Image description: The imagined Paris 2024 Olympic games, showing crowds of spectators surrounding athletes from all nations in front of the Eiffel tower.
Are you excited about the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic & Paralympic Games? We can’t wait for the games to begin so that we may watch the many inspiring athletes from across the world. Starting today, Friday the 26th of July, the Olympics will run to the 11th of August. Following this, the Paralympics will take place from the 28th of August to the 8th of September.
The team in the SPRINT Project are interested in a wide variety of sporting events, including some new events which haven’t been included in the Games before.
SPRINT Project PhD Researcher Michelle Schachtler Dwarika tells us about the event she is looking forward to the most below!
“I am looking forward to watching the break dance competitions! This is an exciting time for dance! It is to my knowledge the first time a dance style is entering the Olympics as an own discipline! With my keen interest in mental skills in dance, I will be following the breaking competition closely." Michelle Schachtler Dwarika
Image description: A photo of GB breakdancer Sunni competing in a breakdancing competition.
You can also find out what event SPRINT Project Post Doctoral Researcher Dr Sally Reynard is most looking forward to below!
“I always look forward to watching the Paralympic equestrian events. It is inspiring to see the amazing performances and close bonds between the incredible horses and riders that have often been built through years of training together.” Dr Sally Reynard
Image description: A picture of the Paralympic GB equestrian squad.
Interested in finding out more about the breakdancing and Paralympic equestrian events? You can learn about breakdancing and its journey to becoming an official Olympic sport within the Paris 2024 Olympic Games here. You can also watch a video featuring Manon Claeys here, who came back from severe injury in 2007 to win two equestrian Paralympic medals for Belgium in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
Another recent addition to the Olympic Games is the inclusion of the Refugee Olympic Team. Sending a message of hope and solidarity, the 37 athletes will compete in 12 sports at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. You can learn more about the team here.
Whatever sports you are interested in, we are sure you will find something to follow and get inspired by!
What helps the athletes to compete on the world stage?
As well as engaging in years of physical training and a meticulous nutritional programme, the athletes competing at the Olympics and Paralympics must remain calm under intense pressure, and demonstrate confidence, perseverance and expertise in the specific techniques and skills that encapsulate their sport.
Sport psychologists can support athletes to succeed at the Olympic and Paralympic Games by facilitating the training of important mental skills such as mental imagery, focused attention, positive self-talk, deep breathing and emotional awareness. Such mental skills underpin all the greatest sporting achievements that we watch at the Olympics and Paralympics. Mental imagery for example enables athletes to engage all their senses in their mind to practice and prepare for different scenarios and eventualities before engaging in the events in real life—leading to optimal confidence and performance when it matters most.
If you feel inspired to uncover and train your own mental skills whilst watching the Olympics and Paralympics, why not check out our free sport psychology-based resources here.
What else can you do to get involved in the sporting action?
Whilst watching the amazing displays of world-class athleticism and perseverance at the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, you can watch out for the mental skills that drive them. From the deep breathing and intense focus that we see as an athlete prepares to complete the run up to the triple jump, to the loud and affirmative self-talk that we hear when shot putters throw the shot, there will be many instances of important and influential mental skills to be spotted. You can also practice getting behind the athletes by using your own affirmative statements. Learn how to say these statements in French by checking out this fun video here!
How about holding your own mini-Olympics at home or in your local park with family and friends? Try out or officiate in different activities and competitions such as volleyball, running races and tennis!
Image credit: Paris 2024, Team GB, Paralympics GB.
Written by Dr Sally Reynard, Post Doctoral Researcher in the SPRINT Project.
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