Olympic Games: The Preparation behind the Curtain

Apolo Anton Ohno (USA)  - Photo

 

The Olympic Games happen every four years, and alternate between the summer and the winter every two. They last for two weeks and are the pinnacle of excellence and competition. Once every two years, the world sees the best athletes perform at their best for over 3 billion viewers. It is a spectacle like no other on the planet and to be a part of it is truly special. But what about the athletes themselves? What is it like for them to train and prepare? The public only sees these wondrous athletes for a brief couple of days each before they fade back into obscurity- even for the most famous. Here, the athlete Apolo Ohno is shown to reveal that excellence at the highest level is not just success, but a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

Apolo Ohno is famous for being the most decorated US Winter Olympian of all-time with an outstanding 8 Olympic Medals, not to mention a host of world championships. It must be asked: what does it take to be that successful? For Apolo, a lot of dedication.  He lives his life according to the principle of having zero regrets. In fact he even wrote a book about that entitled « Apollo Ohno Zero Regrets ». On the US Speedskating team, the members embrace the saying “One world, one life, one chance, your choice”. Here a critical, yet underlying, point surfaces: all out everything. You must be able to commit 100% to training all the time. It does not seem that hard now, but over years, even decades worth of training, the all-out mentality is what separates the men from the boys. Ohno trained between 8 to 12 hours every day being put through, and putting himself through superhuman workouts that make most go weak in the knees.

Another key aspect to top performance that Apolo has mastered is the mental part. This is what separates the top 3 guys in a competition from the top 30.  The athlete must be able to not only understand the sport, but understand the body, and spirit, because when things get tough, you better know how to deal with it. It gets real tough.  Further, the athlete must be able to be mentally strong enough to take on and complete the grueling workouts that are necessary to compete at such a high level.

The athlete must know how to bounce back from setbacks and injury.  Why? Because more determination equates to more work put in which equals a higher chance of winning any sort of competition. Likewise, athletes at the elite level must have a higher capacity for pain than any normal person. Why? Because the workouts both mental and physical are much more taxing on the body than anyone would want to be put through. Eric Johnson, a new reporter says that [a lot of training] is “sucked up and gutted out in this room, the gym”1.This is a major reason why Olympic athletes are so much better than everyone else. The ability to endure more pain means more benefits from the workout.

In addition to all-out determination, and mental strength, is another very important aspect of training: the consistency factor. The CF basically questions how often an athlete trains and how many times per day. With Apolo Ohno, he trained 7 days a week clocking 8-12 hours per day. At the Olympic level, all the athletes are looking for that edge over the rest of the competition. Training with a very high CF gives an athlete that edge.

All these factors and many (many, many) more come into play during the grueling preparation sessions of the elite Olympic athletes.  So the next time you see one or see one on tv, you will know that it takes years upon years of painstaking work and sacrifice to get to that level, and will know that it is not necessarily as easy as it may look.

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1https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-j2G2a0Yko

 

 

 

Comments

  1. watching skiing in the Olympics is incredibly nerve-wracking because of how technical it is. One slip up and they might not only fall seconds behind, but they could fall and hurt themselves terribly! Apolo ono is such a cool guy and it was so interesting to see what goes into his training!

  2. I LOVE the Olympics. Seriously, my favorite thing ever and one day I WILL go watch the awesome action happen! The amount of work and effort the athletes put into their sport is impressive, inspiring, and fascinating. I can watch “biography” videos of Olympians for hours and they’ll make me tear up. Ski racing is my favorite event to watch, but all of the events are so impressive. The mental persistence and fitness of the athletes is an aspect of sports not always thought about, but truly is a huge part of professional athletics of any kind.

  3. Phebe Cornell (plc5132) says:

    I love the Olympics!! Every four years whenever they roll around my brothers and I get sooo excited about them! Not only is it amazing to see all the different athletes and how far they have come for this but it also unites our country in a way no other sporting event can. Another reason I love the Olympics is because they give everyone an opportunity to show case their talents. Most of the time gymnasts and figure skaters are not in the spotlight. However whenever it comes to the Olympics they get their time in the sun and that is really cool.

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