HOME ADVANTAGE

by Rebecca Lee 20.08.08

With the Olympic flag soon to be handed over to London ahead of 2012, so will the advantage of competing on home soil for UK’s athletes going into the next Games.

However, with the pressure on, will the advantage of a home Games be realised? EIS Performance Psychologist Simon Middlemas says that a home Games is a double edged sword.

“In recent Olympic Games, there certainly seems to be a trend for host nations rising to the occasion in terms of overall medal haul” says Middlemas. “Many British athletes competing at these Games will feel strongly motivated to keep training for another four years, having witnessed the impact of a home crowd on the performance of many Chinese athletes” he added.

The positive aspects of home factors include the extra surge of adrenalin from playing in front of friends and family, the motivation to do it for your country and the thousands of people willing you to succeed. Perceived negatives however, are the pressures that these factors also bring.

“As we have seen already in these Games, this curse of expectation can prove too much for some athletes to overcome” Middlemas said.

Take, for example, the Chinese athlete Du Li who was seen as an absolute guarantee to win China’s first gold medal in the air rifle competition on the first day of competition. If you want to talk pressure, how does 1.3 billion expectant Chinese in a home nation Olympics sound? Du Li was reported to have said ‘I wasn’t fully prepared for the pressure of competing at home’ after she finished in fifth place.

“When athletes perform at their best, there is no constraining influence on the mind because the mind is so focused on the task at hand that there is no room for self-consciousness, no room left in the field of attention for being worried, or frustrated¹” said Middlemas.

“The experience of pressure at being seen as the Olympic favourite can sometimes make it challenging to achieve such an ideal performance state at the Games” he added.

Michael Johnson’s world record 19.32sec 200m gold medal performance at the Atlanta Games is an example of getting this just right. Less well known, is his quick departure from the Olympic village, after spending just one day there before flying back home to escape the intense media scrutiny. He came back and produced the run of his life.

Over the past few months, it has been reported that China’s elite sports system set up counselling websites, introduced online therapy and promoted computer-aided relaxation techniques to combat the added pressure athletes have been facing. Determined to aim for the top place at the Games, China has increased their spend on sports psychology, despite not releasing the exact figures. After their lack of gold in the shooting on the first day, shooting coach Wang Yifi was said to have told Chinese reporters that team leaders wanted an emergency meeting of athletes to help ease the psychological pressure, before adding that it was also to 'improve results and get more gold medals for the nation'. 

The withdrawal this week of defending 110m hurdles champion Liu Xiang through injury sent shockwaves throughout China. With an advertising campaign centred around Xiang for the Games and expectations across China for a medal, his injury concerns were revealed on the start line of the first heat, indicating the pressure on him to make it through to the finals.

For London 2012 however, it’s hoped the UK can get it right for the GB squad hoping to perform to distinction on home soil. EIS support services, including performance psychology, will continue to work with sports to ensure athletes, coaches and support staff are best prepared for the additional opportunities and challenges a home Games may bring.

1: Csikszentmihaly, 1990