10 mental skills to win the Olympic Games

There are only a few days left until the start of the Paris 2024 Olympics. Let’s try to describe the mental characteristics demonstrated by athletes who have won a medal in previous editions.

1. Determination and Toughness

Olympians are extremely determined and do not give up in the face of difficulties. Their tenacity pushes them to continue training and improving, even when they encounter obstacles or moments of discouragement.

2. Concentration

The ability to stay focused on their goal and maintain concentration during training and competition is crucial. Olympic athletes manage to block out distractions and concentrate entirely on their performance.

3. Resilience

Resilience is the ability to quickly recover from setbacks or injuries. Successful athletes can overcome adversity, learn from their mistakes, and continue to improve.

4. Self-discipline

Athletes who win a gold medal exhibit a high level of self-discipline. This is reflected in their ability to strictly follow training programs, diets, and daily routines necessary to reach the peak of their performance.

5. Self-esteem and Self-confidence

Believing in their abilities is crucial for achieving success at such high levels. Olympic athletes have strong self-esteem and confidence in their skills, which helps them perform at their best under pressure.

6. Stress Management

The ability to manage stress and the pressure of international competitions is vital. Olympic athletes develop techniques to maintain calm and mental clarity even in the most stressful situations.

7. Intrinsic Motivation

Olympians are often driven by intrinsic motivation, a deep personal desire to excel and achieve their goals, rather than external motivations like awards or recognition.

8. Visualization Skills

Many athletes use mental visualization techniques to imagine their perfect performances. This practice helps them prepare mentally and improve their confidence in their abilities.

9. Growth Mindset

Successful athletes embrace a growth mindset, believing that their skills can be improved through hard work and continuous learning. This mindset drives them to seek new challenges and not fear failure.

10. Passion and Love for the Sport

A genuine passion and deep love for their sport are common characteristics among Olympic medalists. This passion motivates them to dedicate countless hours to practice and training.

These mental characteristics are fundamental for achieving excellence and success in the highly competitive context of the Olympics.

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Obesity, OMS: is a complex multifactorial chronic illness

Globesity - as named by the Italian economist and agronomist Andrea Segrè – shows that the global costs of overweight and obesity will reach $18 trillion annually by 2060.

The WHO defines obesity as a chronic multifactorial disease characterized by excessive fat deposits, which can compromise health, due to obesogenic environments, psychosocial factors, genetic variables, as well as major etiological factors such as diseases, medications, forced immobilization, and iatrogenic procedures.

In an obesogenic environment, the availability of healthy and sustainable food at locally accessible prices is structurally limited, there is a lack of easy and safe physical mobility in daily life, and there is an absence of adequate legal and regulatory context.

The progression towards obesity is aggravated by the lack of an effective response from the healthcare system, which fails to identify early in the initial stages the excess weight gain and fat deposition in people who are at higher risk of getting sick.

Obese individuals have an increased risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and tumors. Obesity also significantly influences bone health and reproduction and impacts quality of life, such as mobility and good sleep.

Childhood and adolescent obesity have negative psychosocial consequences, from lower academic performance to worsened quality of life. It is exacerbated by stigma, discrimination, and widespread bullying.

Epidemiological data show that, compared to 1990, obesity has doubled in adults and quadrupled in adolescents. It appears that in 2022, one in eight people worldwide lived with obesity: there were 890 million people (aged 18 and over), representing 16% of the adult population. Another two and a half billion adults are overweight (43%). There are also 37 million children under 5 years old and 390 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 who are overweight, with 160 million of them living with obesity.

It seems paradoxical that in the poorest countries, malnutrition in all its forms and obesity commonly coexist. There is a double burden of malnutrition. Children, more vulnerable to inadequate nutrition, are more exposed to high-energy foods – high in sugars, fats, and salt – but poor in micronutrients, which cost less but also have lower nutrient quality. WHO believes that these dietary patterns, associated with reduced levels of physical activity, lead to a sharp increase in childhood obesity, leaving malnutrition problems unresolved.

To reduce risk, people can enjoy a healthy life by taking better care of their diet, the duration and quality of sleep, emotional self-regulation, as well as avoiding tobacco and alcohol and engaging in regular physical activity. It is also important to be careful not to gain too much weight during pregnancy, practice exclusive breastfeeding for an extended period, and support all children, regardless of their weight status, to ensure they eat healthily, sleep well, and are not sedentary.”

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How do you speak with the athletes?

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Webinar: Journey in the athlete mind. Presentation of the Master in Psicologia dello Sport Roma-2022

Prendendo spunto dal record del campione NBA Stephen Curry: dalla sua tenacia nel volere perseguire il miglioramento delle sue prestazioni e dall’essere considerato anni fa inadeguato a giocare ad alti livelli sino invece a stabilire il record NBA di triple segnate in carriera (2974).

Psicosport organizza domani; martedì 21 dicembre, ore 19- 20.30 un webinar gratuito sul tema “Viaggio nella mente dell’atleta” parleremo di questo argomento. E’ un tema che riguarda tutti gli atleti, allenatori, dirigenti sportivi e gli psicologi. Vedremo infatti come sia possibile e auspicabile sviluppare la “mentalità orientata alla crescita” nei giovani che praticano sport e non solo negli atleti di livello assoluto. I campioni possono indicarci la strada ma il miglioramento è un tema essenziale per chiunque e, proprio per questa ragione, non ci si deve nascondere dietro l’idea che queste cose riguardano solo il mondo sportivo dell’alto livello. Quindi, ognuno quale che sia il suo ruolo deve imparare a declinarlo sulla base delle proprie esperienze di vita quotidiane.

Rifletti sulle tue prestazioni: Stai migliorando o rimanendo al tuo posto? Stai crescendo o fai sempre gli stessi errori?

Durante il webinar verrà presentato il l’edizione del Master di Psicologia dello Sport organizzato a Roma a partire da Febbraio 2022.

Iscrizione al webinar: https://www.psicosport.it/blog/open-day-master-psicologia-dello-sport-roma-2022-dic

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Psychopandemic: which are the solutions

Beyond the widespread evidence, there are now numerous surveys that show us the data of the so-called psychopandemic, with a generalized increase of mental problems in the population of all ages. Here are the main points of the issue taken from David Lazzari, President of the Italian Register of Psychologists.

WHO already before the pandemic had highlighted that 17 million Italians suffered from psychological disorders, more than one in four Italians and in half of the cases these problems arise around the age of 14 years (Kastel 2019).
The highest incidence is in at-risk groups such as people returning from intensive care, those affected by Covid, the physically ill who could not be treated for fear of contagion or limitations in access, people who have lost a relative in special situations, “caregivers” who assist patents or people with diseases or disabilities, people with greater or previous psychological fragility, health workers in burnout.
Independent surveys carried out in various countries have converged in saying that one person in three today would need psychological listening and support, also to avoid the development of more serious and costly disorders.
In a recent survey conducted by the Study Center of the Italian Register of Psychologists, 47% of parents with children 3-14 years old report emotional problems, and 62% of children report negative psychological states.
Among adolescents, 6 out of 10 say they feel stressed and one out of three would like psychological support (Unicef 20.11.20).
7 out of 10 people in these cases prefer psychological help to medication (McHugh 2013). There is evidence of greater and longer effectiveness of psychotherapy for most of these situations (Huhn et al. 2014, Cuijpers et al. 2014, Lazzari 2020).
Psychological interventions have a restructuring action because they promote people’s resources and prevent from relapse. We are talking about important differences that are appreciated especially in the medium and long term (Harryotaki et al. 2014, Zhang et al. 2018).
A fact confirmed by economic cost-benefit analyses, which tell us that 5 years after treatment, psychotherapy saves 1481 euros per person in health and 2058 euros to society compared to drugs, proving to be economically more advantageous in 75% of cases (Rossi et al. 2019).
All this without counting the possible side effects of widespread drug abuse.
Unfortunately, the problem is structural: it is the system that feeds this situation, because while drugs are reimbursed by the SSN or free (some categories) and easily available, psychological treatments are not only not reimbursable but are rare commodities in the public. With a psychologist and psychotherapist for every 12,000 inhabitants in the Italian NHS, access to these therapies in the public is for very few and in the private sector there are now fewer who can afford treatment.
Psychology and psychotherapy are still designed for those who can pay for them.

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Italians increasingly fat and sedentary

In Italy, the plague of sedentary life continues to haunt us, we have always been among the least active Europeans in terms of sports and, above all, in 17 years the percentage of practitioners has increased by only 5.7% while sedentary people have decreased by 2%.

There is no real hope that in the next 10 years this trend will be reversed in a positive way, in the absence of any kind of government policy.

The year that has just begun will certainly not be the year of sport, the one that will encourage people to undertake any kind of motor activity on an ongoing basis.

The only data that increases in Italy is the prevalence of overweight and obesity, so much so that if excess weight affects 1 in 4 children, the share almost doubles among adults, reaching 46.1% among people aged 18 years and over. The highest prevalence is found in both genders in the 65-74 age group (61.1%) and, while the majority of men are overweight from the age of 45, for women this occurs after 65.
In the last 30 years, moreover, an increase in the incidence of excess weight equal to 30 percent has been recorded and the role of the territory of origin emerges strongly.