The 2008 Summer Olympics
The Olympics are a great show with athletes from all over the planet coming together to compete with each other in peace. I’ve been to a number of games over the years and sitting in the massive Olympic dining area one can observe an impressive parade of humanity passing by. There are giant hoopsters like 7 foot 6 inches Yao Ming, burly middle-Eastern weight-lifters, beautiful six foot plus women volley-ballers from Russia, Cuba and the USA, swimmers and tracksters with their shaved heads, and diminutive gymnasts barely four feet tall. Some athletes, blond, fair-skinned come from the northern polar regions, some are coffee-colored, and others are blue black skinned Olympians from equatorial Africa. They come from cities, mountains and desert regions. All are there to be the best they can be. All proudly wear the colored tracksuits of their countries. It’s a rainbow of healthy, talented young people with dreams of glory.
I’ve been consulting with Olympic athletes since 1984. Primarily, I help them develop and strengthen what I think of as their high-performance programming; thoughts, images and feelings that will give them that competitive edge. Many have been training for years for an opportunity to excel in an event that may last a few seconds or a few minutes. And with the world and their countrymen watching, the pressure to excel is enormous.
Over the years I have worked with Olympians from half a dozen countries in close to twenty different sports. For these summer’s Games I’ve worked with athletes (and coaches) competing in baseball, field hockey, shooting, and soccer. It’s a pleasure to work with talented individuals who are motivated to be the best they can be. The training is important. The lessons they learn here apply to every aspect of their lives. With the impact I’ve seen mental training have on performance and with the pressure the athletes face in the Games, I believe more could and should be to support these athletes in the area of mental training.
Of course there’s controversy over the Games being held in China this year. As an emerging super-power and the world’s most populous nation, China deserves the chance to host the Games. And, there is no doubt that the country will put on a great show. The venues they built for the competitions are excellent, some of the best in the world. Further, much of the Chinese public appear to be very positive, excited, and proud to be hosting the event, and meeting and welcoming foreigners.
However, the story is not all positive. On the negative side is the smog… both atmospheric and political. While in Beijing for the World Cup of shooting in May the smog was terrible… the worst of any city I’ve ever experienced, (and I lived in Los Angeles for five years) and not at all ideal for competition.
Perhaps even more disturbing then the heavy air the athletes will encounter for the two weeks of competition is China’s long standing poor record regarding freedom and human rights. While the Chinese people are friendly, the powers that be in China are repressive. Tibet and Somalia are current realities. Dissident opinion in China is simply not tolerated. Nineteen years after the student uprising in Tianamin Square (which led to the death of hundreds of students) a number of students are still incarcerated.
Questions continue to be raised about the relationship of national politics and Olympic participation, and whether host nations should have a positive record on the environment and human rights. As debate continues let the Games proceed.
There are aspects of the show in Beijing that look a little like a Universal Studios orchestrated performance. However, it’s clear the Chinese have made a remarkable effort to put their best foot forward and host an incredible planetary event. I certainly hope that the interactive experience of the world coming to China and China hosting the world will lead to an ongoing opening and a needed freeing up within the country. Most of all, I look forward to the athletes performing to the best of their abilities and keeping the true spirit of the Olympics alive.
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