How These Aussie Athletes On Deal With Performance Pressure
The runner: Catriona Bisset, 27
An Australian-Chinese middle-distance runner who is the current national 800-metre record holder/
1. Don’t compare yourself to others
“I have a body that’s biracial and when I was a young athlete, I didn’t really have any Asian role models in Australian athletics, so I would compare my body to someone who is just genetically completely different. And I can see that happening even now with athletes who have different ethnic backgrounds, meaning we’re all striving for this single idea of what a runner looks like. It’s a complicated issue, but it just boils down to being vulnerable and asking for help.”
2. Manage Your Social Media Exposure
“I don’t have Facebook, I don’t have Twitter and I heavily restrict my Instagram consumption. I basically have social media at an arm’s length (one of my friends will post for me), which actually means I feel a lot more freedom to just post something into the universe and not worry about the ‘likes’ I get.”
3. Ask for Help If You Need It
“If something – or someone – doesn’t feel quite right, or you just feel like you’re trapped in a bad situation, please know that there are always other options out there for you.”
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The race walker: Jemima Montag, 23
A world-champion 20km race walker who trains by covering roughly 120km a week.
1. Flip your perspective
“I try to think of pressure as a privilege because it comes from having prepared and trained really well. I see it as a driving force that’ll carry me across the line.”
2. Embrace downtime
“One of the gifts that lockdown gave me was slowing down and allowing time for myself for self-care and mental health. That’s made an incredible difference to my training and overall wellbeing. I used to be an over-committer and never thought it was OK to have a blank space in my diary. Now I love to sit down at my piano, cook slowly for family or friends, and spend time with my fluffy Bernese mountain dog!”
3. Write it down
“I was encouraged to write in a journal from a very young age and I find that pouring my head down on the paper before bed makes me sleep better because [thoughts] aren’t running around up there. Don’t expect yourself to write
a lot each night; just try to do a five-minute check-in with yourself.”
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The Para Canoeist: AJ Jennings, 49
An elite-level canoeist who won silver at the Rio Olympics and gold at the World Championships.
1. Try to look after Your ‘human’ Side
“I’ve got a psychologist who understands me both on a sporting level and a human level. That’s important because our everyday life affects our sport. When you’re in that heightened mental state, it [can become] a ‘mountain out of a molehill’ situation. What helps me is keeping a daily routine. I’ve also started training an assistance dog; he’s a huge part of what I do now and seems to know when I’m agitated or if something’s not right.”
2. Find what grounds you
“When I feel my anxiety escalating, I’ll spend time with my horses to ground myself and get perspective. I also like swimming because I have to focus on one particular thing; you’ve got to [concentrate] on your breathing, or you drown!”
3. Listen to your body
“A lot of self-care comes down to recognising when you’re stressed and taking some down time to walk the dog, or whatever you need. It could be walking to the top of a hill and screaming your lungs out. As you get to that elite level, you’ve got to have an outlet, because the sport will take over everything at some point and it [becomes] harder to have a balanced life.”
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The Rugby Player: Millie Boyle, 23
A cross-code rugby star with an Origin win, NRLW premiership and Super W Player of the Year Award under her sporting belt.
1. Look after #1
“Make sure you’re taking care of yourself, whether that’s eating well, sleeping well, training well… I try to have balance, and I make sure that I’m enjoying what I do. Otherwise, it all becomes a chore. I’m not going to devote my life to something if I’m not truly enjoying it.”
2. Have the tough conversations
“One of the things I love about playing in a team is that I can always find my group within it; people who I can talk to. I’ve got a really good support network, who I can have those tough conversations with. It’s important to make sure everything’s going alright, and if it’s not, to know who you can talk to about how
to turn things around.”
3. Ignore the haters
“I do everything I can to perform as best as I can, but I’ve been ridiculed and copped a lot in the media – mainly by old white men who like to have their say on women’s sport. People are quick to judge [and] constantly compare us to the male players. We’re not put in full-time programs. We haven’t had full-time pathways, development or coaching or anything like that. You’ve got to respect [women’s rugby] for what it is, not for what it’s not.”
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