How 9 Olympians Keep Their Nerves in Check Before Competing

I have a lot of emotions before I compete. Definitely a lot of nerves, excitement, anticipation . . . I feel everything! I want to get things right, I’m excited to show everyone what I’ve been working on, and there’s also the fear of not landing my run. I just try to keep communicating with my team so I can let them out and not hold things in, as well as use the proper tools to help stay in the zone.

I use visualization, music, breathing techniques, and just keeping the fun vibes alive to keep my nerves in check. There are some times when it’s important to step away from all the noise and use those tools to quiet my mind, and sometimes you just have to have some laughs with your friends (in my case, also my competition) to enjoy the moment.

But beforehand, I work very closely with my coach and psychologist during practices and even just in my daily routines. When things come up, we’re talking about them, figuring out solutions, and also experimenting with different visualizations and breathing and other tools that I can put into place so when the time comes, like right before the event, I’m well practiced with them and can utilize them easily. It’s a constant work in progress, and I’m always trying new things. Recently, I’ve really been leaning on those breathing/visualization exercises during my training sessions, before travel, and right before my heats at competitions.

My current favorite technique is progressive muscle relaxation, or PMR. It combines deep breathing with muscle tensing, which I find helps to not only get those breaths in (which can be hard with that pre-competition anxiety) but also connecting your mind to your body, which sort of grounds me, because I tend to get really shaky arms and legs.