Full Transcript for Why Coming Home Can Be the Hardest Part of the Olympics — with Dr Karen Howells

Commonwealth Games. 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:01.500 The research so far really has been constrained 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:06.199 to the Olympic Games and the Paralympics. So 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:09.900 there's research in both, both in the Summer 00:04:09.900 --> 00:04:12.960 Olympics and Paralympics and the Winter Olympics 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.139 and Paralympics. We haven't yet started to explore 00:04:16.139 --> 00:04:18.579 other international events like the Commonwealth 00:04:18.579 --> 00:04:22.319 Games or the FIFA World Cup or the Tour de France, 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:25.980 anything like that. We have at the moment just... 00:04:26.189 --> 00:04:29.509 looked at this one big event. That's not to say 00:04:29.509 --> 00:04:32.250 that we can't take things from our understanding 00:04:32.250 --> 00:04:35.129 of that and apply them to, in this case, the 00:04:35.129 --> 00:04:37.269 Commonwealth Games. So I would say anything that 00:04:37.269 --> 00:04:40.509 I'm talking about from the research that refers 00:04:40.509 --> 00:04:42.750 to either the Olympic Games or the Paralympic 00:04:42.750 --> 00:04:45.050 Games can still be applied to the Commonwealth 00:04:45.050 --> 00:04:47.649 Games. Although I do that with the caveat that 00:04:47.649 --> 00:04:49.889 we haven't actually researched that yet. It's 00:04:49.889 --> 00:04:52.529 understandable that when the Games are over, 00:04:52.629 --> 00:04:54.910 the coach disappears off on holiday, the psychologist 00:04:54.910 --> 00:04:58.079 disappears off. on holiday the S &C coach goes, 00:04:58.180 --> 00:05:00.860 they take a break. And that's absolutely right 00:05:00.860 --> 00:05:03.019 for their mental health and wellbeing, because 00:05:03.019 --> 00:05:05.779 we've got to look after them as well. But just 00:05:05.779 --> 00:05:09.060 at the point that the athletes really need support, 00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:12.879 the support structure that has absolutely enveloped 00:05:12.879 --> 00:05:16.579 them for at least six months previously, potentially 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:18.620 four years, they're suddenly gone. The coach 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:21.399 may be on holiday, may have lost his or her job. 00:05:21.600 --> 00:05:23.680 The sports psychologist is taking a break and 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.060 the athlete's gone away to term, other than their 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:28.089 own social network. works of their family so 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:30.370 i suppose that's a very long way of saying i 00:05:30.370 --> 00:05:33.250 think this is why we're not very a we're not 00:05:33.250 --> 00:05:35.250 very good at and b it hasn't been looked at because 00:05:35.250 --> 00:05:38.230 the focus really has been on performance and 00:05:38.230 --> 00:05:40.589 supporting the athletes support to get to that 00:05:40.589 --> 00:05:43.509 point over a number of studies some which i've 00:05:43.509 --> 00:05:46.189 been involved in and and some which um some other 00:05:46.189 -->

00:05:48.310 researchers across europe have been involved 00:05:48.310 --> 00:05:52.970 in athletes tend to be aware that there is this 00:05:52.970 --> 00:05:55.250 thing called the post -olympic blues it's on 00:05:55.250 --> 00:05:57.089 the periphery it's not Not at the forefront of 00:05:57.089 --> 00:05:59.649 their mind, but they're aware that they may feel 00:05:59.649 --> 00:06:03.629 a bit low after the games. But many first timers 00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:05.990 and the first timers are those, you know, who 00:06:05.990 --> 00:06:09.209 it takes by surprise. They go, but I will be 00:06:09.209 --> 00:06:12.750 fine. It won't happen to me. And although we 00:06:12.750 --> 00:06:15.589 don't talk about it, certainly in any of the 00:06:15.589 --> 00:06:17.990 academic papers, but there's this this idea of 00:06:17.990 --> 00:06:20.589 something called arrival fallacy, which is the 00:06:20.589 --> 00:06:24.490 belief that once we have achieved our goal, once 00:06:24.490 --> 00:06:27.379 we got there. We have arrived. We have achieved. 00:06:27.680 --> 00:06:30.439 And in my research, I talk a lot about the Olympic 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:33.180 dream. Now, the dream may have been held for 00:06:33.180 --> 00:06:35.740 many, many years. Even prior to being an elite 00:06:35.740 --> 00:06:37.819 athlete, it could have been a dream from childhood. 00:06:38.079 --> 00:06:40.800 And once I get it, my life, you know, I will 00:06:40.800 --> 00:06:42.879 have arrived. I will have achieved. That's it. 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:46.360 My life is fulfilled. And even when they're told, 00:06:46.439 --> 00:06:48.699 you know, afterwards, you know, you may feel 00:06:48.699 --> 00:06:51.600 feelings of loss, loss of purpose. They kind 00:06:51.600 --> 00:06:53.480 of, yeah, no, I've heard of this, but it's not 00:06:53.480 --> 00:06:55.220 going to happen to me because once I... achieved 00:06:55.220 --> 00:06:57.939 this and actually what they find afterwards is 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:00.889 actually life hasn't changed. So in my original 00:07:00.889 --> 00:07:04.689 study that I did, carried out after the Rio Olympic 00:07:04.689 --> 00:07:07.949 Games with Dr. Matthias Lucasen, we talked to 00:07:07.949 --> 00:07:11.730 a number of female athletes because at the time 00:07:11.730 --> 00:07:15.029 there was probably, I'm not going to say there's 00:07:15.029 --> 00:07:17.050 a huge amount of evidence, but female athletes 00:07:17.050 --> 00:07:20.329 potentially experience it more than male athletes. 00:07:20.490 --> 00:07:22.550 But I'm saying that very cautiously because we 00:07:22.550 --> 00:07:24.769 don't have a huge amount of evidence to suggest 00:07:24.769 --> 00:07:27.769 that. But we looked at female athletes and one 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:30.629 of them likened... it to getting married and 00:07:30.629 --> 00:07:33.449 the kind of wedding blues and and she said so 00:07:33.449 --> 00:07:35.930 she was married she said build up to this day 00:07:35.930 --> 00:07:38.149 and it's a fairytale wedding you've always dreamed 00:07:38.149 --> 00:07:40.610 of and the day is just perfect you know the dress 00:07:40.610 --> 00:07:43.209 is perfect you look amazing you're the center 00:07:43.209 --> 00:07:45.329 of attention and you wake up the next morning 00:07:45.329 --> 00:07:47.649 and you're in bed with the same man and there's 00:07:47.649 --> 00:07:49.350 still hairs in the sink you know so there was 00:07:49.350 --> 00:07:52.209 this kind of light humor that that she likened 00:07:52.209 --> 00:07:55.189 it to that actually it doesn't matter what the 00:07:55.189 --> 00:07:57.670 big experience is but when you've really built 00:07:57.670 --> 00:08:00.430 up to it actually doesn't matter how wonderful 00:08:00.430 --> 00:08:03.569 it is nothing changes and and that nothing change 00:08:03.569 --> 00:08:06.610 was also likened to we talked about the mundane 00:08:06.610 --> 00:08:10.069 in in our first study where certainly in the 00:08:10.069 --> 00:08:13.149 build -up to the big games so as we are speaking 00:08:13.149 --> 00:08:15.569 now and recording this many athletes are out 00:08:15.569 --> 00:08:18.490 on their camps you know wherever that is so i'm 00:08:18.490 --> 00:08:20.490 in wales at the moment and welsh athletics have 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:22.850 just got flown out to portugal so they've got 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:25.129 their camp in portugal before flying back to 00:08:25.129 --> 00:08:27.740 glasgow for the for the commonwealth games they 00:08:27.740 --> 00:08:29.959 will have been they from the moment they arrive 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:32.519 in Portugal will be looked after they will be 00:08:32.519 --> 00:08:35.379 fed they will be given their accommodation they 00:08:35.379 --> 00:08:37.879 will be driven places you know they will have 00:08:37.879 --> 00:08:41.480 a a program to stick to they then turn up in 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:43.700 your athletes will turn up in Glasgow and and 00:08:43.700 --> 00:08:46.440 they'll they'll be either in a village or they 00:08:46.440 --> 00:08:49.480 will be in a a dedicated hotel but they will 00:08:49.480 --> 00:08:52.720 be in a dedicated space where everything is provided 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:55.220 for them athletes I've spoken to who've talked 00:08:55.220 --> 00:08:58.080 about the Olympic village I've said, it's almost 00:08:58.080 --> 00:09:00.200 like being a child in a sweetie shop. Whatever 00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:03.019 you want is there 24 hours a day. And it's just, 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:06.500 wow, amazing. So everything is provided for them. 00:09:06.519 --> 00:09:07.820 And then they get home. And they've got this 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:09.899 period away from training. One of my participants 00:09:09.899 --> 00:09:12.080 said, and I had to go grocery shopping. I had 00:09:12.080 --> 00:09:15.480 to go to Tesco. And I just had to go back to 00:09:15.480 --> 00:09:17.519 doing all these mundane things.

And actually, 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:19.740 I didn't like it. I don't want to do these things. 00:09:20.500 --> 00:09:23.279 I've been held up. And we talked about celebrity. 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:26.460 They're celebrity for a period. time and then 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:29.639 they're not it it's all gone so you know in in 00:09:29.639 --> 00:09:32.580 terms of the athlete expectations first of all 00:09:32.580 --> 00:09:33.740 they don't think it's going to happen to them 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:37.240 and the the surprise that nothing has changed 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:39.639 is i don't think any of them have ever used the 00:09:39.639 --> 00:09:41.700 word shock but i suppose that's my interpretation 00:09:41.700 --> 00:09:44.460 the shock that even if they've won a gold medal 00:09:44.460 --> 00:09:47.139 and and across the studies you know we've looked 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:49.460 at those who achieved their goals who didn't 00:09:49.460 --> 00:09:51.620 achieve their goals who won medals who didn't 00:09:51.620 --> 00:09:54.980 win medals and although the experiences are slight 00:09:55.049 --> 00:09:56.990 different and the intensity is different even 00:09:56.990 --> 00:09:59.389 the gold medalists but i thought my life was 00:09:59.389 --> 00:10:01.009 going to be different i thought it was all going 00:10:01.009 --> 00:10:03.769 to change and actually it hasn't you know we 00:10:03.769 --> 00:10:07.070 we i think as i'm going to say as sports fans 00:10:07.070 --> 00:10:09.370 you know putting perhaps a different hat on we 00:10:09.370 --> 00:10:12.169 also we're very fickle you know we absolutely 00:10:12.169 --> 00:10:15.090 buy into the sporting event that's going on so 00:10:15.090 --> 00:10:17.509 depending on your your interests you know you 00:10:17.509 --> 00:10:20.210 may have absolutely bought into wimbledon or 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:23.850 tour de france or the world cup and it is everything 00:10:24.269 --> 00:10:27.549 in the UK, we were even talking, it didn't happen, 00:10:27.629 --> 00:10:30.450 but about maybe children being allowed the day 00:10:30.450 --> 00:10:33.889 off school because England were playing at one 00:10:33.889 --> 00:10:35.710 o 'clock UK time, one o 'clock in the morning 00:10:35.710 --> 00:10:37.470 UK time. You know, children should be allowed 00:10:37.470 --> 00:10:40.070 to watch this and they're absolutely buying into 00:10:40.070 --> 00:10:42.309 it. But very quickly when it's over, we switch 00:10:42.309 --> 00:10:44.429 our focus to something else. And whilst we may 00:10:44.429 --> 00:10:46.850 remember what has just happened, it's gone, right? 00:10:46.970 --> 00:10:50.129 Now let's, the next one. And I'm guilty of this. 00:10:50.230 --> 00:10:52.549 I was watching Rumble then, a little bit of the 00:10:52.549 --> 00:10:55.340 World Cup, and now... Tour de France. And Wimbledon's 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:57.779 gone. As a fan, you know, I'm not interested 00:10:57.779 --> 00:10:59.740 in what they're doing now. I'm now focused on 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:02.100 something else. So we're very fickle. But the 00:11:02.100 --> 00:11:04.440 athletes can, well, you know, I was centre of 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:07.000 attention. I was celebrity. You know, I'm television, 00:11:07.279 --> 00:11:10.700 media. And I can talk a little bit in a minute 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:13.580 about the flight home. But all of a sudden, almost 00:11:13.580 --> 00:11:17.440 nobody. And that is very, very difficult to process 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:20.960 and really to make sense of. So the first study, 00:11:21.139 --> 00:11:23.720 your listeners, and viewers would probably think 00:11:23.720 --> 00:11:27.120 of small scale. So my research, all of my research 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:29.799 is qualitative. So it's about the lived experience. 00:11:30.179 --> 00:11:32.299 So both studies are qualitative, which is really 00:11:32.299 --> 00:11:36.000 about talking to people. So I don't do questionnaires 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.539 and psychometric tests and so on. So my first 00:11:38.539 --> 00:11:41.240 study only involved four female athletes, four 00:11:41.240 --> 00:11:44.659 female Olympians, who I interviewed six weeks 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.580 after the Rio Olympic Games and then six months 00:11:47.580 --> 00:11:50.600 later. And in those interviews, really trying 00:11:50.600 --> 00:11:53.200 to get an in -depth and that's what qualitative 00:11:53.200 --> 00:11:55.419 does it looks at depth rather than breadth really 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:59.120 in -depth understanding of the journey so becoming 00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:02.059 an olympian the olympic experience and the post 00:12:02.059 --> 00:12:05.620 -olympic experience in research We have an ethical 00:12:05.620 --> 00:12:08.519 responsibility not to disclose who our participants 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:11.740 are. So we have to anonymise them. However, I'm 00:12:11.740 --> 00:12:13.539 going to disclose who one of my participants 00:12:13.539 --> 00:12:16.000 was for a very good reason. So in my first study, 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:20.799 I interviewed the Paul Walter, Holly Bradshaw. 00:12:20.960 --> 00:12:23.620 So Holly Bradshaw, at the point that I interviewed 00:12:23.620 --> 00:12:27.720 her, had competed two, three Olympic Games. After 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.940 we'd completed that study, she contacted me and 00:12:30.940 --> 00:12:33.320 we developed a friendship and then a working 00:12:33.320 --> 00:12:36.779 relationship. And she decided she wanted to do 00:12:36.779 --> 00:12:39.399 research into the post -Olympic blues with me 00:12:39.399 --> 00:12:43.299 and Matthias Lekersen. So she joined our research 00:12:43.299 --> 00:12:46.440 team and she was then part of our second study. 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:50.440 She accessed the participants as an Olympian 00:12:50.440 --> 00:12:53.820 herself and she was our focus group facilitator. 00:12:53.899 --> 00:12:56.299 So just going

on to the second study. Our second 00:12:56.299 --> 00:12:59.799 study, the intention was that we would find out 00:12:59.799 --> 00:13:03.620 from athletes in focus groups. groups of four 00:13:03.620 --> 00:13:07.360 to eight athletes where Holly Bradshaw was the 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:09.740 facilitator so she was talking to them about 00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:12.899 their experiences but she was also researcher 00:13:12.899 --> 00:13:15.700 as participant because she was also an Olympian 00:13:15.700 --> 00:13:19.159 we ultimately used her comments as well as Dave 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:22.200 but the intention was that in these focus groups 00:13:22.200 --> 00:13:26.299 we would have sufficient content to start to 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:28.440 develop an intervention. We were getting the 00:13:28.440 --> 00:13:31.059 athlete voices. That didn't happen because of 00:13:31.059 --> 00:13:33.440 what came out of the focus groups, because of 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.320 what the athletes talked about. It made us realise 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.720 that actually we needed to take a step back and 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.860 get a better understanding of what the post -sympathetic 00:13:42.860 --> 00:13:45.899 blues is really about. I don't like to use the 00:13:45.899 --> 00:13:48.519 word causes, but the kind of antecedents, the 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:52.879 mechanisms that lead to it. The two studies together. 00:13:52.970 --> 00:13:56.250 The first really identifies what we think the 00:13:56.250 --> 00:13:58.350 post -Olympic Blues is, how it is experienced 00:13:58.350 --> 00:14:01.190 by participants. And the second study builds 00:14:01.190 --> 00:14:05.029 on that, but also starts to talk about what the 00:14:05.029 --> 00:14:07.830 athletes want. And I think that's really important 00:14:07.830 --> 00:14:11.149 in that second study. That was the study you 00:14:11.149 --> 00:14:13.610 asked me to talk about initially, because it... 00:14:13.769 --> 00:14:17.549 It really, the athletes were brutal about their 00:14:17.549 --> 00:14:20.289 interpretations of what they went through, but 00:14:20.289 --> 00:14:23.649 also what they think they need. Now, I'm not 00:14:23.649 --> 00:14:25.370 going to say just because they think they need 00:14:25.370 --> 00:14:28.789 A means it's the right thing, but we have to 00:14:28.789 --> 00:14:31.210 listen to the athletes. And what came out of 00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:34.289 that study was, I'm going to say for me as a 00:14:34.289 --> 00:14:37.330 sports psychologist, both shocking and humbling. 00:14:37.330 --> 00:14:40.809 And yeah, very interesting. In the first study, 00:14:40.929 --> 00:14:44.330 there was a thread. that went through everything 00:14:44.330 --> 00:14:46.309 that the athletes talked about. And this was 00:14:46.309 --> 00:14:49.409 really reinforced by the second study. So the 00:14:49.409 --> 00:14:51.669 first study, four participants, and second study, 00:14:51.769 --> 00:14:54.970 14 participants. And those 14 participants really 00:14:54.970 --> 00:14:57.730 reiterated what the four participants in that 00:14:57.730 --> 00:15:00.350 first study said. This is related really to celebrity 00:15:00.350 --> 00:15:04.009 identity. So from... I suppose leaving aside 00:15:04.009 --> 00:15:07.129 the athlete journey, maybe from the age of 10, 00:15:07.269 --> 00:15:09.590 12, working hard to become an elite athlete. 00:15:09.610 --> 00:15:12.570 At the point that an elite athlete becomes a 00:15:12.570 --> 00:15:16.029 potential Olympian, Paralympian, an elite athlete 00:15:16.029 --> 00:15:18.210 who's representing their country at Commonwealth 00:15:18.210 --> 00:15:21.789 Games, for example, that tends to happen at an 00:15:21.789 --> 00:15:24.789 event. So a qualifying event, different sports 00:15:24.789 --> 00:15:27.509 do it in different ways. But at the point that 00:15:27.509 --> 00:15:31.090 an athlete realises they are going to the Games, 00:15:31.289 --> 00:15:33.940 their life... does change. I've been quite heavily 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:36.879 involved in swimming over the years and was at 00:15:36.879 --> 00:15:40.659 the Commonwealth Trials back in 2014. And when 00:15:40.659 --> 00:15:43.120 the athletes were selected for the Commonwealth 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:46.879 Trials, selected for their country, they went 00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.899 into media training straight away. They were 00:15:49.899 --> 00:15:52.340 trained in how to speak to the media because 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:54.279 from that point onwards, they were going to be 00:15:54.279 --> 00:15:56.340 in front of the camera talking to the Scottish 00:15:56.340 --> 00:15:59.379 press, the Welsh press, the English press, media 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:02.460 training. They then went to a kitting out ceremony. 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:04.840 We've seen this with the Commonwealth Games and 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:08.460 it's big on social media. They go to a location 00:16:08.460 --> 00:16:12.240 and they get given their formal opening ceremony 00:16:12.240 --> 00:16:16.379 outfits. They get given their competition clothing. 00:16:16.659 --> 00:16:19.720 And often it's in a big hall and there are just 00:16:19.720 --> 00:16:22.580 piles of clothes that they kind of grab. And, 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:24.379 you know, again, it's like this kind of sweetie 00:16:24.379 --> 00:16:26.779 shop. But from that point onwards, everything 00:16:26.779 --> 00:16:30.299 becomes about this identity. The identity as 00:16:30.299 --> 00:16:32.299 an Olympian, the identity as a... Paralympian, 00:16:32.299 --> 00:16:34.820 that identity. And we see that with the Commonwealth 00:16:34.820 --> 00:16:38.679 Games. There was some controversy on social media 00:16:38.679 --> 00:16:43.220 over the Team Scotland's outfits. But even that 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:46.559 controversy just showed that the way that they 00:16:46.559 --> 00:16:50.159 were dressing the athletes

and starting to talk 00:16:50.159 --> 00:16:52.480 about the athlete as a commodity. The athletes 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:54.620 are being dressed in a certain way. They've been 00:16:54.620 --> 00:16:56.879 given clothing. They've been given media training. 00:16:57.139 --> 00:16:59.080 They've been moulded. And the athletes started 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.049 to talk about commodified. They were commodification. 00:17:02.409 --> 00:17:04.710 They were just commodities. And they were being 00:17:04.710 --> 00:17:07.390 moulded in the way that they looked, the way 00:17:07.390 --> 00:17:09.369 they dressed, the way they behaved to the cameras. 00:17:09.589 --> 00:17:12.170 But this also had a celebrity element to it. 00:17:12.190 --> 00:17:14.650 They're in the spotlight. They're local media 00:17:14.650 --> 00:17:18.529 interviewing. They're giving autographs to children. 00:17:18.730 --> 00:17:22.089 Children go to swim camps and athletic camps 00:17:22.089 --> 00:17:24.630 and get to meet the athletes who are going off 00:17:24.630 --> 00:17:27.190 to the games. Everything is about building them 00:17:27.190 --> 00:17:29.890 as celebrities. So all the while they're training. 00:17:30.190 --> 00:17:32.049 They're preparing for their performance. There 00:17:32.049 --> 00:17:35.589 is a new level and this new level is about celebrity, 00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:38.670 about becoming, and we see this in the Olympic 00:17:38.670 --> 00:17:42.650 Games, becoming an Olympian. Now, this is something 00:17:42.650 --> 00:17:46.569 that I think is probably specific to the Paralympic 00:17:46.569 --> 00:17:49.630 and the Olympic Games, that I am struggling to 00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:52.450 find the word for the Commonwealth Games. It 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:56.170 is not a, there's no word that says I am an Olympian 00:17:56.170 --> 00:17:58.529 or I am a Paralympian for the Commonwealth Games 00:17:58.529 --> 00:18:01.900 as far as I'm aware. But certainly with the Paralympics, 00:18:01.900 --> 00:18:04.420 the Olympics, they become an Olympian, become 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:07.220 a Paralympian. And they're allowed to put O -L 00:18:07.220 --> 00:18:12.519 -Y -P -L -Y after their name. So it's being reinforced 00:18:12.519 --> 00:18:15.359 here. They then get to the village. And this 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:18.390 will be the case at... at the Commonwealth Games 00:18:18.390 --> 00:18:20.789 as well. They're celebrities. Everything they 00:18:20.789 --> 00:18:23.069 want, it's there. They want a massage, it's there. 00:18:23.150 --> 00:18:25.569 They want food, it's there. Whatever they desire, 00:18:25.869 --> 00:18:28.529 it's there. And certainly at the Olympic Games 00:18:28.529 --> 00:18:31.289 and my participants in the first study talked 00:18:31.289 --> 00:18:34.289 about this, they're even given little cards that 00:18:34.289 --> 00:18:37.700 say, once an Olympian, always an Olympian. Everything 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:40.700 is reinforcing this identity and that identity 00:18:40.700 --> 00:18:44.900 is internalised. And we see this through both 00:18:44.900 --> 00:18:46.759 of my studies and all the other studies that 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:49.720 have been done subsequently. This idea that I 00:18:49.720 --> 00:18:53.119 am an Olympian, I am a Paralympian. It has become 00:18:53.119 --> 00:18:57.720 part of my identity. So that is one of the most 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:02.579 important elements in terms of the build up and 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:04.940 what makes the Olympic Games and the Paralympic 00:19:04.940 --> 00:19:07.119 Games potentially different is this. this sense 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:09.339 of identity but we're going to see it in the 00:19:09.339 --> 00:19:12.440 commonwealth games you know with the the outfitting 00:19:12.440 --> 00:19:14.619 and the way they're treated in the village to 00:19:14.619 --> 00:19:16.559 a certain extent i'm going to leave the performance 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:19.420 out of it because we we see the performance we 00:19:19.420 --> 00:19:21.259 know the athletes have prepared for the performance 00:19:21.259 --> 00:19:25.039 they they do their best And I am a believer, 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:27.259 and it doesn't matter whether we're talking about 00:19:27.259 --> 00:19:30.380 an eight -year -old swimmer doing their first 00:19:30.380 --> 00:19:33.200 50 meters butterfly, or we're talking about Michael 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:35.599 Phelps at the Olympic Games doing his 200 fly 00:19:35.599 --> 00:19:40.579 in 2008 and his goggles coming off. But it doesn't 00:19:40.579 --> 00:19:43.220 matter what level you're at. I believe that the 00:19:43.220 --> 00:19:46.140 majority of athletes are doing their best. So 00:19:46.140 --> 00:19:48.440 at the Olympic Games, the current Olympic Games, 00:19:48.660 --> 00:19:51.039 the athletes are performing to their very best. 00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.539 And they have to record. reconcile their performances 00:19:53.539 --> 00:19:56.440 with their expectations Holly in actually in 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:59.859 both studies talked about not quite meeting goals 00:19:59.859 --> 00:20:03.240 or expectations she came fourth which any athlete 00:20:03.240 --> 00:20:05.759 will know is probably the worst position to come 00:20:05.759 --> 00:20:08.700 because it the that goal of podium was just so 00:20:08.700 --> 00:20:11.950 close but just just out of reach And they have 00:20:11.950 --> 00:20:15.490 to reconcile that over time and look at their 00:20:15.490 --> 00:20:18.329 own performances and work out, could I have done 00:20:18.329 --> 00:20:21.769 anything differently? Reflect on it. And elite 00:20:21.769 --> 00:20:23.839 athletes are actually very good at it. at doing 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.599 that so in terms of the journey and i am going 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:28.500 to leave the the performance element out of it 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:30.799 because we know so much about that already so

00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.559 then we have the coming home and this is something 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:37.000 that if there are any coaches listening any national 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:39.380 governing bodies this is something that i'm absolutely 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:42.980 passionate about and was i'm going to say one 00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:46.299 of the the most predominant elements of both 00:20:46.299 --> 00:20:49.440 studies and this was the coming home so we have 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:52.680 athletes who have formed and and the buzz of 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:54.180 the Olympic Games. I'm going to say the buzz 00:20:54.180 --> 00:20:56.970 of the Commonwealth Games. carries on until the 00:20:56.970 --> 00:20:58.750 athletes come home particularly if we've had 00:20:58.750 --> 00:21:01.450 a good out so in in both the studies I carried 00:21:01.450 --> 00:21:06.009 out participants talked about the 2016 Rio Olympic 00:21:06.009 --> 00:21:09.349 Games and they talked about turning up at Rio 00:21:09.349 --> 00:21:12.809 de Janeiro airport and going out going in the 00:21:12.809 --> 00:21:14.930 airport now onto the pan and there there's a 00:21:14.930 --> 00:21:18.769 British Airways Boeing jet and there's been painted 00:21:18.769 --> 00:21:22.990 gold because 2016 Team GB did superbly well so 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:25.940 there's this this plane painted gold to celebrate 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:29.380 the experiences, to celebrate the achievements. 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:32.980 And as a sports fan, I suppose, and as a sports 00:21:32.980 --> 00:21:35.500 psychologist, I watched them on the television 00:21:35.500 --> 00:21:39.039 arrive at Heathrow. And here's this gold jet 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:42.819 on the path and the steps. And then the gold 00:21:42.819 --> 00:21:45.420 medal winners come down and they're all in their 00:21:45.420 --> 00:21:48.059 kit. And it's just, wow, this is amazing. And 00:21:48.059 --> 00:21:52.619 it made for superb television. And then maybe 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:54.950 a day or two later, they went. off on the open 00:21:54.950 --> 00:21:58.450 top bus around london and you know crowds cheering 00:21:58.450 --> 00:22:01.450 and we have this wonderful media spectacle that 00:22:01.450 --> 00:22:05.650 as viewers as fans we are going yeah wow this 00:22:05.650 --> 00:22:08.670 is amazing teams like great superb so what we 00:22:08.670 --> 00:22:10.869 found in the studies is when you scratch the 00:22:10.869 --> 00:22:13.650 surface of that goal the experience for the athletes 00:22:13.650 --> 00:22:17.329 was horrific so when the athletes got on to and 00:22:17.329 --> 00:22:19.650 and i'm going to say this was this was talked 00:22:19.650 --> 00:22:21.950 about a lot in the first study in the second 00:22:21.950 --> 00:22:24.670 study it was the overall overwhelming conversation 00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:27.809 in all of the focus groups where individuals 00:22:27.809 --> 00:22:31.549 had been to Rio and

and we know it happened in 00:22:31.549 --> 00:22:34.250 Tokyo as well although to a lesser extent because 00:22:34.250 --> 00:22:36.690 of Covid and we know that it happened in Paris 00:22:36.690 --> 00:22:39.849 in 2024 although not with a jet this was with 00:22:39.849 --> 00:22:43.069 a train coming back to the UK. When the athletes 00:22:43.069 --> 00:22:46.130 got onto the flight they were allocated seats 00:22:46.130 --> 00:22:49.269 and they were allocated seats in accordance with 00:22:49.269 --> 00:22:51.970 their performance so gold medal winners went 00:22:51.970 --> 00:22:54.819 into first class The Brazilian bronze went into 00:22:54.819 --> 00:22:57.859 business and everybody else was seated in accordance 00:22:57.859 --> 00:23:01.059 with their performances in economy. And there 00:23:01.059 --> 00:23:03.559 was free champagne flowing and a great party 00:23:03.559 --> 00:23:07.440 going on down in first class. And in economy, 00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:11.339 there were attempts to prevent them from going 00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:13.359 into first class and celebrating too. They were 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:15.519 kept back. They weren't allowed in first class 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:17.720 to celebrate. So some of the athletes talked 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:21.900 about taking sleeping tablets to just hide from 00:23:21.900 --> 00:23:25.460 it. Others talked about it was, and I'm not going 00:23:25.460 --> 00:23:27.559 to use the language they use, but that was not 00:23:27.559 --> 00:23:30.619 my flight. You know, as in what we saw on the 00:23:30.619 --> 00:23:32.880 media, that was not my experience. They were 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.400 angry. Now, Holly carried out focus groups in 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:40.259 2020 and 2021. So some of it was done kind of 00:23:40.259 --> 00:23:42.619 around the COVID era. But we're talking five 00:23:42.619 --> 00:23:46.420 or six years after that flight and the anger 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:49.500 that the athletes still felt about being put 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:51.380 at the back of economy where they're... Their 00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:54.359 friend and teammate was in first class and they 00:23:54.359 --> 00:23:56.880 weren't allowed to celebrate with them. Anger 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:01.319 was as raw as it was on that day. The language 00:24:01.319 --> 00:24:05.180 they used, the profanity, the real venom. You 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:08.799 know, they're so, so upset and so angry. And 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:12.519 it still happens. Now, there will be people listening 00:24:12.519 --> 00:24:15.559 to this who will say, those who won deserve that 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:17.980 accolade. They deserve that attention. And I'm 00:24:17.980 --> 00:24:21.190 not going to disagree with that. state but putting 00:24:21.190 --> 00:24:23.869 somebody on a flight who maybe has met their 00:24:23.869 --> 00:24:26.910 performance expectations so two of the participants 00:24:26.910 --> 00:24:29.230 in my first study who didn't medal you know they 00:24:29.230 --> 00:24:32.230 were very low down in terms of the the elk they 00:24:32.230 --> 00:24:35.329 had far exceeded their previous performances 00:24:35.329 --> 00:24:39.049 they had performed the best experiences their 00:24:39.049 --> 00:24:41.509 best performances ever but they were still put 00:24:41.509 --> 00:24:44.069 at the back of the the flight they were still 00:24:44.069 --> 00:24:47.630 not allowed to celebrate so the yeah i i get 00:24:47.630 --> 00:24:50.690 that it's right to celebrate our successes but 00:24:50.690 --> 00:24:53.349 the athletes on that flight were it was a horrific 00:24:53.349 --> 00:24:56.250 experience for them it almost sounds like the 00:24:56.250 --> 00:24:59.630 message was if you meddled you matter if you 00:24:59.630 --> 00:25:02.509 did not meddle we don't care how you feel and 00:25:02.509 --> 00:25:04.970 what your experience going home is it's not about 00:25:04.970 --> 00:25:08.990 you absolutely and that was also reinforced by 00:25:08.990 --> 00:25:12.029 the media both at Heathrow when they when they 00:25:12.029 --> 00:25:14.509 arrive home but also subsequent that the media 00:25:14.509 --> 00:25:17.430 were who are you what did you do and they they 00:25:17.430 --> 00:25:19.759 didn't want to interview those who hadn't medaled, 00:25:19.819 --> 00:25:22.920 because it is all about the medalists. And that 00:25:22.920 --> 00:25:26.400 was one of my themes in the first study. And 00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:28.740 in the first study, I didn't have any medalists. 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:30.859 In the second study, I did. But in the first 00:25:30.859 --> 00:25:32.920 study, there was this perception that actually, 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:35.859 if you didn't win a medal, you were a nothing. 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:39.640 And here we are talking about Olympians, you 00:25:39.640 --> 00:25:42.779 know, athletes who have got to the very highest 00:25:42.779 --> 00:25:45.420 level in sport that exists. And they were a nothing 00:25:45.420 --> 00:25:47.819 unless they've medaled. Now, the second study. 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:50.460 in some ways overturned that, that the medalists' 00:25:50.539 --> 00:25:53.980 experience was no better, really, because even 00:25:53.980 --> 00:25:55.640 though they were centre of attention for a few 00:25:55.640 --> 00:25:57.680 more days and they were getting the media interviews 00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:00.440 and so on and invited into local schools to show 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:02.420 their medal, very quickly they realised their 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:04.779 lives hadn't changed either. Actually, having 00:26:04.779 --> 00:26:07.119 a medal, some of them talk about, well, it's 00:26:07.119 --> 00:26:10.359 in a drawer. It doesn't mean anything. It hasn't 00:26:10.359 --> 00:26:12.740 changed my life. I still don't have any money. 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:15.880 I'm still struggling financially. I was still 00:26:15.880 -->

00:26:18.920 part of this sausage. battery. I was just spat 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:20.940 out at the other end when I was no longer needed. 00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:22.779 But certainly in our first study, the athletes, 00:26:22.920 --> 00:26:24.700 because they hadn't won medals, perceived it 00:26:24.700 --> 00:26:26.660 was all about medalists. When we spoke to the 00:26:26.660 --> 00:26:28.900 medalists, they were going, no, we got to celebrate 00:26:28.900 --> 00:26:31.799 at the front of that jet, but actually nothing's 00:26:31.799 --> 00:26:35.200 changed. We have been discarded too. We don't 00:26:35.200 --> 00:26:37.799 matter. We got the medal. We provided the funding 00:26:37.799 --> 00:26:40.220 really for the national governing body. And some 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:43.039 of them weren't even selected for the next Olympic 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:46.220 Games because of their age. So the coming home 00:26:46.220 --> 00:26:49.940 experience experience is pretty horrific. Paris 00:26:49.940 --> 00:26:54.140 2024, there was no jet, but there was a train 00:26:54.140 --> 00:26:56.559 that went from Paris to London, Eurotunnel. And 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:01.319 I spoke to three athletes in a different study 00:27:01.319 --> 00:27:03.880 that's not yet published, who talked about the 00:27:03.880 --> 00:27:06.519 media were running down the corridor. And here 00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:10.000 are these three athletes sitting there. And the 00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:12.500 media are, who are you? How did you do? And nope, 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:14.740 nope. Okay, we're carrying on. And we're heading 00:27:14.740 --> 00:27:17.880 to the first class carriage where all the medalists 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:20.079 are. Yeah, and these three... actually very well 00:27:20.079 --> 00:27:21.799 -known athletes, you know, sitting there and 00:27:21.799 --> 00:27:23.460 because they didn't win medals, the media are 00:27:23.460 --> 00:27:26.140 just running past them, literally trying to get 00:27:26.140 --> 00:27:29.900 to the medal winners. So the them and us still 00:27:29.900 --> 00:27:32.940 exists and existed in 20 to 4. Now, interestingly, 00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:35.579 I'm working at the moment with a researcher in 00:27:35.579 --> 00:27:38.299 Europe who was talking about the experience of 00:27:38.299 --> 00:27:40.440 Swiss athletes. And I believe in Switzerland, 00:27:40.559 --> 00:27:43.799 they have different terms for an Olympian who 00:27:43.799 --> 00:27:45.819 went to the Olympic Games and medaled and an 00:27:45.819 --> 00:27:47.619 Olympian who went to the Olympic Games and didn't 00:27:47.619 --> 00:27:51.519 medal. So in the UK and in the English speaking 00:27:51.519 --> 00:27:53.819 world, we have an Olympian and that's somebody 00:27:53.819 --> 00:27:55.339 who's been to the Olympic Games. They have two 00:27:55.339 --> 00:27:57.279 terms and I don't know what those terms are because 00:27:57.279 --> 00:27:59.700 I only speak English. But they have two different 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:01.519 terms, one for those who medalled and for those 00:28:01.519 --> 00:28:04.599 who didn't. So in other places, the differences 00:28:04.599 --> 00:28:07.579 between the medalists and the non -medalists 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:11.059 is even stark. So we have this coming home and 00:28:11.059 --> 00:28:13.099 we have this coming home, I'm going to say drama 00:28:13.099 --> 00:28:16.539 around the flight or the train. We then have 00:28:16.539 --> 00:28:18.569 the issue. talked a little bit about the mundane 00:28:18.569 --> 00:28:21.549 we have the issue of no support because the the 00:28:21.549 --> 00:28:23.369 coaches are gone the sports psychologists gone 00:28:23.369 --> 00:28:25.950 physios gone everybody has gone and they've gone 00:28:25.950 --> 00:28:27.549 either because they've lost their jobs or they're 00:28:27.549 --> 00:28:29.529 taking a break because of their own risk of burnout 00:28:29.529 --> 00:28:32.049 so the athletes then turn to whoever's left and 00:28:32.049 --> 00:28:34.109 whoever's left is really their their own support 00:28:34.109 --> 00:28:36.910 networks their partners their husbands their 00:28:36.910 --> 00:28:39.450 wives their parents their sisters their friends 00:28:39.450 --> 00:28:41.710 and actually they find that support lacking too 00:28:41.710 --> 00:28:44.990 because the families and we we know this through 00:28:44.990 --> 00:28:48.410 many many studies Families make sacrifice for 00:28:48.410 --> 00:28:52.710 elite athletes. And I've had athletes talk about, 00:28:52.849 --> 00:28:56.609 my husband took all of his leave to come to the 00:28:56.609 --> 00:28:58.529 Olympic Games with me. So as soon as we got back, 00:28:58.609 --> 00:29:01.009 he went back to work. But I needed him at home. 00:29:01.109 --> 00:29:03.109 But actually, he'd done his supporting role in 00:29:03.109 --> 00:29:06.349 his mind. We had mothers who had switched their 00:29:06.349 --> 00:29:08.829 attention from the athlete. They'd gone and watched 00:29:08.829 --> 00:29:11.630 them. The athlete was the centre of the family, 00:29:11.750 --> 00:29:14.450 who then switched their attention onto a sibling 00:29:14.450 --> 00:29:16.779 who's getting married. Or who's having a baby? 00:29:17.339 --> 00:29:20.380 You've had your time. We've supported your Olympic 00:29:20.380 --> 00:29:22.799 Games. Your dream is fulfilled. Now we're focusing 00:29:22.799 --> 00:29:24.799 on your sister who's having a baby. Or we're 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:26.880 focusing on your brother who's doing this. So 00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:29.660 they felt abandoned. And abandoned was a word 00:29:29.660 --> 00:29:31.640 that came to both studies. They felt abandoned 00:29:31.640 --> 00:29:34.119 by the national governing bodies. They felt abandoned 00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:36.940 by their families. They felt abandoned by the 00:29:36.940 --> 00:29:40.140 public. This just sense of loss of everything

00:29:40.140 --> 00:29:42.539 that they had had suddenly gone. In psychology, 00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:44.759 in sports psychology, we talk about athletic 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:47.660 ideas. And this applies to anyone who's performing 00:29:47.660 --> 00:29:50.720 at a high level. An athletic identity becomes 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:53.180 everything. I am a swimmer. I'm a footballer. 00:29:53.200 --> 00:29:56.180 I'm a runner. I'm a weightlifter. And that is 00:29:56.180 --> 00:29:58.799 all that matters. And to reach the highest level, 00:29:58.900 --> 00:30:01.700 for many, that is the only route. Now, as a sports 00:30:01.700 --> 00:30:03.460 psychologist, I would say, actually, we need 00:30:03.460 --> 00:30:05.500 to look at developing a multidimensional identity. 00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:07.920 But the reality is, particularly once they've 00:30:07.920 --> 00:30:10.000 been selected for international competition, 00:30:10.339 --> 00:30:12.579 really everything else, nothing else matters. 00:30:13.059 --> 00:30:14.900 Relationships are put on hold. families put on 00:30:14.900 --> 00:30:18.200 hold but there is a an expectation well when 00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:20.460 the games are over then i can spend more time 00:30:20.460 --> 00:30:22.319 with my partner then i can spend more time with 00:30:22.319 --> 00:30:24.680 my family then i can spend more time with my 00:30:24.680 --> 00:30:27.599 friends without perhaps appreciating that those 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:30.980 people have been very supportive in the background 00:30:30.980 --> 00:30:33.460 potentially and actually once the games are over 00:30:33.460 --> 00:30:36.160 those individuals are okay now we're getting 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:38.180 on with our lives you know actually we have been 00:30:38.180 --> 00:30:41.279 in the wings supporting you all the way now it's 00:30:41.279 --> 00:30:43.460 my turn whereas the athletes are going but i'm 00:30:43.529 --> 00:30:46.369 made sacrifices and and now i want to spend time 00:30:46.369 --> 00:30:48.289 with family now i want to do this but the family 00:30:48.289 --> 00:30:51.410 well no actually our focus is is elsewhere and 00:30:51.410 --> 00:30:55.109 it would be very easy to criticize the athletes 00:30:55.109 --> 00:30:57.970 for their their selfishness that you know why 00:30:57.970 --> 00:31:00.430 should everybody else drop everything even after 00:31:00.430 --> 00:31:03.049 the games but because of this idea of celebrity 00:31:03.049 --> 00:31:05.569 that we came out of that first study they have 00:31:05.569 --> 00:31:08.210 been made to feel special they've been made to 00:31:08.210 --> 00:31:10.809 feel like they're the most important individuals 00:31:10.809 --> 00:31:13.329 and that's been reinforced over and over and 00:31:13.329 --> 00:31:15.309 over and over and then they come home and actually 00:31:15.309 --> 00:31:17.690 they're not only not special anymore but they're 00:31:17.690 --> 00:31:20.150 not priority anymore

yeah other people in their 00:31:20.150 --> 00:31:22.869 social networks matter just as much and that's 00:31:22.869 --> 00:31:25.710 a very difficult step to come down i have a tricky 00:31:25.710 --> 00:31:29.509 question is the celebrity status in their mind 00:31:29.509 --> 00:31:32.789 necessary to be able to make these sacrifices 00:31:32.789 --> 00:31:35.690 and to achieve the best level they can be is 00:31:35.690 --> 00:31:39.450 this a negative result or is it a necessary step 00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:43.279 into greatness that's a excellent question and 00:31:43.279 --> 00:31:46.460 i can't answer it with the confidence of data 00:31:46.460 --> 00:31:49.740 to say this is what we found i can provide my 00:31:49.740 --> 00:31:53.839 opinion which is almost certainly yes that to 00:31:53.839 --> 00:31:57.339 perform at that that level they have to internalize 00:31:57.339 --> 00:32:00.539 it they have to believe you know i am the best 00:32:00.539 --> 00:32:04.720 i am special i am invincible i can overcome any 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:08.160 adversity that that is necessary to perform at 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:10.619 the highest level and you know sport high level 00:32:10.619 --> 00:32:13.839 sport is is brutal so i think it is necessary 00:32:13.839 --> 00:32:17.819 but the consequence of that is this massive fall 00:32:17.819 --> 00:32:21.099 afterwards um so actually kind of moving on to 00:32:21.099 --> 00:32:23.779 what what do we do about all this i'm not suggesting 00:32:23.779 --> 00:32:26.400 that we get rid of all of that i don't like the 00:32:26.400 --> 00:32:29.500 the flight and the that that separation what 00:32:29.500 --> 00:32:32.759 has come out of the athletes voices particularly 00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:35.079 in the second study you know where where the 00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:37.259 title is abandoned to manage the post -olympic 00:32:37.259 --> 00:32:40.200 blues they felt abandoned and it really started 00:32:40.200 --> 00:32:42.319 on that journey home i think that journey home 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:45.440 has to be changed i i fundamentally disagree 00:32:45.440 --> 00:32:47.960 with that but the athletes do need to be built 00:32:47.960 --> 00:32:50.720 up they do need to be felt that feel that they 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:53.019 they are something special but they need support 00:32:53.019 --> 00:32:55.839 afterwards they absolutely fundamentally need 00:32:55.839 --> 00:32:59.519 the support to actually just come down take some 00:32:59.519 --> 00:33:03.240 time off to reflect to refresh rejuvenate and 00:33:03.240 --> 00:33:06.640 make decisions and that is so there are two areas 00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:10.480 where we are absolutely lacking and that is psychoeducation 00:33:10.480 --> 00:33:13.619 first so before the olympic games um the the 00:33:13.619 --> 00:33:16.440 notion that actually afterwards it is going to 00:33:16.440 --> 00:33:19.660 be and to provide some coping strategies probably 00:33:19.660 -->

00:33:22.460 run by sports psychologists going into the games 00:33:22.460 --> 00:33:25.279 that actually this is how to manage it afterwards 00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:28.799 and then after the games there needs to be a 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:31.480 level of support now a lot of national governing 00:33:31.480 --> 00:33:34.559 bodies particularly in the uk go through a decompression 00:33:34.559 --> 00:33:36.740 so they'll do a session with a sports psychologist 00:33:36.740 --> 00:33:39.339 where they decompress but what came out very 00:33:39.339 --> 00:33:41.680 clearly out of the focus group study that holly 00:33:41.680 --> 00:33:45.279 was facilitating was the desire for peer support 00:33:45.279 --> 00:33:49.640 that the the olympians wanted a network of former 00:33:49.640 --> 00:33:52.200 olympians who have been through it themselves 00:33:52.200 --> 00:33:55.000 and actually just some Somebody I can talk to. 00:33:55.160 --> 00:33:57.460 Somebody I can say, actually, this is what I'm 00:33:57.460 --> 00:33:59.720 feeling. And for that... person to go, yeah, 00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:01.900 mate, I've been there before. I've been through 00:34:01.900 --> 00:34:04.000 it. I know how you feel. And this was the thing 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:06.480 that was disappointing and a little bit humbling 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:07.759 was that they didn't want to speak to sports 00:34:07.759 --> 00:34:10.019 psychologists. They didn't want to talk to the, 00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:12.739 I'm going to say, experts. They wanted to talk 00:34:12.739 --> 00:34:15.079 to people who'd been through it. They wanted 00:34:15.079 --> 00:34:18.519 to be supported by people who really knew what 00:34:18.519 --> 00:34:21.179 it felt like because they felt very alone and 00:34:21.179 --> 00:34:24.199 that others couldn't empathize. Others couldn't 00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:26.599 say, yeah, we really know how you feel. And it's 00:34:26.599 --> 00:34:28.519 all very well a sports psychologist. like me 00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:30.900 saying, I appreciate how you feel, but I've never 00:34:30.900 --> 00:34:33.800 experienced it. So whilst as a psychologist, 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:36.260 I can say, well, there are lots of things we 00:34:36.260 --> 00:34:38.300 can do for these athletes. We can do cognitive 00:34:38.300 --> 00:34:40.400 behavioral therapy. We can do some mindfulness. 00:34:40.699 --> 00:34:43.860 We can do some goal reevaluation, take some time 00:34:43.860 --> 00:34:46.000 off, you know, all these psychological strategies 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:48.599 that we can put in place. And there's evidence 00:34:48.599 --> 00:34:51.300 to say they work. What the athletes want is a 00:34:51.300 --> 00:34:54.360 support system that is made up of people who 00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:56.500 have been there. And I have to say that in the 00:34:56.500 --> 00:34:59.130 United States, They are very good at this. There's 00:34:59.130 --> 00:35:02.210 an organization, a private organization called 00:35:02.210 --> 00:35:05.309 Athlete Soul out in the States that do just that. 00:35:05.409 --> 00:35:08.909 It's made up of ex -Olympians who provide webinars 00:35:08.909 --> 00:35:13.010 and support and mentoring systems for Olympians. 00:35:13.050 --> 00:35:15.869 But we should be bringing that into our systems 00:35:15.869 --> 00:35:18.869 to say, OK. You've come home, your coach is gone, 00:35:19.030 --> 00:35:21.230 your sports psychologist is gone. You may have 00:35:21.230 --> 00:35:23.429 a couple of sessions with a sports psychologist, 00:35:23.510 --> 00:35:26.590 but actually here is a support system that we've 00:35:26.590 --> 00:35:28.670 introduced you to before. Here's a number you 00:35:28.670 --> 00:35:32.670 can call and here's a group you can go to. We're 00:35:32.670 --> 00:35:35.710 putting on a webinar here, but you've got a system 00:35:35.710 --> 00:35:38.429 of support, people who can go, yeah, I've been 00:35:38.429 --> 00:35:41.170 there and it's okay. And I think maybe, you know, 00:35:41.190 --> 00:35:43.949 as we've drawn to an end, the it's okay, I've 00:35:43.949 --> 00:35:47.090 been there, it is normal. And that's an... overwhelming 00:35:47.090 --> 00:35:49.909 message i'd like to get across here is that to 00:35:49.909 --> 00:35:52.090 any athlete coming out of the commonwealth games 00:35:52.090 --> 00:35:56.429 feeling low feeling lost feeling life isn't worth 00:35:56.429 --> 00:35:59.289 living feeling abandoned those feelings are normal 00:35:59.289 --> 00:36:02.449 they're part of the human response to high level 00:36:02.449 --> 00:36:05.010 experience that you've put everything into it 00:36:05.010 --> 00:36:08.719 is normal and it will pass but Finding people 00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:10.980 who've been in the same experience going through 00:36:10.980 --> 00:36:13.800 it, talking to them to realize that you're not 00:36:13.800 --> 00:36:15.639 alone, that others are going through the same 00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:18.059 thing, that what you're experiencing isn't out 00:36:18.059 --> 00:36:19.719 of the ordinary. There's nothing wrong with you. 00:36:19.800 --> 00:36:24.320 It may be very intense. If so, there is psychological 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:26.500 support out there. But actually, those feelings 00:36:26.500 --> 00:36:29.500 of loss and abandonment are normal. And speaking 00:36:29.500 --> 00:36:31.739 to people who've been through it or who are going 00:36:31.739 --> 00:36:35.019 through it, certainly from our research knowledge. 00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:37.559 as it stands at the moment, is what the athletes 00:36:37.559 --> 00:36:39.619 want, what they need and what they find useful. 00:36:39.780 --> 00:36:42.739 Thank you for that. So I usually finish with 00:36:42.739 --> 00:36:44.980 two questions. The first one is, what is your 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:47.619 favourite exercise? Favourite exercise? Yes. 00:36:47.820 --> 00:36:52.239 As in sporting? exercise uh so i'm um i'm a ex 00:36:52.239 --> 00:36:55.579 -swimmer i still swim but i i do triathlon endurance 00:36:55.579 --> 00:36:59.079 triathlon so 70 .3 and i am so i love swimming 00:36:59.079 --> 00:37:02.119 i enjoy running and i hate cycling oh no all 00:37:02.119 --> 00:37:06.199 right awesome and where people can find you if 00:37:06.199 --> 00:37:09.780 they want to follow your research or reach out 00:37:09.780 --> 00:37:12.519 where should they go online okay so i don't have 00:37:12.519 --> 00:37:16.920 a huge online presence i am on x dr karen howells 00:37:16.920 --> 00:37:21.570 on x i am I'm very happy to take emails if anyone 00:37:21.570 --> 00:37:24.750 would like to contact me directly. My email is 00:37:24.750 --> 00:37:29.809 klhowells at cardiffmet .ac .uk. I am on LinkedIn, 00:37:29.849 --> 00:37:34.030 but I don't big on social media, but very happy 00:37:34.030 --> 00:37:37.090 to take emails and answer any questions that 00:37:37.090 --> 00:37:39.530 I can, particularly if it's related to post -Olympic 00:37:39.530 --> 00:37:42.710 Blues and so on, but also through X. Thank you 00:37:42.710 --> 00:37:45.550 so much, Cara. I'm very, very grateful to have 00:37:45.550 --> 00:37:48.800 you here today and to answer. Thank you very 00:37:48.800 --> 00:37:50.039 much for having me. Thank you, Alex.