Great British medalists: Psychosocial biographies of Super-Elite and Elite athletes from Olympic sports

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Author
Hardy, Lew
Barlow, Matthew
Evans, Lynne
Rees, Tim
Woodman, Tim
Warr, Chelsea
Date
2017Acceptance date
2017-04-17
Type
Book chapter
Publisher
Elsevier
ISSN
1875-7855
Embargoed until
2100-01-01
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Participants were 32 former GB athletes from Olympic sports, 16 Super-Elite athletes who had won multiple medals at major championships, and 16 matched Elite athletes who had not. In-depth interviews with the athletes, their coaches, and one of their parents explored all psychosocial aspects of their development and careers. Content analyses revealed that there were no differences between Super-Elite and Elite athletes with regard to family values, conscientiousness, or commitment to training. However, the two groups were found to be different with regard to: (1) the experience of a foundational negative life event coupled with a foundational positive sport-related event; (2) the experience of a career turning point that enhanced motivation and focus for their sport; (3) need for success; (4) obsessiveness and/or perfectionism with regard to training and performance; (5) ruthlessness and/or selfishness in the pursuit of their sporting goals; (6) dual focus on both mastery and outcome; (7) the use of counterphobic attitudes and/or total preparation to maintain higher levels of performance under pressure; and (8) the relative importance of sport over other aspects of life. The results are discussed within the context of psychodynamic theory, and recommendations are made for both applied implications and future research.
Journal/conference proceeding
Progress in Brain Research;
Citation
Hardy, L., Barlow, M., Evans, L., Rees, T., Woodman, T. and Warr, C. (2017) 'Great British medalists: Psychosocial biographies of super-elite and elite athletes from Olympic sports', In Walsh, V., Wilson, M. and Parkin, B., eds. Sport and the Brain: The Science of Preparing, Enduring and Winning, Progress in Brain Research 232, pp. 1-192
Description
This item is part of the Book Series - Progress in Brain Research. The item is currently not available from this repository and full text of the chapter is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.pbr.2017.03.004
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