Monthly Archives: July 2021

Student Story: Aaron Venegas De Frutos

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When I was 17, I got a scholarship to the Royal Ballet School in London. That was a great opportunity, but it meant I couldn’t complete my academic studies in Spain and wouldn’t have the qualifications to go to university. When I was 19, I joined Scottish Ballet but I knew I wanted to keep my academic studies going. The career of a ballet dancer is short, so I thought it was important to have something else in my life to give me a ‘Plan B’. I decided that studying a degree at university would be a good way to keep my doors open for the future.

 

I did some research online about distance learning in the UK and The Open University was always the first one that came up. I wouldn’t have been able to do a distance learning degree with a Spanish university because I didn’t have the necessary qualifications, but the OU were happy to accept me. I think the open entry policy is great because as long as you have the desire to study at university, and are willing to work as much as you need to, then why don’t you deserve to try?

When COVID hit I wasn’t able to dance as much. We currently train the same number of days but fewer hours; we’re divided into two groups and take turns to use the rehearsal space. The two groups alternate between mornings and afternoons, so I dance in the day and then study in the evening and at weekends – I would say I study four or five nights a week for a couple of hours.

I obviously have a lot more free time at the moment, so I wanted to find new ways of developing my skills outside the ballet studio. Even before COVID I thought that, instead of registering for a full degree straight away, I would start my OU studies with one module and see how I could manage to work and study at the same time.

I chose a Sport and Exercise Psychology module because I thought it sounded really interesting and that it could benefit my career as a dancer. I’m learning a lot of things that I am able to apply to my own work as a dancer. For example, I’m currently studying psychological techniques such as goal-setting and breathing techniques. Some of them I’d heard about before, but I’m now understanding them a lot better, and able to use them on a daily basis.

I really like the way the modular system of study works, and that I have the option to only study one module at a time. And, if I do enough credits, I can still get a qualification for the modules I’ve studied, even if I decide not to complete a full degree, which I think is really, really good. In Spain, if you study a degree for two years or three years and then stop before you’ve completed it, you don’t get anything. I’ve since decided to study the degree but back then it was good to know that I could get an interim qualification.

I’m not sure whether to aim for a psychology degree or a sports science degree, and this module is part of both, giving me a way to see which degree I’m more attracted to. Once I’ve finished this module, I’ll decide which path to take. That’s another one of the reasons I chose The Open University, because it’s not very common to have that flexibility.

My advice to anyone who is thinking of doing an OU course is to try to be organised, try to plan your week, and find times when you know you’re going to be able to study. Use the time as efficiently as you can – you’ll be given an online weekly study planner, so you know what you should be doing each week to make sure you can get your assignments in on time.

Don’t hesitate to contact your tutor and use the support that the OU provides, because it is always very helpful. The feedback from my tutor is always great and I’m always welcome to contact them. We also have a tutor group forum on the university website, so you have support and help if you need it.

The best part of studying with the OU for me is being able to manage my own time and choose when to study, in order to combine it with my work. It’s very rewarding and fulfilling, knowing that I’m doing something that will benefit my future.

To find out more about study Sport, Fitness and Coaching at The Open University click here.

How does educational background shape Olympic success?

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By Jim Lusted

You don’t have to have attended private school to be a member of the British Olympic team for Tokyo 2020 – but it may have helped, particularly for some Olympic events. Dr Jim Lusted, Lecturer in Sport & Fitness, explores the role that educational background can have in athletes reaching the highest levels of Olympic sports like rowing, hockey and archery.

Rowing crew

The level playing field of sport

The Olympic games provides an opportunity for us to witness some sporting achievements that push ever further the boundaries of human performance limits – with only the very best claiming Olympic gold.

Sport is a meritocracy, right? That is, the most successful sportspeople achieve their awards because they deserve them – they are the fastest, strongest, most talented and/or hardworking of their generation, and the sporting competition determines the best from the rest. Who can argue, for example, that the person who reaches the finishing line first in the 100m sprint doesn’t deserve their victory? It’s an alluring idea that draws many of us to watch and enjoy elite sport events – perhaps never more so than a summer Olympics like the delayed Tokyo 2020 games.

The strong connection between sport and meritocracy is in part because it is so obvious – and yet you may already have thought of some examples where the winner might not have always been the ‘best’ athlete. Take the infamous sporting doping cases like Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, US cyclist Lance Armstrong and more recently the whole Russian Olympic programme. These – and many more – would certainly challenge the ideas that Olympic ‘winners’ achieve their success on hard work and talent alone. It is also not uncommon to hear the world’s best athletes talk about how they were never the best in their sport at school – but somehow they had ‘made it’ to success as an adult while others had fallen away as they grew up.

The influence of school background

Sutton trust chart - education of medallists
There are, of course, a range of complex factors that can influence people’s opportunity to fulfil their athletic potential and then go on to compete at the very highest levels. One of these might be an athlete’s own educational background. What school you attend might not be immediately significant, yet it seems to have an impact on who ends up competing for Britain at the Olympic games. Across the UK, independent (private fee-charging) schools educate 6.5% of the total school-age population (ISC 2021). However, research completed by The Sutton Trust just after the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics found that 36% of British athletes who won medals had attended independent (private, fee paying) schools compared with 60% who attended comprehensive (state funded) schools (with the remaining 8% coming from Grammar schools – usually free to attend but with a selective entrance policy of some kind).

For some Olympic sports, including rowing and women’s hockey, the majority of medal winners in 2016 had been privately educated. In others, former state or Grammar school pupils dominated the medals, such as cycling where only 8% of medallists had studied at an independent school in 2016.

This research also looked at the figures for the London 2012 Olympics and saw a slight increase in the proportion of state school medallists in 2016 – it will be interesting to see how the figures compare again with Tokyo 2020. We should be a little cautious of reading too much into the statistical trends given the relatively low numbers involved being open to fluctuation. But educational background seems influential, particularly in some sports.

Why is educational background important?

The substantial over-representation of privately educated athletes as British Olympians is probably of no particular surprise; certainly, many independent schools use sport to market the desirability of their education, by investing heavily in expensive specialist facilities and infrastructure and emphasising the priority placed on pupil participation in PE and sport. This investment often includes paying for particular coaching expertise along with ring-fencing additional time in and out of the school day for sport training and competition. Sport in the state sector has always compared poorly in such sporting provision and the gap is arguably getting wider, particularly since the promising School Sports Partnership scheme which was set up in the early 2000s to grow PE and school sport in the state sector was closed down by government in 2010 (Lusted, 2014).

 

Young women playing hockey

‘Buying’ access through social capital

But it is not just economic investment that can shape the sporting journeys of the most promising athletes attending private and state schools. As social theorist Pierre Bourdieu has observed, there are other forms of ‘capital’ (not only economic) that are available to some people to ‘buy’ access to (and power in) sport (Bourdieu 1988). We can draw on one of these forms – ‘social’ capital – to explore more deeply why some sports appear to be more accessible to some than others, and the role that education plays in this process.

Social capital refers to the networks of contacts, friendships and relationships that can help gain access to spaces and opportunities that we may not otherwise have. In this respect, the interconnections of private school teachers, coaches, parents and other relatives and local (often professional) sports club contacts can often help smooth an athlete’s journey to further progression. For sports such as cricket, hockey, archery and rowing, talent pathways are heavily informed by the inter-personal and organisational connections that congregate around independent school environments (and often, later, the associated elite Universities such as Oxford and Cambridge). Access is therefore often secured not only by an individual’s outstanding sporting talent, but by being in a position to ‘cash in’ regularly throughout one’s career development on the networks of social capital that such pupils have to hand. This allows us to entertain the idea that the different educational background of two otherwise equally talented young athletes might lead them on different athletic journeys.

Breaking the cycle of the traditional pathways to success

For Bourdieu, networks like these can be extremely difficult to break into without the ‘right’ social capital. It is not just a case of ‘talking to the right person’ or ‘getting in with the right crowd’ – such social capital is slowly accrued over time, is often informal, rarely acknowledged but heavily guarded by those who possess it. This can help explain why such networks are reproduced over time and can create long-term trends in sport participation.

Sport organisations are starting to recognise the often ‘exclusive’ nature of traditional pathways for some sports and have more recently looked to widen their talent identification programmes beyond their usual sites in the search for the next gold medallist. UK Sport’s ‘Fromhome2theGames’ offers an opportunity for all young people to be considered for development in one of many Olympic sports, initially just by completing 3 online physical tests. Whether this open-access approach can significantly challenge the existing development networks of some sports remains to be seen. Perhaps more of the next generation of British Olympians will be able to buck participation trends and find their educational background was lower down on the list of reasons for their eventual sporting success.

 

This article was originally posted on OpenLearn.

Olympics 2021: The story of how a small Shropshire town influenced the modern Olympic movement

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By Steph Doehler

Whilst this year’s Olympic Games will almost certainly suffer from COVID-19 constraints, the event remains the largest sporting spectacle in the world. Over time the Games have evolved from their modest beginnings into something incomparably grand. In this article, Steph Doehler discusses how a rural English town has closer links than most to the modern Olympics.

Despite the perception that it was Baron Pierre de Coubertin who revived the modern Olympic Games there were in fact many Olympic events taking place throughout Europe before Coubertin was even born. One of these, set in the small Shropshire town of Much Wenlock, has been widely considered by sports historians as one of the key influences on the modern Olympics, and even delegates for the Tokyo 2020’s organising committee noted its importance and legacy.

Much Wenlock

Going to Much Wenlock is like taking a step back in time, with quaint bakeries, country walks and old-fashioned pubs. The town has a modest population; at the time of the 2011 Census it had just 2,877 residents. Each summer they host a special sporting competition, the Wenlock Olympian Games, attracting amateur athletes who compete in events including archery, clay pigeon shooting and a seven mile road race. The tale of the Wenlock Games in the present day fails to do justice to their inception in the 1800s and how their legacy developed. One of the London 2012 mascots was named Wenlock in recognition for its influence.

The annual sporting event

William Penny Brookes Much Wenlock’s most famous figure is Dr William Penny Brookes (pictured right), born in 1809. In 1850 Brookes formed the Wenlock Olympian Games, an event that emphasised his admiration for the ancient Greek Olympics. Excluding a few short breaks, the Wenlock Games have continued annually since their inception. Whilst the Olympics of today boast a modern programme of events, the first annual Wenlock Games invoked a more rustic feel with competitions such as quoits and a blindfolded wheelbarrow race. Soon, the Games became an important event in the athletics calendar, attracting competitors from afar.

Mirroring Olympic philosophies

Brookes sought to reflect ideologies of ancient Olympic Games highlighting one’s intense desire to win and be recognised as the best. Similarly, whilst nowhere near the level of grandeur experienced at the modern Olympics, pageantry was an important element of early Games. A band would lead the parade of flag bearers, competitors and officials from the town, in similar vein to a contemporary opening ceremony. The Games took influence from similar competitions in Greece, as Brookes discarded many rural events and the Games became more consciously ‘Olympic.’

By 1859 international relations had emerged as Brookes became more involved in the Greek Olympic movement, which was being initiated by poet, Panagiotis Soutsos. Later, Greece’s Zappas Games, offered more inspiration for Much Wenlock; Greek mottos and banners were displayed and medals featuring Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, were introduced. The Wenlock Games experienced a turning point in 1860, assuming an independent identity known as the Wenlock Olympian Society (WOS).

International relations

By the early 1870s Brookes regularly communicated with ambassadors in Greece and London to encourage the restoration of the Olympics Games. One notable individual was John Gennadius, the Greek Chargés d’affaires, who later wrote to Brookes: “I cannot but feel indebted to you that you continue with this idea, the project of a revival of the Olympic Games.”  In 1880 Brookes took his boldest step towards his Olympic pursuit by conceiving the idea of a recurring international event, and by the end of the decade he found someone with similar views of Olympic values, Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

The Frenchman was invited to attend an autumn edition of the Wenlock Games in 1890. Brookes wanted to enlighten Coubertin on the WOS’s efforts, with a view to develop something similar in France. It was here where Coubertin drew inspiration for the inclusion of medal ceremonies, an innovative (for its time) celebration that had been commonplace in the Wenlock Games for years. As Brookes’ lifelong dedication to Olympic values began to wind down, he passed the torch to 27-year-old Coubertin. In June 1894 Coubertin held a conference in Paris to discuss a revival of the Olympic Games – 79 delegates unanimously voted to restore them, leading to the birth of the International Olympic Committee.

A lifelong dream achieved

The first modern Olympics was originally nominated to take place in London. However, Coubertin opposed, suggesting Athens instead, echoing Brookes’ own wish. It was Brookes’ life dream that the first international Games would happen in Athens and that he would be able to attend. Half of his dream came true in 1896 as the inaugural modern Olympics were held in Athens. Unfortunately, Brookes was not able to witness it as he passed away just five months earlier.

The Panathenaic Stadium, Athens, Greece

The Panathenaic Stadium, which hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896, Athens, GreeceBrookes was the missing link between Soutsos and Coubertin, or simply put, the missing link between the Zappas and the 1896 Athens Games. This is not to discredit the work of Coubertin; he was the first to formulate many Olympic principles – all sports, all nations, all people. In many ways Coubertin preserved Brookes’ life’s work; had the Olympics not been revived much of what Brookes had dedicated his time to would have been in vain.

So, when you sit down to watch the Tokyo Games take a brief moment to consider that had Coubertin not visited Much Wenlock in 1890, the modern Olympic movement as we know it today could look very different.

This article was originally posted on OpenLearn.

Tokyo 2020 in 2021: Do the best things come to those who wait?

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By Caroline Heaney

The life of an Olympic or Paralympic athlete is characterised by highly planned and structured 4-year cycles designed to lead to peak performance in Olympic/Paralympic year, but what happens when that cycle unexpectedly stretches to 5 years and is threaded with uncertainty?

Image by Gerhard G. from Pixabay

The COVID-19 pandemic created an unprecedented situation with Tokyo 2020 being the first Olympic/Paralympic Games to be cancelled or postponed since the Second World War. The postponed 2021 games will likely be a different experience to previous games with, for example, no spectators at most events (BBC, 2021) and a scaled down opening ceremony (Telegraph Sport, 2021). So, what effect does the postponement have on the athletes and their preparation? This article will explore some of the psychological and physiological impacts of this unusual situation.

What impact did the postponement have?

Obviously, there is variability in how athletes reacted to the postponement of the Olympics/Paralympics in 2020, but feelings of disappointment, frustration, confusion, and uncertainty seemed to be common (Taku and Arai, 2020). For example, in response to the announcement that the Olympics would be postponed British Olympic Taekwondo champion Jade Jones stated:

“I’m truly gutted – you give your heart and soul to something for four years, then for it not to go ahead is just horrible. Obviously, health comes first, […] but as an elite athlete, it is very demotivating and mentally tough. I’m a very positive person but the idea, right now, of having to devote myself to another year’s slog is a very difficult one” (BBC, 2020).

As well as the impact of the games being postponed, the lockdowns also had a significant impact on athletes and their preparations from both a psychological and physiological perspective. Lockdowns and the associated quarantine has been shown to have a negative impact on the mental health of the general population (Henssler et al., 2021) and elite athletes are not immune to this. Elite athletes were found to experience increased symptoms of mental health difficulties (e.g. depression) during COVID-19 lockdowns (Simons et al., 2021). As such the need for psychological intervention to support athletes is paramount (Reardon et al., 2021).

The impact on the training schedules of athletes was also significant. During the first UK lockdown, for example, many training venues were closed, and consequently many athletes lost face to face contact with their coaches and teammates and were forced to train alone in sub-optimal conditions. Research has shown that there was a reduction in the quality of training and sleep for many athletes (Mon-López et al., 2020), which could lead to a detraining effect and loss of fitness as well as an increased risk of injury (Sarto et al., 2020). To prevent these potential effects, athletes and coaches were required to be creative with their training sessions and develop innovative training programmes away from normal training venues.

Athletes who successfully managed to maintain their fitness ready to peak for a 2021 Olympics/Paralympics were faced with further difficulties when it came to qualifying for the games. Many qualifying tournaments and competitions were cancelled due to COVID-19 giving athletes far fewer opportunities to qualify.

For many, participating in an Olympic or Paralympic Games is a once in a lifetime opportunity and a postponed games may well make that opportunity unavailable for some, such as those who were at their peak in 2020, but injured or retired in 2021.

The ones who didn’t make it…

Postponing the Tokyo Olympics/Paralympics meant that some athletes who would have been there in 2020 didn’t make it to the 2021 Games. Retiring athletes are one example. It is common for athletes to retire after an Olympic/Paralympic Games and many athletes approaching the end of their career might having been looking at the 2020 games as their final swansong. The pandemic left these athletes with a difficult decision – hang on for one more year or bow out now. Some, such as Japanese volleyball player Risa Shinnabe and New Zealand cyclist Eddie Dawkins, chose to retire in 2020. Shinnabe said:

“That one year, to me, felt very long […] I could no longer imagine that I would be able to go through the same cycle for another year and maintain my condition” (Rowbottom, 2021).

The ones who hung on…

Those who decided to hang on include Olympic gymnastics champion Simone Biles who had originally planned to retire after the Olympics in 2020 but has decided to postpone her retirement. In fact, Biles is now considering continuing to the 2024 Olympics. She is not alone in this, with some athletes deciding that another three-year cycle is not as daunting as a four-year cycle. As Paralympic volleyball player Lora Webster puts it “three years seems like nothing when you look back on what these five years have felt like” (Radnofsky, 2021). These athletes seem to have benefited from the delay and they are not alone.

The ones who benefitted…

There are many athletes who appear to have benefitted from the postposed games. Take for example, an athlete who was injured in 2020 and would have missed the games, but now has the opportunity to compete. In many ways 2020 was the best time for an athlete to be injured as the entire world of sport effectively stopped for a while.

2020 also provided athletes with a unique opportunity to take a break from the physiological and psychological stresses of elite sport. This will likely have benefitted many athletes giving them a chance to recover and rejuvenate. The pandemic also allowed athletes to develop important skills such as resilience.

Tokyo: The games of the resilient athlete?

Resilience is considered to be an important quality in athletes, and those who have come through a pandemic and successfully qualified for the delayed games have certainly had the opportunity to demonstrate resilience. It will perhaps be the athletes who have the best skills in this area and have been able to adapt and thrive in this unprecedented situation that will rise to the top of the podium this year. Researchers exploring resilience have identified that the COVID-19 pandemic has created unexpected and novel adverse experiences for athletes and that resilience can help athletes to adapt positively (Gupta and McCarthy, 2021).

There has certainly been evidence of athletes demonstrating a positive approach. For example, in response to finding out that the games had been postponed, reigning Olympic champion swimmer Lily King posted on social media “Just one more year to get better #Tokyo2020” (Klosok and Church, 2020).

Let’s hope that such positivity and optimism will lead to a spectacular summer of Olympic and Paralympic performances.

References

BBC (2020) Tokyo 2020: How athletes reacted to Olympic Games postponement. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/52027542  (Accessed: 12 July 2021).

BBC (2021) Tokyo Olympics: Spectators largely barred as Covid emergency declared. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57760883  (Accessed: 12 July 2021).

Gupta, S. and McCarthy, P. J. (2021) ‘Sporting Resilience During COVID-19: What Is the Nature of This Adversity and How Are Competitive Elite Athletes Adapting?’, Frontiers in Psychology, 12(374).

Henssler, J., Stock, F., van Bohemen, J., Walter, H., Heinz, A. and Brandt, L. (2021) ‘Mental health effects of infection containment strategies: quarantine and isolation—a systematic review and meta-analysis’, European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience, 271(2), pp. 223-234.

Klosok, A. and Church, B. (2020) Athletes come to terms with ‘heartbreaking’ Tokyo 2020 postponement. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2020/03/25/sport/athletes-reaction-tokyo-2020-olympics-postpone-spt-intl/index.html  (Accessed: 12 July 2021).

Mon-López, D., García-Aliaga, A., Ginés Bartolomé, A. and Muriarte Solana, D. (2020) ‘How has COVID-19 modified training and mood in professional and non-professional football players?’, Physiology & Behavior, 227, pp. 113148.

Radnofsky, L. (2021) ‘Athletes Who Waited for the Tokyo Olympics Are Asking: Why Not Stick Around for Paris 2024, Too? After a long wait for this summer’s Games, some old hands who had planned to retire are figuring they can also hang on another three years’, Wall Street Journal (Online), 04/11/2021 Apr 11. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/articles/simone-biles-will-push-on-to-2021probably-11585738819?mod=article_inline .

Reardon, C. L., Bindra, A., Blauwet, C., Budgett, R., Campriani, N., Currie, A., Gouttebarge, V., McDuff, D., Mountjoy, M., Purcell, R., Putukian, M., Rice, S. and Hainline, B. (2021) ‘Mental health management of elite athletes during COVID-19: a narrative review and recommendations’, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 55(11), pp. 608-615.

Rowbottom, M. (2021) A bridge too far – the athletes who retired instead of waiting for Tokyo. Available at: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1109206/big-read-athlete-retirements-tokyo-2020  (Accessed: 12 July 2021).

Sarto, F., Impellizzeri, F. M., Spörri, J., Porcelli, S., Olmo, J., Requena, B., Suarez-Arrones, L., Arundale, A., Bilsborough, J., Buchheit, M., Clubb, J., Coutts, A., Nabhan, D., Torres-Ronda, L., Mendez-Villanueva, A., Mujika, I., Maffiuletti, N. A. and Franchi, M. V. (2020) ‘Impact of Potential Physiological Changes due to COVID-19 Home Confinement on Athlete Health Protection in Elite Sports: a Call for Awareness in Sports Programming’, Sports Medicine, 50(8), pp. 1417-1419.

Simons, C., Martin, L. A., Balcombe, L., Dunn, P. K. and Clark, R. A. (2021) ‘Mental health impact on at-risk high-level athletes during COVID-19 lockdown: A pre-, during and post-lockdown longitudinal cohort study of adjustment disorder’, Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport, 24(4), pp. 329-331.

Taku, K. and Arai, H. (2020) ‘Impact of COVID-19 on Athletes and Coaches, and Their Values in Japan: Repercussions of Postponing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games’, Journal of Loss and Trauma, 25(8), pp. 623-630.

Telegraph Sport (2021) Tokyo Olympics 2021 Opening Ceremony: when is it, what time does it start and how can I watch? Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/olympics/0/tokyo-olympics-2021-opening-ceremony-time-does-start-can-watch/  (Accessed: 12 July 2021).

 

This article was originally posted on OpenLearn.

What can we expect at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games?

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By Simon Rea

Simon Rea previews the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, looking at the new sports featuring, plus who are Team GB’s best chances of winning medals.

The Games are going ahead despite a host of problems

After the successes of Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and London in 2012, the 2021 Olympic Games land in Tokyo amid difficult circumstances. Only domestic spectators will be allowed in the stadiums due to concerns about athletes and spectators bringing in the COVID-19 virus. It looks like the New National Stadium in Tokyo will not allow any spectators as a national state of emergency has been called in Tokyo, due to rising numbers of coronavirus infections. Athletes will have to undergo regular testing and their movements will be restricted and monitored. Unfortunately, the Olympic flame that began its journey in Fukushima in March before being scheduled to travel across 47 prefectures and arrive in Tokyo on 23rd July has been beset by protests and eventually its journey through Tokyo was cancelled due to fears over COVID-19.

However, at least the greatest sporting spectacle in the world is going ahead and there is plenty to look forward to. The Olympics will run until 8th August and will involve a record number of 339 medal events across 33 sports. The organisers have taken inspiration from the London Games by putting together high-profile events for Super Saturday (31st July) and Golden Sunday (1st August) that includes the 100m finals.

Four new sports and new competitors to look forward to

Four new sports, surfing, climbing, karate, and skateboarding have been introduced to cater for a younger audience and to keep the Games relevant to all generations. Also, softball and baseball return to the Olympics after being dropped for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Female surfer Shino Matsuda from JapanCopyrighted image IconSurfer Shino Matsuda of Japan

Surfing will take place at Tsurigasaki Beach roughly 100 km away from the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo and will involve a series of heats of 4-5 surfers who will each have 30 minute to showcase their skills and catch as many waves as they can. They will be judged on five criteria including difficulty, innovation, and variety. Currently, the top surfers come from USA, Australia, and Brazil. Americans John John Florence and Carissa Moore are the top Americans while Australian, Stephanie Gilmore, is a seven time World Champion.

Player at Bouldering tournament in Doha beach games in Doha, Qatar Player at bouldering tournament in Doha, QatarSport climbing will feature three disciplines, speed, bouldering (pictured right), and lead, in a combined competition. Speed is measured by athletes climbing a 15-metre-high wall at angle of 95 degrees as quickly as possible. The current men’s world record in 5.63 seconds and the women’s is 6.96. Bouldering involves a climber being faced with a 4.5 metre wall that they will ascend as many fixed routes as they can. They must try and ascend as many routes as they can in four minutes. Lead climbing is where a climber uses a rope to make a vertical climb. They have to keep attaching their rope to the climbing wall over a 15-metre climb. They have six minutes to get to the highest point and if they are tied with other climbers they are separated by time. The six medals will be competed for by 20 men and 20 women with Czech Republic climber Adam Ondra a favourite in the men’s event, while Slovenian climber Janja Garnbret is favourite in the women’s event. She has competition from GB climber Shaunna Coxsey who has a chance of a medal.

Japan is the home of karate, so it is fitting that it is making its debut here. There are six events in Tokyo – three weight categories for men (67kg, 75kg, 75+kg) and three for women (55kg, 61kg, 61+kg). Japan have high hopes in these events with Kiyou Shimizu in the women’s event and Kiyuna Ryo in the men’s event.

The introduction of skateboarding seems like a radical move for the Olympics and will hopefully engage a different audience to the traditional Olympic sports. There are two disciplines of skateboarding – Street and Park. Street skateboarding is held on a straight street-style course and includes stairs, handrails, benches, and walls. Athletes are judged based on originality and execution, and the number of tricks they perform. American skater Nyjah Huston has won more prize money than any other skater in history and has over 4.5 million Instagram followers.

Park skateboarding takes place on a hollowed-out course that features curves and deep bowls. They often include halfpipes and quarter pipes. This is the event where we will see Team GB’s youngest ever Olympian Sky Brown who will be just 13 years old when she competes. She is a very modern athlete who has a huge Instagram following and learns her moves on YouTube rather than having a coach.

What about Team GB’s chances of medals?

While Sky Brown does have the chance of a medal Team GB having some hot favourites, such as swimmer Adam Peaty in the 100m breaststroke event. Cycling golden couple, Laura and Jason Kenny, are both close to creating British Olympic history as Laura is one gold medal away from Katherine Grainger’s record of 5 gold medals and Jason is one medal short of Bradley Wiggins’ record of 7 medals. There is real interest in the athletics as well where World and European champion Dina Asher-Smith takes on American Gabby Thomas and veteran Jamaican athlete, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce over 100m and 200m. There are medal hopes in the middle distance events with Scottish athletes, Jemma Reekie (800m) and Laura Muir (1500m) in the women’s events and the trio of Elliott Giles, Oliver Dustin and Daniel Rowden in the men’s 800m.

GB's 4x100m medley relay team featuring Adam Peaty during medal ceremony at the Rio 2016 Olympic GamesCopyrighted image IconChris Walker-Hebborn, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Duncan Scott at the medal ceremony during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games

There are a couple of less known athletes to watch out for including Northern Irishman, Patrick Huston, in the men’s archery competition and Scottish shooter Seonaid McIntosh who is reigning world champion in the 50m prone event. Boxer Pat McCormack is favourite in the men’s welterweight category and along with his brother, Luke, is one of eight sets of siblings who will compete for Team GB.

While it may be hard for Team GB to better their medal haul of 67 medals, including 27 golds, from the 2016 Olympics there is excitement that the Games actually going ahead after the barren summer of 2020.

This article was originally published on OpenLearn.

The Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics are coming!

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The delayed Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be starting soon. Look out for lots of related content from #TeamOUsport here on our blog, on Twitter and on our OpenLearn platform.

The Olympics start on 23rd July 2021:
Countdown to the Tokyo OlympicsCountdown

The Paralympics start on 24th August 2021:
Countdown to the Tokyo ParalympicsCountdown

Student Story: Abi Harding

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Abi is a bit of a superwoman. She’s serving RAF, is studying for a degree in Sports, Fitness and Coaching, plays football and rugby for the RAF and has given birth not once, but twice during her OU studies (and she’s only on her third year of study)!! (At the time of writing, both children are under 18 months old) Her motivation for study is to provide her with a career after the RAF, and her course is part funded by the RAF. She says “doing the OU course means I know that I’m set up for life”. She talks about juggling her studies around her life, and the support available from the OU, both formal tutor support and informal from other students.

I finished school with 10 GCSEs and went on to college and did a BTEC national diploma in Sports Performance and Excellence, and got a triple distinction. I applied for university to become a PE teacher, but I decided to follow a career with the RAF, so my academic education stopped at college.

“I was working full time and pregnant with my first child so studying at the OU fitted in with my needs”

I’ve been in the RAF for eleven years now, and want to stay in the force for as long as I can, but I also want to make sure I’ve got a career for when the time comes for me to leave. Throughout my whole life I’ve always played sport — I still play football and rugby for the RAF. Because I enjoy sport so much I decided to plan a future career as a PE teacher in primary or secondary. I looked into teaching and discovered that you need a degree and then a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) to become a teacher so I thought I’d start by studying a degree in something I enjoy and know a little bit about and that’s why I chose to study sports coaching.

I was working full time and knew there was no way that I’d be able to study full time. One of the girls I worked with was studying with The Open University, so I had a look and I could see that studying at the OU fitted in with my needs. I looked at other local unis to see if there were part time options with the courses I wanted, but there wasn’t.

“I’m now on my third module and I have a one-year-old and a newborn, which is a challenge!”

When I started the first module of my Sport, Fitness and Coaching degree with the OU in October 2018 I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I had an assignment due three weeks after the birth – I was a bag of emotions! During most of that first module I was working full-time Monday to Friday. I did my OU study two evenings a week for two or three hours. When it came to writing assignments, I would put in extra work to make sure everything got done.

I’m now on my third module and I have a one-year-old and a newborn, which is a challenge! Trying to juggle work, being a mum and doing a degree at the same time isn’t easy. You have to make yourself do it. Studying is not always something you want to do when you’ve had a day of it but you’ve got to get it done. Some nights I just want to sleep! There’s the odd occasion where, instead of going to the gym at lunch, I might smash out an hour out of study but most of the time I use the evenings. Last week I was trying to get my latest assignment finished but the little one, the newborn, wasn’t sleeping, so I had her on my shoulder while I was trying to work, but it’s not practical really! On a Saturday morning my other half sometimes takes the littlest one out to the park for a couple of hours to give me time to get some study done when I’m a bit less tired.

“Because I’m interested in the subject, I find all of the work enjoyable. Learning doesn’t seem like a chore if it’s something that you enjoy.”

My family has inspired me because it’s going to benefit all of us in the long run — and, if I’m honest, myself, because I’m a very determined person. And because I’m interested in the subject, I find all of the work enjoyable. Learning doesn’t seem like a chore if it’s something that you enjoy.

Although, this last assignment I came close to giving up. My newborn baby was just two weeks old and I felt so tired trying to juggle everything. But I knew deep down that I wouldn’t give up. The feeling only lasted a couple of days — while I was sleep deprived, and probably still a bit hormonal — but now I’m fine. I know I need to do it and, as tight as it sounds, I’m not wasting the money!

“The OU study material is really easy to follow, and I can’t fault the tutors.”

When you’ve been in the military for four years you’re entitled to Enhanced Learning Credits that you can use towards any education. My first two modules were 90% funded by the RAF and the remainder I paid. For my current module, which is my third, I got a student loan, because we had recently had a second and bought a house.

The OU study material is really easy to follow, and I can’t fault the tutors. The other day I was struggling to understand something and I thought, ‘I’ll just email and ask.’ My tutor was really quick to respond. My tutors have given me their email addresses and their mobile numbers and said I can ring and talk things through if I need help. I haven’t had to ring yet but it’s nice to know that the support is there.

“The tutor support you get with the OU is massive. I don’t even start my assignments without going to the tutorials because I find them really helpful. Really engaging.”

The tutor support you get with the OU is massive. I don’t even start my assignments without going to the tutorials because I find them really helpful. Really engaging. And because the students are all logged on together you can all ask questions in the chat bar about anything you don’t understand. It’s great because sometimes people will ask questions that maybe you didn’t think of. Or get answers to things you wanted to know but you didn’t know how to phrase the question. Personally, I massively benefit from the tutorials.

I’m in a WhatsApp group for the module and it’s supportive because there’s a lot of people in there that are in a similar situation to me. For example, there are students who are studying while homeschooling kids. When they’re saying ‘I can’t do this’, you know that you’re not the only one thinking that.

“The OU has stretched me because I didn’t think the work would be as challenging as it is. And I mean that in a good way!”

I’ve always been quite determined; if I set my mind to something I tend to do it, but studying at the OU has stretched me because I didn’t think the work would be as challenging as it is. And I mean that in a good way!

I’m happy in my job at the moment and I don’t plan leaving the RAF to teach any time soon, but doing the OU course means I know that I’m set up for life, so that when the time comes it’s just a case of doing the PGCE and getting qualified teacher status, and then I can be a PE teacher.

“Enjoy it. Embrace it. Accept that there will be times when it’s not that easy, but it’ll be worth it in the end.”

If you’re thinking of doing an OU course I would say look into what you want to do first, to make sure it’s definitely the right route for you, and then just enjoy it, embrace it. Accept that there will be times when it’s not that easy, but it’ll be worth it in the end.