This instalment of the popular media outlet “The Conversation” discusses an event that was the topic of conversations around the world in 2016; the most recent Olympics. Author, James Beale discusses the way in which elite athletes employ their emotions to cope with the pressures of performance, while at the same time putting them in a mindset, which would allow them to perform at their best. Spectators watched as Olympic men’s 100-meter champion Usain Bolt delivered on the performance we have all come to expect of him and one could wonder how someone could appear to be so laid back in their approach to such a high pressure situation. This paper suggests a closer look at the way in which an athlete like him has learnt to manage and use his emotions to his advantage.
Sports Psychology theory speaks of learning to control emotions and mood states with the aim of (amongst others) increasing self- awareness and decreasing performance anxiety. The link between an athlete’s emotions and their physical performance has been well documented in sports literature and the article mentions the term “chocking” as an example of one particular type of performance outcome which we may all be familiar with, where an athlete underperforms as a result of failing to effectively manage their emotions.