Finding the ‘happy bubble’: Mental health key for Olympians
MARTHA BELLISLE Associated Press
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MIDWAY, Utah (AP) — Sean McCann peered at the targets through a spotting scope and used a hand-held magnetic board to mark where the bullets hit. He showed the results to the athlete as they left the range and then grabbed a broom to sweep shell casings off the mat before the next skier arrived.
To a casual observer, McCann appeared to be a U.S. biathlon coach helping his team get ready for the Olympic trials race earlier this season at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center.
But McCann’s not a coach.
He’s a clinical psychologist who works for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee — one of seven assigned to various teams. At certain times of the year, he is “embedded” with the U.S. biathlon team to help them perform at their best. He lives, trains and travels with the athletes and coaches, interacting with them like a friend.
“In psychology, in particular, sports psychology, those relationships of trust are really important,” McCann said. “Part of our job is taking care of the whole person, not just the athlete, because you can’t leave the person at the door.”
He may seem casual, but his presence is serous business.
“Being an elite athlete, being an Olympic athlete is very stressful,” he explained. “You’re constantly measured, constantly challenged. You’re constantly under some sort of environmental stress, so what we do in sports psychology is stress management.”
Biles’ courage prompted Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history and an athlete who has been up front about his mental health struggles, to proclaim “it’s OK to not be OK.”
“It was a public education,” McCann said of those mental health revelations. It was helpful for the athletes but also important for the public to hear those messages: Have more compassion and empathy with what the athletes are going through.
Matt Whitcomb, head coach for the U.S. cross country ski team, said tevery athlete works with a sports psychologist. While traveling, they also receive help from their home club coach, national team staff, physical therapists and massage therapists — a whole support network.
Diggins has worked with a sports psychologist since she was 19, she said, and she’s glad more people feel comfortable talking about it.
“For many athletes, there is a priority on mental health that’s coming into focus,” she said. “We all have times when we’re not in a great place and it’s even harder for an athlete when the moment you’re struggling happens to be at the same time as the nation’s spotlight is shining on you.”
Part of her healing process was to talk about her struggles, which was why she wrote the book.
“Yes, I had an eating disorder, but I learned so much about myself going through recovery,” she said. “I learned that it’s ok to reach out for help. I learned that you don’t have to be perfect. I realized that you don’t have to change the body type that you were born with. You have to embrace your strength, try your best and don’t compare yourself to anyone else.”
It’s been a winning strategy.
Diggins wrote her story after she and Kikkan Randall won Team USA’s first-ever Olympic cross-country skiing gold medal in the team sprint at Pyeongchang in 2018. Randall retired but Diggins has gone on to attack the sport with spirit and enthusiasm, winning the overall World Cup title last year and earning repeated podium finishes this year.
She sits in second place in the overall standings heading to the Olympics.
All Olympic sports come with pressure, though McCann notes that biathlon is “crazy”: “It’s two sports that don’t belong together.”
Endurance athletes have the mentality to go as hard and fast as they can, he said. But in shooting, “it’s precision. It’s control. It’s focus. The mentalities are really different.”
So McCann helps the biathletes learn to switch their mindsets depending on where they are in the race. Ski hard when out on the trails, but in the range, execute the shots. “Focus on the process” is a biathlete’s mantra.
Easier said than done.
When a biathlete is shooting, they can’t think about the skier who just came in behind them; or that person’s heavy breathing; or listen to the sound of other targets going down; or shouts from the crowds or boos when you miss; or the announcer who’s broadcasting your progress over the loudspeaker.
And as soon as you think, “If I get this last shot, I’ll win the race,” you’ll miss. The pressure can be overwhelming.
Russia’s Alexander Loginov led the men’s biathlon pursuit race in Oberhof, Germany, on Jan. 9 until the last shooting stage. He missed his last three targets and was skiing penalty laps as France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet hit all his targets and skied to the win. Loginov finished fifth.
Heading to Beijing, Olympic athletes won’t be able to see their friends and family, which will be an additional challenge.
“So we’ll keep our eye on the … whole concept of loneliness that can creep in,” Whitcomb said. “Because that’s probably the biggest danger, but that’s why we build what we’ve built.”
Diggins said she plans to do a lot of FaceTime or Skype with family during the separation.
“So in that way, I hope to keep myself sane,” Diggins said. “I also know that there’s going to be a lot of pressure and a lot of different things pulling at me and pulling at my attention.”
So she worked with her sports psychologist to identify what she might face emotionally while at the Olympics, and made a plan for how to react and respond. That plan includes a prohibition on all interviews 10 days before the Games start.
“It’s really important to be able to focus on the team and focus on that happy bubble,” she said.
Joshua Paul
It's a long list of rejections from cities across Europe. Oslo and Stockholm are the two high-profile cities that pulled out during the bidding process. Krakow, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, also withdrew bids.
Two other areas with potentially strong bids — St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich — were rejected by the public in voter referendums. The German rejection was a stinging blow to Bach, who is from Germany. It's also notable that the IOC headquarters are in Switzerland.
Oslo and Stockholm, probably regarded as the preferred venues as the IOC attempted to return the Olympics to traditional European winter venues, pulled out because of costs and politics.
Norwegian and IOC officials also traded public barbs in 2014 about their dissatisfaction with each other.
Details of the IOC's demands upon bid cities for its members — including a cocktail reception with the King of Norway, use of exclusive road lanes, and specific requests for fruit and cakes in hotel rooms — were leaked, and described as “pompousness” by one lawmaker.
A senior IOC official retorted the decision to withdraw Oslo was based on “half-truths and factual inaccuracies.”
Bach acknowledged at the time in a 2014 interview that the Winter Olympics were a tough sell.
“The number of candidates for winter is already very limited by geography,” he said. “Also we can’t forget that this is a challenging time with regard to the world economy.”
Joshua Paul
It's a long list of rejections from cities across Europe. Oslo and Stockholm are the two high-profile cities that pulled out during the bidding process. Krakow, Poland, and Lviv, Ukraine, also withdrew bids.
Two other areas with potentially strong bids — St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Munich — were rejected by the public in voter referendums. The German rejection was a stinging blow to Bach, who is from Germany. It's also notable that the IOC headquarters are in Switzerland.
Oslo and Stockholm, probably regarded as the preferred venues as the IOC attempted to return the Olympics to traditional European winter venues, pulled out because of costs and politics.
Norwegian and IOC officials also traded public barbs in 2014 about their dissatisfaction with each other.
Details of the IOC's demands upon bid cities for its members — including a cocktail reception with the King of Norway, use of exclusive road lanes, and specific requests for fruit and cakes in hotel rooms — were leaked, and described as “pompousness” by one lawmaker.
A senior IOC official retorted the decision to withdraw Oslo was based on “half-truths and factual inaccuracies.”
Bach acknowledged at the time in a 2014 interview that the Winter Olympics were a tough sell.
“The number of candidates for winter is already very limited by geography,” he said. “Also we can’t forget that this is a challenging time with regard to the world economy.”
The choice for the IOC members came down to two authoritarian governments that did not require any public vote, and also had few constraints on spending: Beijing and Almaty.
Beijing spent more than $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In promoting their proposals, organizers in Almaty at the time said 79% supported the bid. Beijing said 94.8% in China were in favor.
Almaty tried to win the vote, reminding that it was a winter sports city surrounded by mountains and natural snow. It was a dig at Beijing, which has no winter sports tradition and little natural snow in the areas picked for skiing.
Beijing and some IOC members countered that skiers actually prefer artificial snow. The IOC also saw Beijing as a huge winter-sports business opportunity.
Beijing won by four votes, which was described as much closer than expected, in a second attempt using paper ballots. A first attempt at electronic voting was scrapped citing technical issues.
IOC members chose what they believed to be the less risky option, which has not turned out that way.
“It really is a safe choice,” IOC President Bach said at the time. “We know China will deliver on its promises.”
The choice for the IOC members came down to two authoritarian governments that did not require any public vote, and also had few constraints on spending: Beijing and Almaty.
Beijing spent more than $40 billion on the 2008 Summer Olympics.
In promoting their proposals, organizers in Almaty at the time said 79% supported the bid. Beijing said 94.8% in China were in favor.
Almaty tried to win the vote, reminding that it was a winter sports city surrounded by mountains and natural snow. It was a dig at Beijing, which has no winter sports tradition and little natural snow in the areas picked for skiing.
Beijing and some IOC members countered that skiers actually prefer artificial snow. The IOC also saw Beijing as a huge winter-sports business opportunity.
Beijing won by four votes, which was described as much closer than expected, in a second attempt using paper ballots. A first attempt at electronic voting was scrapped citing technical issues.
IOC members chose what they believed to be the less risky option, which has not turned out that way.
“It really is a safe choice,” IOC President Bach said at the time. “We know China will deliver on its promises.”
Getting down to two candidates — neither the top choices — shocked the IOC. It was part of the reason that the IOC no longer goes through a long bid process to pick host cities. Bach said at the time that the bid process produced too many “losers."
Moreover, it was embarrassing for the IOC to explain why voters turned down holding the Olympics — particularly the smaller Winter Games. The bid process was also soiled by scandals surrounding the awarding of the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, in which IOC member were allegedly bribed for their votes.
The bidding for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games was also hit by scandal.
Under the IOC's new process of choosing venues, the approximately 100 IOC members no longer vote. The choice is made by the leadership headed by Bach. The IOC has already chosen venues for the Olympics through 2032.
They are: 2024 Paris; 2026 Milan-Cortina, Italy; 2028 Los Angeles; 2032 Brisbane, Australia. The only open slot is the 2030 Winter Olympics, in which Sapporo, Japan, seems to be the leading candidate. The IOC has not indicated when that choice will be made.
Bullit Marquez
Getting down to two candidates — neither the top choices — shocked the IOC. It was part of the reason that the IOC no longer goes through a long bid process to pick host cities. Bach said at the time that the bid process produced too many “losers."
Moreover, it was embarrassing for the IOC to explain why voters turned down holding the Olympics — particularly the smaller Winter Games. The bid process was also soiled by scandals surrounding the awarding of the 2016 and 2020 Summer Olympics, in which IOC member were allegedly bribed for their votes.
The bidding for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games was also hit by scandal.
Under the IOC's new process of choosing venues, the approximately 100 IOC members no longer vote. The choice is made by the leadership headed by Bach. The IOC has already chosen venues for the Olympics through 2032.
They are: 2024 Paris; 2026 Milan-Cortina, Italy; 2028 Los Angeles; 2032 Brisbane, Australia. The only open slot is the 2030 Winter Olympics, in which Sapporo, Japan, seems to be the leading candidate. The IOC has not indicated when that choice will be made.
Sean McCann smiles as he turns away from the spotting scope he uses to look at targets 50 meters away during a Biathlon event at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center biathlon shooting range Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Midway, Utah. To a casual observer, McCann appeared to be a U.S. biathlon coach helping his team get ready for the Olympic trials race, planned for the next day at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. But McCann's not a coach. He's a clinical psychologist who works for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee — one of seven assigned to various sports teams. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Rick Bowmer
Sean McCann smiles as he turns away from the spotting scope he uses to look at targets 50 meters away during a Biathlon event at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center biathlon shooting range Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Midway, Utah. To a casual observer, McCann appeared to be a U.S. biathlon coach helping his team get ready for the Olympic trials race, planned for the next day at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center. But McCann's not a coach. He's a clinical psychologist who works for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee — one of seven assigned to various sports teams. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
FILE - United States' Jessie Diggins celebrates winning a cross-country ski sprint event at the FIS Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. Diggins literally wrote the book on the struggles female athletes face as they try to stay fit while dealing with unrealistic pressures to have a certain body type. (Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP, File)
Peter Schneider
FILE - United States' Jessie Diggins celebrates winning a cross-country ski sprint event at the FIS Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021. Diggins literally wrote the book on the struggles female athletes face as they try to stay fit while dealing with unrealistic pressures to have a certain body type. (Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP, File)
