WHAT IT IS Proving you’re peerless at the greatest sporting event on Earth
WHY YOU WON’T DO IT Because there aren’t many gold medals to go round
Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympics in 1896. Ever since, winning Olympic gold has been the dream of sportsmen and women throughout the world. To have any hope of joining this exclusive club requires a mix of genetic and physiological good fortune, a nurturing environment where your talent can be spotted and developed, huge amounts of determination and a dose of good luck.
Unfortunately, the first thing you need is something you have no control over – good genes. There’s no doubt about it, some of us are less physiologically suited to great sporting attainment than others. Coming from a wealthy country also helps your chances. At the 2008 Beijing Games, the leading nations were China, the USA, Russia, Great Britain, Germany and Australia – all are major economies with plenty of resources to throw at developing their Olympic athletes.
Do not lose all hope if you come from a less wealthy nation, though. Plenty of countries buck the trend. Cuba has been phenomenally strong in the boxing ring over the years while Kenya and Ethiopia have dominated long-distance running for decades. Talent will out, and medal tables adjusted to take account of GDP tend to look very different.
Assuming you do have an innate talent, identify the sport you’re best suited to early. There are honourable exceptions (British sportswoman Rebecca Romero won medals at consecutive Olympics for rowing in 2004 and then cycling in 2008) but most champions do not come to a sport late. The London 2012 Games encompassed some 300 events across 26 sports, so hopefully there is something for everyone.
From school age onwards, you’ll need to set yourself clear, realistic and achievable goals, and maintain your hunger. Seek out coaches who can help you improve, and compete against rivals who will drive you on (even if you frequently lose to them). Learn to deal with these knockbacks, as there will be plenty. You can rely on experiencing injury, unexpected defeats, financial pressures and relationship stresses. How you deal with them is critical and being surrounded by supportive friends and families is a great boon.
Study the history of your chosen discipline. What can you learn from the greats of the past? Constantly strive to improve. If your technique is wonderful, work on your endurance or improve your psychology. The greatest competitors do not focus their training only on their strengths but look to overcome any weaknesses too.
To achieve Olympic standard, you can expect to train for between three and nine hours every day, depending on your sport, but most top sports people acknowledge that you can be as fine a physical specimen as is possible but your mind must be right too. Certainly at the top end of sports, where the difference between victory and defeat might be fractions of a second or a question of millimetres, mentality can make all the difference. Consider employing a sports psychologist: with help, you should be able to increase your ability to focus, maintain self-discipline, cope with stress and learn when to relax and wind down.
Being a competitor is expensive. Aside from the cost of equipment and everyday living, you will face expensive bills for travel, coaches, physios, nutritionists and psychologists. Unless you are one of the very few who secures commercial sponsorship, you will need to approach your national Olympic funding body and can expect to live quite humbly during your quest for glory.
You will, of course, need to achieve Olympic qualification standards. For instance, in athletics you must reach either the A or B standards set by the International Association of Athletics Federations. Each nation may put forward up to three athletes who achieve the higher A standard, and an additional one at the B standard. Qualification periods vary but generally cover a year to 18 months before the Games.
All this work requires almost unearthly amounts of commitment. In 1996 after securing a gold medal at a fourth consecutive Olympics, Olympic rower Steve Redgrave announced that anyone who saw him in a boat again had permission to shoot him. Yet four years later in Sydney, Redgrave won his fifth gold at the age of 38. This is the sort of devotion, passion and possible streak of insanity that you must aspire to. Believe you can be the champion – somebody will have that gold medal around their neck, so why shouldn’t it be you?
