We hope you have enjoyed our Winter Olympics and Paralympics blog. We will be back in the summer with to cover the Football World Cup (12th June – 13th July 2014) and the Commonwealth Games (23rd July – 3rd August 2014).
The Relationship Between Athlete and Guide
By Caroline Heaney
As I have been watching Open University student Jade Etherington and her fellow visually impaired alpine skiers in the Winter Paralympics I have been struck by the amazing relationship that exists between skier and guide.
There seem to be two key features present in a successful coach-guide relationship: trust and understanding. The athlete needs to place an extreme level of trust in the guide to lead her appropriately and the guide needs to have a high level of understanding of the athlete in order to guide her appropriately. Failure to have this trust and understanding could have a significant impact on performance.
Jade Etherington and her guide Caroline Powell, having won 3 medals in Sochi, clearly have a very strong athlete-guide relationship that appears to demonstrate these qualities of trust and understanding. The two demonstrate high levels of task and social cohesion, with both appearing to be very focused on working together to achieve Paralympic success (task cohesion), and appearing to get on well (social cohesion). This is quite remarkable considering that they have only been together for less than a year. Guide Powell describes their relationship below:
“It’s basically a friendship so you have to build a friendship and that can take years. In our case we had to build it within a short space of time, but we were really honest with each other from the beginning. She taught me so much about guiding, I just went with what she said and it’s worked. It’s come together now and we’re so happy.”
Kelly Gallagher, who made history in Sochi by becoming Great Britain’s first ever Winter Paralympics Gold medallist, also seems to have an exceptional relationship with her guide Charlotte Evans. She speaks about the strong connection and understanding they have:
“…she’s so in tune with me that she can tell how I’m skiing just by the noises I make”
I have been unable to identify any research that examines the relationship between the visually impaired athlete and guide, but the dyadic relationship may be similar in nature to the relationship between team-mates in a sports team (e.g. a rowing pair) or the coach-athlete relationship. Jowett has researched the coach-athlete relationship extensively and in her 3+1 Cs model she identifies four components of a successful coach-athlete relationship: closeness, commitment, complementarity and co-orientation. Intuitively these qualities seem applicable to the athlete-guide relationship.
The achievements of Great Britain’s visually impaired alpine skiers in the Winter Paralympics highlight the importance of the coach-guide relationship and perhaps there is a need for research to examine this unique and very important relationship.
British Prospects at the Winter Paralympics
By Caroline Heaney
Today sees the start of the Winter Paralympics which provides us with the opportunity to witness yet more extraordinary feats of athletic ability in Sochi. The London 2012 Summer Paralympics helped raise the profile of Paralympic sport like never before and hopefully the Sochi games will do the same, despite the danger of the event being overshadowed by recent events in Ukraine.
So what do the Winter Paralympics have in store for us, and who are Paralympics GBs medal prospects? The sports included in the Winter Paralympics programme are: Alpine skiing, Wheelchair Curling, Ice Sledge Hockey, Nordic Skiing and Biathlon. Great Britain have a squad of 15 athletes in Sochi and whilst Paralympics GB are a dominant force in the summer games, they have yet to win a gold medal at the Winter Paralympics. Paralympics GBs best performance to date came in the 1984 Winter Paralympics where they won 4 silver and 6 bronze medals. The medal target for Sochi is 2 to 6 medals.
Alpine Skiing
Alpine skiing comprises the downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom and super combined disciplines across three categories of disability that will see standing, sit-ski and visually impaired events. Snowboard cross will also be making its Paralympic debut.
British interest: Mike Brennan, Jade Etherington and guide Caroline Powell, Kelly Gallagher and guide Charlotte Evans, 15 year old Mille Knight (opening ceremony flag bearer) and guide Rachael Ferrier, Ben Sneesby, Anna Turney, and James Whitley. Kelly Gallagher represents one of Paralympic GBs strongest medal hopes.
Wheelchair Curling
Wheelchair curling is essentially the same game as we saw at the Winter Olympics with one key difference – there is no sweeping. Also, unlike the Olympic event, Paralympic curling is contested by mixed gender teams. Following a silver medal in 2006 and the medal winning achievements of their Olympic counterparts the Paralympic GB curling team are under pressure to gain a place on the podium and they are in a strong position to achieve this.
British interest: Skip Angie Malone, competing in her 3rd Paralympics, will be joined by Gregor Ewan, Jim Gault, Bob McPherson, and Aileen Neilson. Angie made history in 2010 by becoming the first female skip in international competition.
Ice Sledge Hockey
Ice sledge hockey, as its name suggests, is played on sledges. Otherwise it is similar to the Winter Olympics version of the game. Paralympics GB does not have a team in the event, but Canada and the USA are big medal contenders.
Nordic Skiing and Biathlon
Peter Young was the last British cross-country skiing medallist when he won a bronze in 1994. Sadly there are no British competitors in the cross-country skiing or biathlon events in Sochi, which will see sitting, standing and visually impaired races. This sport looks set to be a favourite of the home crowd with Russian athletes expected to dominate.
The Winter Paralympics will no doubt provide another amazing spectacle of sport and with many in the British team making their Paralympics debut and potential British medal prospects we could see some new sporting role models emerging from these games.
Bibliography
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/25580284
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/25605833
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/26422128
http://paralympics.channel4.com/competitions/sochi-2014-winter-paralympics/sports/index.html
http://paralympics.channel4.com/competitions/sochi-2014-winter-paralympics/athletes/index.html
Peak Performance in Sochi 2014: Can it continue?
By Jessica Pinchbeck
The snowy peaks of Sochi have provided a dramatic backdrop to the remarkable achievements of many athletes striving to achieve their finest performances at the games. With Team GB equalling their best performance at the Winter Olympics and the Paralympic Games about to begin we take a look at peak performance and how it can be achieved.
What is peak performance?
Peak performance is defined as ‘the performance at the top of the individual’s range of possible performances’ (Kauss, 1980) and the Olympics and Paralympics is certainly the time when athletes want to be at the top of their game. Studies investigating peak performance show there are a range of common physical and mental factors that relate to peak performance. These include physical and mental relaxation, confidence, a present-centred focus, being highly energised, extraordinary awareness, and feeling in control. These factors are closely linked to a concept known as ‘flow’, often referred to in sport as ‘being in the zone’.
The concept of flow
Flow is a positive psychological state and arises from wider research on human happiness by a psychologist called Csikszentmihalyi. This optimal psychological state is conducive to attaining peak performances and is therefore a desirable experience for athletes. Common dimensions of the flow experience emerged from original studies and have since been further supported by research in sport.
Challenge-skill balance is possibly the most important factor enabling flow to occur. For example, if an athlete considers a task to be too challenging they may experience anxiety, or conversely if a task is seen as too easy the athlete may become bored, both of which can hinder performance. When challenge and skill are positioned at the correct levels for the athlete flow is more likely to occur. Interestingly it is the athlete’s perceptions of their capabilities relative to the challenge and not necessarily their true abilities that are important. Jenny Jones, GB Olympic bronze medallist, discusses how she relished the challenge of Sochi 2014:
‘When they announced that slopestyle was going to be in the Olympics I was amazed that it was going to be brought in and quite excited that I had a new challenge.’
To accomplish a challenge an athlete will set clear goals and receive feedback, which forms a crucial process within the flow experience. Athletes also report a merging of action and awareness which is often described as ‘feeling at one with the activity’, experiencing automaticity and unity with the environment and where performing the action feels effortless. GB Olympic gold medallist Lizzy Yarnold explains:
‘It’s more about having a real good connection with the sled and the mental game …There are so many other aspects apart from the physical side in skeleton.’
Total concentration is linked to optimal performance, with athletes often reporting a sense of control during flow. Athletes also describe feeling completely confident with no fear of failure. During flow an individual’s self-consciousness diminishes and they have little concern or anxiety regarding the perceptions of others (Jackson and Kimiecik, 2008). Transformation of time is the one factor which lacks consistency across studies as for some athletes time speeds up during flow and for others time slows down. In addition if an activity is autotelic and performed for its own sake, its own rewards and enjoyment then flow is more likely to occur. This intrinsic enjoyment of the activity is shown by GB slopestyle skier James Woods who when asked what would improve his enjoyment of skiing replied:
‘I don’t think anything could. I appreciate so much the incredible opportunities that I get, every second of riding is something special.’
In elite sport the impact of external rewards as well as the competitive nature and the lack of control athletes have over the sporting environment may lead to elite athletes experiencing more difficulty in achieving flow than non-elite athletes. However this is a relatively unexplored area of research to date.
Facilitating Flow
As you can see there are similarities between flow and peak performance although they are not identical. Peak performance is a high level of functioning whereas flow is a type of experience. An athlete can be in flow without producing peak performance, although many athletes (up to 75% in one study) do experience flow when in peak performance. Therefore flow is a valued experience for sports performers as it can, and often does, result in peak performance. But how can this be achieved?
Research suggests that the body and mind can be trained to reach the flow state using psychological skills training such as imagery, goal-setting, thought control strategies, and arousal management techniques, many of which we are sure to see put into practice in the Winter Paralympics. So with 15 athletes representing Paralympic GB in Sochi and some serious medal contenders, such as alpine skiers Jade Etherington and Kelly Gallagher, it will be fantastic to see the flow of peak performances continue, particularly from our home grown athletes.
References:
BBC (2014) ‘Winter Olympics 2014: Jenny Jones excited by slopestyle debut’ [online] Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-olympics/25586746
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975) ‘Beyond boredom and anxiety’. San Francisco. Jossey-Bass.
GB Ski Club (2009) ‘The Questionnaire: James Woods’ [online] Available from: http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/news/story.aspx?storyID=6447#.UxWlWuVFDIU (Accessed 2 March 2014)
Gibson, O. (2014) ‘Lizzy Yarnold already making plans to defend skeleton title in 2018’ [online] Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/feb/15/lizzy-yarnold-skeleton-winter-olympics-defence (Accessed 2 March 2014)
Jackson, S. and Kimiecik, J. (2008) ‘The Flow Perspective of Optimal Experience in Sport and Physical Activity’ in T. Horn (ed) ‘Advances in Sport Psychology’ (3rd Edition). Leeds, Human Kinetics.
Jackson, S. (2000) Joy, Fun, and Flow State in Sport. In: Hanin, Y. (ed). Emotions in Sport. Leeds. Human Kinetics.
Jackson, S. and Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1999) ‘Flow in Sports: The keys to optimal experiences and performances.’ Leeds. Human Kinetics.
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When I grow up I wanna be famous….. Role Models in Winter Sports
By Candice Lingam-Willgoss
“I have dreamed my whole life about being a British Olympian”
(Lizzy Yarnold, 2014)
Introduction
With the Sochi Games almost at a close as with London 2012 we enter a period of reflection, both in terms of markers of success but also in relation to the legacy that will been left. Without doubt this has been one of the most highly viewed Winter Games to date and with an estimated £30billion being spent by the Russian hosts this is not surprising. I have commented in previous postings on how many of the new events introduced at this games have without doubt added another dimension to the demographic who are tuning in to watch Winter sports and my observations of this games have led to me pondering a variety of different areas, from whether the participants at these games are more athletes or performers, my own sporting retirement, the causes of anxiety at altitude and more recently Heaney’s (2014) comments on the area of sporting role models.
London 2012
Two years ago when Olympics fever was on our back door step much was made of the legacy that would be left to the next generation, in fact one of the 5 key legacy promises that were made was ‘to inspire a generation of young people’ (UK parliament, 2012). The likes of Jessica Ennis-Hill and Chris Hoy were spearheading the enthusiasm of a nation and providing excellent role models to a raft of young people. Their success has directly seen an increase in investment into a range of different sports and predictions are that Rio 2016 will see the British team solidify their dominance on the medals table even more. So what will be the legacy left by the Sochi Winter Games?
Winter Sports
Rea’s opening blog post considered the fact that as a nation we are not a typical big player when it comes to Winter Sports as he said ‘history is not on our side’. As a nation we are without a strong winter sports heritage and role models are not so obvious to spot (2014). In a recent interview with the women’s sport trust Shelley Rudman discussed who her sporting role models were and cites Jane Tomlinson and Clare Lomas, thus illustrating that as a sporting female sometimes you have to step outside of your sport to find those who inspire you. Women have always have been playing catch up in the sports world, from the opportunities available, the media coverage and financial rewards, so it is interesting that three of our four medals to date have been won by women.
The Role of the Family
The concept of a role model within sport having to come from someone in the public eye is put to bed by Pinchbeck (2014) in her article looking at Olympic Parents. Her discussion on the instrumental role that the family plays in the development of a young person’s engagement in sport considers that it is parents who may be the primary role models for their children. So often it’s the case that a young boys memories of sport as a youngster is being taken to his first football match by his dad, and it is dad’s passion for watching the game that sparks the sons desire to play. This influence of family is echoed by Chemmy Alcott’s path into Skiing, she was introduced to the sport by her family from a very young age.
The Future’s Bright
The next generation should have a different experience, with the British women in particular leading the medals charge in Sochi. Jenny Jones secured Britain’s first Olympic medal at the games and for the men James Woods put in an impressive 5th place finish in the same event. Alcott at her 4th Olympics and 6 months after a possible career ending leg break did herself proud with a 19th place finish in the downhill. These athletes are demonstrating that even as a nation without a strong heritage and limited facilities anything is possible. Even more notable was Lizzy Yarnold’s performance – her dream of becoming an Olympian has come true in the most Hollywood fashion, from her integration in the Skeleton set up 5 years ago to her Gold Medal at this year’s Olympic Games. Just as Amy Williams was her role model she is now providing another very positive female role model for young people in winter sports. The Telegraph’s Judith Woods wrote in 2010 about Amy Williams, the 2010 Skeleton Gold Medal winner and how she was everything a female role model should be ‘personable, pretty, a PhD student and an Olympic Gold Medallist’. Williams, like Rudman and Yarnold, is still a very positive role model for young woman today, and in an age when female identity is becoming even more multifaceted they show you can have it all.
The legacy being left by these games isn’t just instilling a desire to become an Olympic athlete, I think they are illustrating, as I have previously mentioned, the positive gains that are to be made when you take up sport of any sort. Seeing the ‘cool’ persona of Slopestyler Woods, the supportive family of Jones, the enthusiastic supporters of Yarnold and the camaraderie of the Curlers is projecting the right image of sport to the next generation. A sentiment perfectly summed up by Rudman ‘I think it is really important that women understand from a young age that taking part in sport is really beneficial from both a health and general well-being perspective’ (2014). Without doubt the Sochi Winter Olympics have raised the profile of a number of minority sports and hopefully will lead to more young people strapping on skis, skating or even learning how to slide stones.
Team GB’s equal best medal haul – but it’s all about the Curling!
By Simon Rea
On Friday 21st February Team GB will win their fourth medal, either a silver or gold, in the men’s curling final. It will equal the team’s best performance from the first Winter Olympics in 1924 held in Chamonix. Four medals may look a modest haul in contrast to Norway’s 21 and counting but it represents a significant improvement on the single medal achieved in 2010 and means that the team’s medal target has been achieved with a couple more medal chances to come over the weekend.
Sliding onto the podium
There was a major breakthrough on the first Sunday of the Games as Jenny Jones won a bronze medal in Snowboarding. According to the record books this is the first British medal on snow (all the others have been won in ice events), although Alain Baxter’s performance in the skiing slalom in 2002 needs to be acknowledged. He won the bronze medal but was disqualified for failing a drugs test due to the presence of a stimulant in an American Vicks inhaler he was using. He was later cleared of any wrong doing but the IOC declined to give him back his medal. Team GB’s first gold came courtesy of a brilliant performance over four runs of the skeleton course by Lizzy Yarnold. She followed in the footsteps of Amy Williams and celebrated by changing her name to ‘YarGold’ for one day.
Curling – the nation’s new favourite sport!
Team GB’s success in 2014 has centred on the Ice Cube Curling Centre. Social media has been buzzing with posts and tweets about how people have become obsessed with the curling events. Interest in Curling has overcome the jibes about it being ‘competitive housework’ as viewers are treated to the excitement and the drama of the matches that can change with every stone released. The use of language, such as stones, hammer, sweeps and skips is becoming commonplace and curling works on many levels. Unlike many Winter Olympic events the competitors compete head to head rather than one after another so the drama is constantly unfolding and the battle between the teams is visible to see. It is a perfect television sport as the sheet that it is played on can be viewed from overhead, the stones, the house and the team’s kit are colourful and appealing. The camera can look straight into the eyes of the curlers and examine every change of emotion as they release the stones and watch their trajectory. Commentators refer to the wide, blue eyes of Anna Sloan or the steely glare of Eve Muirhead. The sport is highly skilled and the curlers have to control their emotions under extreme pressure and keep their concentration. Curling has earned the nickname ‘chess on ice’ because success is reliant on the strategy of each team. Each team has eight stones per end and the first stones are as influential as the last as the team seek to put up guards for their later stones or keep the route to the house clear. Maybe Curling is better compared to snooker as not only do you have to keep thinking ahead to the next shots but you also have to work out angles to hit your opponent’s stones to your advantage. The movement of the stones can be controlled by the sweepers whose work decreases the friction between the stone and ice and can influence the speed and direction of the stone.
Can it get even better?
Four Scottish women with an average age of 23 have won the bronze medal and Dave Murdoch’s men’s team will win either gold or silver. A gold medal would improve on the medal haul from 1924 and would be the first time Britain has won two golds at a Games. They are also putting together a strong case against Scottish devolution from the UK! There are other medal chances as well as the seriously unlucky Elise Christie (a former OU student) and the men’s 4-man bobsleigh provide the possibility of medals. Team GB has also had several athletes placed well in finals but outside the medal positions.
Up to this point the Sochi Games have proved to be a positive experience with spectacular venues and performances to match. The new events, such as slope style have been popular and well received. And maybe, just maybe, the best Winter Olympic performance for Team GB.
Filling the Void – Retirement from High Risk Sport
By Candice Lingam-Willgoss
We are now well into the Sochi games and alongside the usual commentary focusing on execution, speed and results there has been the expected comments on how this will, for many, be their final shot at an Olympic medal, as they plan to announce their retirement after the games. This led me to think about my retirement from my passion which was ski racing.
The title of Roland Huntford’s 2008 book Two Planks and a Passion sums up skiing for me, it’s a pure sport not given over to too many gimmicks, but also a sport that allows a certain harmony with nature, a sport driven by the environment, in fact the very development of skiing began as a means of survival. Skiing is my passion and has been for as long as I can remember, I love the juxtaposition of control and vulnerability, something shared with other high risk winter sports – I love the emotion I feel when I ski, and I miss it almost every day, I miss being a ski racer.
Identity
Retirement from any area of our lives can leave a massive void, whether it is work or sport. A large reason for this is the identity that we lose when we can no longer categorise ourselves as a teacher, doctor, skier or footballer. We suddenly have to slot ‘retired’ or ‘former’ before our title. We have often spent so much time developing this positive identity that we are very proud of that it is something we strive to cling onto. Identity is an area that dominates so many of our personal esteem issues, our confidence and our sense of self. Loss of identity is frequently cited as a key psychological issue for athletes who both choose to retire or are forced to, and its why I firmly believe we should always view our sporting self as a smaller part of the complete person, it is not who we are it is part of the bigger picture.
Retirement
Deciding to retire from competitive ski racing at the age of 17 wasn’t a difficult decision at the time – at the time it was the right one for me, and looking back now I believe I made the right choices. Despite that, I have been left with a void in my life, a gap that only skiing can fill. This void is somewhat heightened at this “winter” sports time of year. Sochi for me will be a chance for some vicarious living for a few weeks – my heart still speeds up slightly when I watch the ski racing and I catch myself swaying as the skiers turn around the gates and I must admit to feeling a touch of envy for what I am missing.
Filling the Void
I have tried to fill the void left by skiing, interestingly more so in recent years when I began to crave something to challenge me physically that would tick some of the same boxes as skiing. As skiing is often termed a High Risk sport and as Pinchbeck (2014) has already mentioned one chosen by a certain personality type, I sought out something I felt could fill the gap. I imagine this is similar for many Winter Sports athletes as many of the sports competed in at Sochi are high risk in nature – I chose Triathlon, it seemed to tick the boxes! What I didn’t account for was something quite simple really, I wasn’t ever going to be as good at it as I was at skiing. Skiing to me is like walking, second nature – swimming, biking and running are certainly not! The other thing I very stupidly missed was that I am in essence a thrill seeking sprint athlete not a safer endurance one, even a shorter distance triathlon is significantly longer than a ski race. As such this means the feeling I get when I train and compete doesn’t come close to skiing and only very recently did I admit to myself that I don’t really enjoy triathlon very much at all. It doesn’t excite me and if anything makes me miss skiing even more. Don’t get me wrong I love the sense of accomplishment after a good training session and that I am maintaining some form of athletic identity, but does it elicit the same emotional response – simply No.
The Gift of Sport
Reflecting on my sporting life, in particular my retirement from skiing, clarifies to me that perspective is very important. I think with age comes an acceptance that my time as a ski racer was a gift, a time to treasure, but it’s not all of who I am, the gap left will always be there and no other sport will give me that thrill. In many ways I am very lucky – I still get to ski, albeit at a recreational level, although I can’t deny I still get a buzz from checking my top speed at the end of the day or visualising some gates as I race down a black run. So even though the thrill seeking racer identity is no more, I still have glimpses of this when it’s just me two planks and my passion.
Reference
Huntford, R. (2008) Two Planks and a Passion. London, Continuum
Sibling Success In Sochi
By Jessica Pinchbeck
Within sport there are many examples of successful sporting siblings such as the Williams sisters in tennis, the Brownlee brothers in Triathlon, and the Schumacher brothers in Formula One. Inevitably the role of the family plays a part in this success such as the emotional, financial and logistical support offered, as discussed in the article ‘Being an Olympic Parent: the family behind the athlete’. This article takes a slightly different approach and focuses on the siblings in the family unit, specifically the birth order of siblings and what effect this may have on an athlete’s sporting success.
A Family Affair
On day one of competition in Sochi a story of sibling success emerged. Three Canadian sisters competed in the ladies Moguls with two gaining podium places. Justine, Chloe and Maxine Dufour-Lapointe all competed, however the eldest sister Maxine failed to reach the final phase. Interestingly it was the youngest sibling Justine who gained the gold medal with middle sibling Chloe taking silver. However this sibling success is not a first and was the fourth time that two sisters have taken gold and silver in an Olympics. In the 1964 Games French sisters Christine and Marielle Goitschel won gold and silver in the slalom and giant slalom and in 1992 Austrian sisters Doris and Angelika Neuner took the first two podium places in the luge.
Day three in Sochi saw Dutch twins Michael and Ronald Mulder taking gold and bronze in the 500m speed skating, making them the second set of twins to take medals in the same event in the history of the Winter Olympics. American skiers Phil and Steve Mahre were the first twins to achieve this in 1984 winning gold and silver in the men’s slalom. In Turin 2006 brothers Philipp and Simon Schoch of Switzerland owned the top podium spots in snowboarding with younger brother Phillip having gained gold four years earlier in 2002. Both brothers are set to compete in Sochi. Over both the Summer and Winter Games there have been eight gold-silver brother finishes; so will Sochi see any more family photos on the podium?
New Zealand brothers Jossi, Byron and Beau James Wells are all competing in Sochi. Jossi will compete in the ski halfpipe and slopestyle along with his youngest brother Beau James. Middle brother Byron will compete in ski halfpipe. The family picture is completed by their father Bruce who is also their coach. At present Jossi, the eldest sibling, is the most successful although with Byron only 21 and James even younger at 18 this has time to change. The Switzerland team also have their own sibling story with sisters Aita, Elisa and Selina Gasparin all aiming for success in biathlon events. Within Team GB brother and sister, Posy and Andrew Musgrave, are both competing in cross country ski events in Sochi. GB cross country skier Andrew Young also makes up a sibling duo with older sister Sarah, although Sarah failed to qualify for these games. Andrew Young describes how being a younger sibling helped both his and Andrew Musgrave’s development:
“My sister is three years older than me, and [Musgrave’s] sister is a few years older than him, so it was always a competition to beat the girls …They were older and they were just as good as we were, when we were 11 and 12.”
Does birth order matter?
Jenny Jones, GB bronze medal winner in Sochi is the youngest of three children, with two older brothers, and interestingly it was the youngest Dufour-Lapointe sister who took the gold medal. Musgrave and Young are also developing more impressive international careers than their elder sisters. These examples support research evidence that elite athletes are more likely to be later born children with an association between birth order and skill level (Pathways to the Podium, 2012). So why is this the case?
One explanation is that younger siblings often report having to compete for their parents’ attention. Evidence suggests that later born children are more competitive (or ego-orientated) than their elder siblings, as demonstrated by Andrew Young trying to beat his older sister. This is thought to stem from parental tendencies to compare younger siblings to their older counterparts resulting in first born children being motivated to learn with younger siblings motivated to win.
Role modelling provides another explanation with younger siblings taking part in sport to be like their older brother or sister. Research also showed siblings were more likely to participate and compete in sport if their siblings, particularly elder siblings, did so too. For example, Molly Summerhayes, sister of Team GB’s Katie Summerhayes, is certainly an emerging GB ski slopestyle talent and her introduction to the sport came when she joined a Sheffield ski club with her older sister.
Personality characteristics may also play a part with first born athletes reporting significantly higher cognitive and somatic anxiety compared to later born athletes (Flowers and Brown, 2002). Athletes with higher anxiety levels are often reported as being less able to cope with the demanding pressures of elite sports performance. It will certainly be interesting to watch Molly’s development and whether this supersedes that of her elder sibling.
Conclusion
The question of birth order certainly raises some interesting discussion although evidence is far from conclusive. However the stories of sibling success in sport suggests that siblings do have a part to play in athletic development and it will be interesting to see what further sibling stories emerge from Sochi.
References:
BBC (2014) ‘Sochi 2014: Michael Mulder wins 500m speed skating gold’ [online] Available from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/winter-olympics/26056740
Carette, B. Anseel, F. and Van Yperen, N.W. (2011) ‘Born to learn or born to win? Birth order effects on achievement goals’, Journal of Research in Personality, vol. 45, pp. 500–503.
Krombholz, H. (2006) Physical Performance In Relation To Age, Sex, Birth Order, Social Class, And Sports Activities Of Preschool Children. Perceptual and Motor Skills: Volume 102, Issue , pp. 477-484.
Little, C. (2013) ‘For Andrew Young and British Team, Preparing for a Once-In-Four-Years Opportunity to Reach Their Public’ [online] Available from: http://fasterskier.com/article/for-andrew-young-and-british-team-preparing-for-a-once-in-four-years-opportunity-to-reach-their-public/
Pathways to the Podium (2012) ‘Faster, higher, stronger… and younger? Birth order, sibling sport participation, and sport expertise development’ [online] Available from: http://expertadvantage.wordpress.com/2012/06/19/siblings/
Ronbeck, N., F., and Vikander, N., O., (2011) ‘The role of Peers: siblings and friends in the recruitment and development of athletes’, Acta Kinesiologiae Universitatis Tartuensis, Vol.17,
Toronto Sun (2014) ‘Dufour-Lapointe duo not first 1-2 Olympics sister act’ [online] Available from: http://www.torontosun.com/2014/02/09/dufour-lapointe-duo-not-first-1-2-olympics-sister-act
Keeping Athletes ‘Appy’
By Caroline Heaney
A few months ago I wrote an article for The Sport and Exercise Scientist titled ‘Keeping Sport and Exercise Scientists ‘appy’ – Online and mobile technologies in Sport and Exercise Science‘. In this article I explored the potential uses of online technologies and mobile apps for sport and exercise scientists, drawing on my experience of working as a sport psychologist to a national winter sports squad in the build up to and during the 2010 Winter Olympics. During this time I made extensive use of online technologies, such as Skype and Facebook, to keep in touch with the athletes, but at that time very little use of mobile apps. A lot has changed in 4 years – since the last Winter Olympics I have increasingly used apps, not only in my capacity as a sport psychologist, but also in my everyday life and as an athlete. This has led me to reflect on how athletes in Sochi might be using apps and online technologies into their lives.
Social Media
London 2012 was reported to be the most social media reported Olympics in history with some tagging it the ‘social media games’ or the ‘socialympics’. Use of social media tools such as Faceboook and Twitter has certainly rocketed since previous Olympic Games and Sochi looks set to follow London’s lead in the social media stakes, despite the reported heavy restrictions placed on athletes using Twitter during the games.
Mobile Apps
Social media apps will more than likely be used by athletes and support staff in Sochi, but what other apps are likely to be used? There are certainly lots of sport and fitness related apps out there at the Olympic athlete’s disposal – relaxation based apps, apps to measure exercise intensity, breath control apps, video analysis apps, apps to track your run, dietary analysis apps – the list is endless.
So what are your recommendations? Are there any apps you would recommended for athletes or support staff? Share your favourite apps using the ‘Leave a Reply’ function at the bottom of the page.