio. But Rory is a great athlete, and one of the things that make any athlete great is their ability to make a decision that will not please everyone, or create a divide.

Hard decisions

Ultimately, as a champion, you have to look at what is best for yourself. You have to make the hard decisions and sometimes this can create conflict and tensions in the mind, not something that any athlete needs when trying to focus on competing and delivering the best result they can.

So maybe some Irish athletes can take a leaf from Rory’s book, and think more about what they need to do to get results on the big stage. Individuality must shine through, and you must be able to go against the grain, do everything possible to maintain the routine, and structure, that has got you here. It means being brave and thinking about yourself and what is best for you, and you don’t always need social media to show that.