Edited by: Tadhg Eoghan MacIntyre, University of Limerick, Ireland
Reviewed by: Andrew John Manley, Leeds Beckett University, United Kingdom; Selenia Di Fronso, University of Studies G. d’Annunzio Chieti and Pescara, Italy
This article was submitted to Movement Science and Sport Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
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The current COVID-19 pandemic has affected the entire globe, including the world of high-performance sports. Accordingly, it has been widely assumed that the thereby caused postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games could have negative psychological impacts for aspirants, since they were halted abruptly in the pursuit of their Olympic endeavors and their daily lives drastically altered. Considering the sudden nature of the pandemic, few researchers, if any, have yet scrutinized the individual experience of Olympic aspirants. This qualitative study examines the subjective perceptions of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games postponement among Austrian Olympic athletes and coaches. To this end, 21 Austrian athletes (13 male, 8 female; mean age = 26.67 ± 4.93 years) and six male coaches were recruited through a criterion-based purposive sampling strategy. Five athletes had already qualified for the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and 15 athletes were still in an ongoing qualification process. Data was collected by means of short written statements, elicited via open-format questions on an anonymous online survey platform. In order to infer meaning from the text, a qualitative content analysis with an interpretative focus was conducted inductively, which allowed for deriving alternative explanations of findings. The results support the notion that the Olympic postponement was experienced in myriad ways by affected participants. Three general themes comprised of several meaning units of different levels of abstraction were created from the text data. Many respondents experienced an immediate emotional reaction to the postponement characterized by confusion, disappointment and/or relief. Participants associated multiple consequences with the postponement, such as the prolongation of physical and psychological pressure, a lack of motivation, concerns about future performance, living and their occupational career, but also the opportunity for performance improvement and recovery. Respondents displayed various coping strategies, such as distancing themselves from sports, cognitive reframing, appealing for acceptance, and planning behavior. This study gleans first insights into the idiosyncratic experience of the Olympic Games 2020 postponement among Austrian aspirants. The findings could serve to assist sport psychologists in their applied practice by informing them about athletes’ and coaches’ needs in their Olympic preparation during the ongoing pandemic.
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When the Coronavirus forced the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern and categorize the disease as a global pandemic on 11th March 2020 (
The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games raised broad discussions within the world of sport about the challenges Olympic athletes and coaches are encountering. The issues ranged from handling social distancing, social isolation, and loss of social support to dealing with career disruption, uncertainties about the Olympic qualification status and process, limitations and bans of training possibilities as well as insecurities about future funding, sponsorship contracts and individuals’ health status (
In numerous research projects world-wide, increased levels of stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms as well as feelings of anger, grief, fear, confusion, and emotional exhaustion among the general population were documented as negative psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and national governments’ actions to restrict the spread of the virus and limit its detrimental impacts (
The announcement of the official IOC decision sparked an abundance of interviews and global media coverage of future participants’ reactions to the postponement. Personal social media feeds of Olympic aspirants testified to the emotional turmoil that the events had triggered within the world of Olympic sports. In addition, elevated demands for psychological online support through sport psychologists were reported following the outbreak of COVID-19 and the implemented confinement measures (
However, due to the dynamic progression of the health crisis, there is a lack of empirical work within the field of sport psychology on how this unique population actually experience the Olympic postponement. Assumptions about which feelings, concerns, frustrations, fears or reliefs accompany the IOC’s decision on the part of affected aspirants, and which coping strategies they might resort to in order to overcome encompassed difficulties, are thus far of hypothetical nature only. Currently, few studies examining individual perceptions of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis among Olympic athletes and coaches have been published (e.g.,
The authors of this study endorse the idea that people’s realities are shaped through their individual and subjective perceptions and thereby commit to epistemological constructionism (i.e., knowledge is constructed and subjective) and ontological relativism (i.e., multiple created, mind-dependent realities exist;
Participants were recruited through a criterion-based purposive sampling strategy (
Potential study participants were contacted via social media and email and provided with an online link to a survey platform, which could be accessed in a computer or mobile version. The research was introduced as a study to explore how Austrian Olympic athletes and coaches personally experience the postponement of the Olympic Games caused by the Coronavirus pandemic. In the introductory text, special care was attributed not to influence participants in order to capture their idiosyncratic views. Before directing participants to the question, the procedure was described and the athlete or coach was informed of his or her right to withdraw from the study at any time. After this, participants were asked for their explicit consent. It was made clear that the researchers would not be able to infer personal identities from the data and that the study intended to provide an anonymous setting for participants to share their subjective experience in a written statement. The open-format questions that participants were asked to answer read as follows: “Please describe what the postponement of the summer Olympic Games of Tokyo 2020 means from your perspective. What does this decision entail for you personally?”
The method of prompting written statements from participants stems from research conducted by
Following the writing prompt, participants were asked to provide information regarding their age, gender, actual qualification status, previous participation in Olympic Games, the nature of their sport, and whether they were athlete or coach. No additional biographical or sport-related details were obtained from participants due to the aforementioned concerns about ensuring their anonymity. The statements, which respondents produced, were on average comprised of seven lines, ranging from two to 37 lines between individuals.
In order to increase the credibility of their claims, the authors acknowledge their own standpoints and feel the responsibility to clarify their positionality in regard to the topic and the population under investigation (
The first and second author individually performed a qualitative content analysis with the goal of gathering knowledge and enhancing understanding of the phenomenon under study (
In a first step, the authors familiarized themselves with the data by reading the entirety of the texts repeatedly to get a sense of the whole (
Once the analysis was conducted by the two authors individually, the researchers met on several occasions to present their thematic framework to each other and to discuss their interpretations of the underlying meaning (i.e., the latent content) of the text. Despite the content analysis being depicted as a linear process, it is important to note that the derivation of meaning from a text is performed in a rather circular manner by moving back and forth between the text as a whole and its segments. As described earlier, the research design was underpinned by constructivist epistemological beliefs and a commitment to a relativist ontology. In line with these beliefs, the authors assume that it is impossible to produce theory-free knowledge as reality can be interpreted in a variety of ways. This in turn, implies the idea that understanding depends on subjective interpretation. Consequently, the authors decided against the use of the popular method of member checking as a form of quality control and with the aim to ensure rigor (cf.
Since description and interpretation of the underlying meaning are closely related in this qualitative approach, the “Results and Discussion” sections are combined in order to avoid redundancy. Three central themes related to the perception of the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were inferred from the data: (1) Immediate emotional reactions, (2) Perceived consequences of the postponement, and (3) Coping with the situation. The detailed structure and composition of the derived categories, subcategories and codes are presented in
Hierarchical structure of the theme “Immediate emotional reactions”.
Hierarchical structure of the theme “Perceived consequences of the postponement”.
Hierarchical structure of the theme “Coping with the situation”.
In many cases, participants described the way they reacted to the announcement of the postponement in distinguishable phases. Thus, they often recalled their initial reaction as a sense of shock and confusion. As this respondent put it: “Of course I was shocked at first and for a short time I didn’t know what to think about it or how to deal with the situation at all” (id13). Another participant asserted: “For me personally, it was the only right decision, even if it was a small shock at first” (id23). Several participants associated this shock moment with a feeling of uncertainty. Often, the underlying factors of having no exact dates and schedules to structure their yearly training accordingly, in combination with being left in the dark about possible changes to the ongoing Olympic selection process and rules, were described as challenging. One athlete stated: “As a consequence, all athletes find themselves in utter uncertainty. I would describe that as the most difficult issue” (id4). This finding was somehow expected as it reflects the general assumption within the field of sport and exercise psychology that elite athletes, in terms of being high-performance career professionals, evolve based on structured short- and long-term plans, which logically permit outcomes such as improved and consistent performance and viability into the future (
Feelings of disappointment and regret were frequently reported as a first emotional reaction: “Immediately after the announcement of the decision, it was a challenge for me to process everything, because I had invested a lot in the upcoming selection and had already completed a big part of it successfully!” (id12). One coach explained how the Games’ postponement was experienced as tragic, because it stopped the team’s ongoing Olympic selection at its final stage: “Also, we were really close to qualifying, there were only 2 competitions left. Now everything is “up in the air” again and there is a certain insecurity” (id14). There is a growing awareness within the field of sport psychology that even in a “normative” Olympic cycle, athletes are prone to disappointment in their Olympic endeavor, which might impact their well-being and ultimately their mental health negatively (
Since the phase proceeding the IOC’s announcement was characterized by an agonizing uncertainty about scheduled events and plans in general, the official call served to reduce this uncertainty and was consequently experienced as relief at first. Some participants felt relieved that difficult recent training conditions were now judged as less unfavorable: “It is a relief, because we were not able to train in the last month” (id5). Another athlete added: “Following a stage of uncertainty, the postponement of the Olympic Games to 2021 felt like a big relief to me. Moreover, training conditions were very different from country to country, the postponement of the Games allows for a fair preparation” (id17). Numerous respondents had pessimistic views about the continuation of their qualification process and feared negative changes to their selection mode before the delay of the Olympic Games was formally announced. Therefore, they felt relieved about the formal decision of the IOC, as it ended speculation about the cancelation of upcoming qualification events. This athlete stated: “Personally, I have to say that the postponement was a relief. I wasn’t qualified 100% yet and was scared that because of the corona crisis there would be no more competitions, so that there would be no more chances to meet the selection criteria for me. My big goal was always the Olympics, and not being able to participate because of something like this, made me think a lot” (id27).
These comments exemplify that Olympic athletes and coaches lived through diverse concerns that COVID-19 will affect their actual situation, and even more importantly, their future perspective negatively. As already shown in other population groups besides elite athletes and coaches, increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression were documented as a psychological consequence of COVID-19 (
Numerous participants expected the Olympic postponement to bring about negative consequences. A recurring issue in the data was the notion of an extended period of mental and physical pressure due to the delayed Games. Multiple athletes and coaches mentioned chronic pain, injuries, and physical and emotional stress resulting in exhaustion as characteristics of the daily life of professional athletes: “During the entire selection phase (selection had been going on for 2 years already), I had, among other things, to constantly deal with injuries. As a high-performance athlete, among other things, you are forced to permanently exceed your limits and often you don’t give your body the time it would actually need” (id4). In some cases, this even led to the contemplation of an early career termination, since the demands of prolonged physical and emotional hardship (by at least another year) seemed too overwhelming: “For me personally, this postponement represents a challenge. I am often injured and have been in chronic pain for years already. The plan was to try as good as possible to give it 100% until the Games and then to slowly end the career. To train a whole year longer for the Olympics is going to be a challenge for me, mentally and physically. After the announcement that the Games will be postponed, I was wondering for a long time if I should continue at all” (id12). The topic of career ending was also mentioned by one coach, who confessed that he had very different plans for his life since he was planning to retire after the Games, but now has to “add another year” (id14). The toll that the long-lasting and draining Olympic qualification phase takes on athletes was paramount. As such, it was noticeable in the words of this coach, describing how much effort had been put into the preparation since 2016 and concluding that “the athletes were quite worn out already” (id14). In one athlete’s statement the unwanted interruption and stretch of time was especially pronounced: “One more year until the event that we have been preparing for 10 years will finally take place” (id19).
These depictions indicate a high level of mental and physical exhaustion, which might represent a core dimension of burnout (
The feeling of an accumulating exhaustion was directly linked to a motivational low by some participants, who attributed this to the fact that the outlook on a break after the Olympic Games was deferred for one more year: “As I was expecting at least a longer break after the Olympic Games, the postponement turned a lot of things upside down. Because I was really looking forward to this break, it is actually very difficult to maintain the motivation at the moment” (id24). Another aspect affecting athletes and coaches’ motivation negatively, became apparent in previous statements already: The loss of calendared competitions and thereby clear targets to peak for. As one athlete stated “in a year without any major event, it seems challenging to keep the focus, as the main target is far away and there are no conducive intermediate goals” (id33). One participant reflected: “In the first moment after the final decision of the postponement for me personally, it was not as easy as expected. The questions of how to set new goals and what I might have to adjust in my private life turned out difficult for me at the beginning” (id37). Another athlete talked about how the postponement was a shock “because you train hard all winter long to qualify and suddenly this goal is snatched away from you” (id54). These statements elucidate the impact that the postponement of the Olympic Games has on athletes and coaches’ goal setting, an aspect previously emphasized by
The novel situation of not being able to plan ahead, to have a set competition schedule to follow, to prepare for selected main events, and to aim for specific performance goals along the way seemed to increase concerns about building up one’s performance until the Olympic Games. This athlete summed it up: “High performance athletes are used to working toward their goals and to have a detailed schedule in mind. This one doesn’t exist in the current situation” (id4). As a consequence, “there is also an uncertainty, as I do not know how and where to train next year” (id5). The difficulty of staying competitive without opportunities to compare themselves to others, was described as a pressing issue by several respondents. Some participants experienced concerns about sustaining their form until the Olympics: “The already relatively high level has to be sustained for a year?!?” (id19), one participant seemed to ask in disbelief.
The uncertainty surrounding the ongoing Olympic qualification and impending cancelation of future qualification events was a recurring aspect in the data: “I was afraid that there would be no more competitions due to the corona crisis, which would destroy any possibility for me to reach the limits for a successful qualification” (id27). With the entire world in flux, Olympic athletes and coaches were faced with an unknown unpredictability of events.
Most notably, the concern of being subjected to more severe restrictions than their fellow competitors was noticeable across participants’ texts. “Many athletes do not have the possibility to train and they have to sit at home. Other nations, like Sweden, do not have such harsh restrictions for their population, and therefore don’t affect everyday life of athletes” (id23). When the pandemic caused a global standstill, athletes were stopped dead in their tracks to prepare for Olympic glory. Restrictions and mandates calling for physical distancing put in place made it impossible for them to continue their regular training as most facilities were closed. Still, many athletes tried to uphold their training routines in order to stay in shape and sustain their athletic capacity. Through social media, athletes and coaches in Austria found out that competitors in other parts of the world were still able to train in nearly normal formats. The feeling of being disadvantaged in comparison to fellow competitors could have acted as additional stressor, especially in the lock down phase. Overall, the impression was gained that various participants experienced the task of preparing for a peak in performance at the Olympic Games in the times of a global health crisis as a major challenge (cf.
Several athletes and coaches expressed concerns about their future occupational career, and feared negative consequences for their daily living, most notably on a financial level due to the Olympic postponement. For example, one athlete stated: “Personally, the postponement implies a very high effort in organizational terms as well as in financial terms” (id25). These financial concerns were also emphasized by coaches: “Additionally it causes uncertainty: Will the athletes and myself receive the same funding? How will the sponsors react?” (id16). It became obvious that the postponement affected respondents’ scheduled plans for the time after the Olympic Games: “The decision what will happen after the Games will be postponed for another year. The plans which already existed for the time after the Games will also be postponed for a year” (id19).
As already shown in the last category, Olympic athletes’ and coaches’ statements revealed numerous concerns extending to multiple domains of their life. The statements might emphasize the assumption of increased stress levels in athletes and coaches as a consequence of diverse concerns and worries not only about the actual situation, but also their future perspective (
The feature of having extra time at one’s disposal was a reoccurring topic in the data and can be interpreted in various ways. Multiple participants regarded the additional year as an opportunity to heighten their chances to compete at their best at the Olympics: “We are able to use this year to work on weaknesses and invest without pressure in things for which there would probably not be enough time under normal circumstances. You always have to see the positive I think” (id32). As this quote illustrates, many respondents intended to use the COVID-19 induced extra year to systematically work on personal weaknesses and described it as a chance for performance enhancement. Likewise, this athlete stated enthusiastically: “Would I have liked the Games to happen this year? Yes, of course, but on the other hand I am almost happier that I will be able to show even more what I am capable of next year. I can use the extra year to continue to train and to work on my weaknesses. All in all, I think that I would have made the Olympics this year and then I would have taken part in Tokyo. But next year, I will not only take part in Tokyo, but also show what I want to show!” (id27). Other participants shared this view by explaining how the structural changes made to their training environment in the previous year could now be parlayed into improved training conditions. Some athletes and coaches reasoned that the young age of the athletes turned the prolonged preparation phase until the Olympics into a relative advantage for them, since the additional time allowed them to close the gap to the leaders in their respective sport, and to develop their potential even further. Interestingly, helping athletes search for gaps and by this adopting a constructive problem-solving attitude, was recently suggested as an effective way of providing psychological support for athletes at the current stage of the pandemic by an international expert group of mental performance consultants (
In high-performance sports, physical and psychological demands are experienced as a regular, yet challenging part of daily life. An important result of this study was therefore to see several athletes experience the postponement as an opportunity to recover from daily strains. One athlete asserted: “In my case the postponement of the Olympics reduced the pressure massively. For the first time in years, I have the time to process the events and emotions of the past time. … Now, for me personally, it is important to use the time wisely. Above all, to recover well, not only mentally but also physically” (id4). Another athlete also seemed glad to be afforded extra time to recover and additionally intended to use it to improve his/her performance in light of the ongoing selection: “Since I had to deal with injuries lately, the postponement of Tokyo 2020 gives me the time to prepare myself physically so far that I can qualify in the tournaments next spring” (id8). This view was shared by a participant who even predicted to be able to extend his/her athletic career by “another year or so” (id55) thanks to the possibility to heal the body in the gained off-season time.
All in all, the reflection that an extra year meant a personal advantage in comparison to others, was a common feature that was found in the data. Reading through the entirety of statements, the impression was gained that thanks to the unexpected pause and changed conditions, many participants finally had “time to breathe” in the fast-paced world of Olympic sport. A finding that emphasizes once more the amount of pressure that high-performance protagonists experience under normal circumstances.
The differentiation between an initial, somewhat genuine emotional reaction and a later, more reflected and controlled response to the news of the delayed Olympic Games was noticeable in some of the quotes presented above. In fact, many respondents seemed happy, relieved and even thankful that they were afforded time to pursue other interests beyond sport and enjoy different aspects of life as a consequence of the Olympic postponement. This athlete expressed feeling closer to nature and enjoying training outside, a welcome change for an indoor athlete. “At this time of year, I have never before felt sunrays on my face this often as at the moment” (id4). Another athlete enjoyed having more time to spend with his/her children, a wonderful side-effect of the sudden changes in season planning. While competing and training abroad may represent an attractive way of life for many, ceased travel obligations were mentioned as a positive impact of the Games’ postponement in this study. As this athlete suggested: “Personally, I find it enjoyable as a whole, for the first time, a time without travel, stress and pressure” (id30). This athlete concludes by asserting that this extra time allowed them to finish off other tasks such as completing their master thesis and to thereby free their head.
All these comments show that athletes also reflected on topics beyond training and performance. As diverse uncertainties were mentioned by athletes and coaches relating to the postponement of the Games, exploring interests other than sport might serve as a coping strategy to deal with these potential stressors (
An alternative way of interpreting the statements made by the study participants is the idea of broadening their athletic identity. By allowing themselves to explore a breadth of interests, athletes and coaches could use this historical time to grow in a holistic sense by developing their personal multifaceted identity. As a unidimensional athletic identity has been identified as a risk factor for developing symptoms of burnout (
Several of the consequences of the Olympic postponement perceived as personally advantageous by participants, such as a relative age advantage over other competitors, using the additional time to optimize training and improve performance, regarding the situation as a unique opportunity to recover physically and mentally, and to explore other interests, can all be classified as positive reframing of the situation. Likewise, the statement, “but a postponement is still better than a complete cancelation, which would have meant having wasted years of training and fighting” (id25), can be understood as reframing of the situation, which consequently fosters acceptance of the postponement, an event that cannot be changed or controlled itself. This cognitive strategy is a psychological technique that helps a person to view things differently by putting them in a different context, thereby allowing new perspectives to arise (
Additionally, different lines of arguments were presented why the postponement was the only viable option under the exceptional and unique circumstances, such as difficult and scarce training conditions for athletes world-wide in the preceding weeks. As mentioned earlier, the training restrictions varying to a great extent locally and internationally received a lot of interest, as visible in this athlete’s quote: “Moreover, training conditions were very different from country to country, the postponement of the Games allows for a fair preparation” (id17). The idea of fairness was expressed by many participants, as it represents one of the core Olympic values and is translated in the notion of a level playing field for all competitors. One athlete said: “I definitely think the postponement is the right solution to ensure equality of opportunity for all athletes around the world” (id27). Another prominent feature along the lines of having the bigger picture in mind when judging the IOC’s decision, was the plea for regarding health in general as the most important asset and therefore treating it as foremost priority: “From a health perspective, it was certainly the right decision to postpone the Games. The risk would have simply been to big internationally” (id12). One participant added a personal experience: “Health is the most important issue. This became increasingly clear to me as an athlete during the course of my career and was confirmed one more time now” (id13).
In these statements, it seems that athletes and coaches attempted to view their actual situation and its personally experienced implications from a broader perspective. In fact, in many cases they tried to legitimize their worries and doubts by opposing their situation to others. The comparison to fellow athletes and coaches, who potentially face more severe restrictions and consequences, could help to judge the actual situation as less dramatic and thus, to feel less disadvantaged. In case the depicted attitude reflects their genuine beliefs, these participants seemed to have found effective ways of coping already, which might display these athletes’ and coaches’ high level of expertise (cf.
Participants also presented personal maxims that seemed to help them respond with poise to the unprecedented challenges imposed on them. As this athlete explained: “Anyway, I accept this decision and it can always be positive for one person and negative for another. For me, the most important is the realization that everything shall happen as it may (that is my personal way of handling the situation) and to try and make the best of the situation” (id4). Another participant declared living the situation by the principle of “One has to accept the situation as it is” (id38). The last two quotes suggest that participants employed these philosophies or mottos with a motivational and emotional purpose. As such, they can be interpreted as an attempt to adopt a mindful attitude of non-judgmental awareness to what really is instead of ruminating about what was and what could be. Several mindfulness approaches specifically targeted at high-performance athletes and coaches demonstrate that such a poised attitude based on the (trained) ability to make room for uncomfortable internal and external experiences (e.g., thoughts, feelings, or a sudden pandemic ruining all plans for the next future), while still engaging in personally valued activities, could allow athletes and coaches to navigate the broader challenges of a high-performance environment in a mentally and physically healthy way (
Yet, in some statements, a very strong appeal for acceptance and an almost forced optimism in handling the situation positively, became apparent. In particular, one coach wrote: “The postponement is necessary and because of that you have to accept it” (id41). Another coach stated: “In no way can this allow the motivation to drop… You always have to see the positive things, I think” (id16). Consciousness about an athlete’s societal duties and thus assuming this responsibility by acting as a good example in taking an optimistic stance and behaving accordingly, was another feature that became apparent in this athlete’s text: “I am firmly convinced that we (as) athletes have a duty toward society – namely as role models to approach the future positively” (id22). These statements suggest that athletes and coaches made conscious efforts to accept the postponement, evoking the image of an inner dialog, in which a statement is continuously repeated like an incantation in order to convince oneself at the end by sheer force of repetition.
However, the interpretative nature of the conducted content analysis in this study makes it possible for the derived features to be viewed in differing ways. Hence, the fact that participants when being invited to express their subjective views and describe their very personal experiences, responded by presenting ethical arguments and life mottos, could also be regarded as serving different functions. First, it could be an attempt to portray oneself in a socially desired way, and by expressing sympathy for the necessary restrictions and ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic for the entire world, participants took a moral stance as general members of society. Second, being bound by commitments toward various institutions, stakeholders and sponsors in the world of sport, participants felt obliged to act as athletic role models for society, implying self-presentation in favorable ways, and the display of outstanding character strengths in the face of adversity. Adding to this interpretation, participants mentioned Olympic values such as fairness in order to demonstrate how they were worthy members of the Olympic family, well aware of non-debatable principles. Third, study participants did not trust the anonymous setting that was explained extensively to them in the lead-up to the open-format questions. As mentioned earlier, high-performance sport in Austria is a small universe in which protagonists know each other personally in most cases. It is therefore possible that participants wanted to ensure that their answers contained moral arguments in case their identities would be revealed. It can also be hypothesized that the disbelief in anonymity is based on a general ignorance of (or even mistrust in) scientific standards. In this sense, the setting would have been perceived not much different to that of a media interview in which self-presentation is of upmost importance.
Another possibility to cope with the situation seemed to be achieved through planning behavior. Several athletes and coaches discussed scenarios of how to benefit from the postponement of the Olympic Games. It seemed that generating options for a more beneficial progress of athletic performance was a common strategy to handle the postponement of the Olympic Games. For example, one athlete stated: “Above all, the focus is on a long build-up training cycle, which hopefully prepares us well for the upcoming competition season” (id4) or rather “concerning training I am already in a basic preparation phase again. Besides endurance and torso training I try to evaluate my technique and bring it to perfection point by point” (id22). Also, from the coaches’ perspective, planning behavior as a strategy to cope with the situation was applied: “From this time on, we had already worked on different scenarios to enable corresponding adaptions in athletes training” (id41). By making detailed plans, coming up with concrete training programs to follow and performance goals to strive for, athletes and coaches were able to take ownership of their (athletic) life again, thereby regaining more control over their daily structure. The prospect of a more predictable future might help participants live the time of the Olympic standstill in an adaptive way. Thus, planning behavior could be interpreted as a problem-focused coping strategy, as it consists of taking actions to change the person-environment relationship (
Collectively, the data demonstrated that study participants employed different psychological strategies to deal with the situational demands they were facing as a consequence of the Olympic postponement. Despite a longstanding tradition of coping research, there is lack of agreement regarding adaptive forms of coping in sport until this day (for a systematic review see
The dimension of extra time was not conceptualized as a theme on its own in this study. Nevertheless, throughout the analyses the impression was gained that the issue of time itself translated into having to wait for another year, represented a major challenge. An athlete wrote about a lengthy Olympic preparation phase of over 10 years, and his/her statement evolved from a seemingly objective description of the current situation to an increasingly reflexive monolog. This transition is only discernable when analyzing this participant’s statement as a whole. It can be addressed as limitation of this study that data analysis was done by sequence through the examination of meaning units, so that the evolvement of participants’ statements could not be detected. In order to allow for more in-depth analysis and with the goal to glean an even deeper understanding of the psychological experience, the authors suggest choosing entire accounts as unit of analysis for future studies. Another important limitation was the fact that original quotes had to be translated from German to English by the authors. Since the study was of interpretative nature, changing text data might interfere with the derivation of meaning. Yet another limitation, which can be considered an ethical dilemma, is related to the disbelief of study participants in the anonymity of the setting. If this is due to the presumed interconnectedness within Austrian high-performance sport or based on lacking knowledge regarding scientific principles, can only be hypothesized.
This qualitative study was aimed at exploring participants’ subjective perceptions in order to glean insights into how Olympic athletes and coaches experience the postponement of the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. The findings derived from an exclusive sample of aspiring Olympic athletes and coaches from Austria, and data collection was conducted at the beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, when predictions for its duration were vague. The scope of transferability of the reported findings might therefore be limited. However, qualitative research in general is aimed at obtaining rich and contextually sensitive data, thereby producing local knowledge (
The use of short written statements in a web-based format as a data collection strategy can be considered as a contribution to qualitative research methods within sport and exercise psychology. When planning the research design, the authors expected participants to be inundated by the constant influx of digital information, and thus be unwilling to spend additional time online to support the study’s scientific interest. It seemed, however, that study participants used the opportunity to process their emotions and thoughts through verbalizing their experiences. Effects of expressive writing on well-being have been studied since Pennebaker’s and Beall’s seminal study (
The variety of topics that were identified in the data analyses was an important result and supports the authors’ constructivist beliefs that each participant is unique in his/her engagement with the Olympic postponement and its implications. The findings are also in line with the assumptions made from a holistic development perspective (
On the other hand, the finding that many athletes and coaches alike viewed the postponement as a chance for pursuing complementary interests beyond sport, improvement and recovery was a promising result, demonstrating their ability to cope with adversity. It also hints at the fact that the involuntary pause yields holistic opportunities for growth (
The interpretative focus of the data analyses holds that there may be more than one valid and useful set of findings from a given data set (
This article intends to inform the development of evidence-based interventions that can be utilized to alleviate associated negative effects and promote Olympic aspirants’ well-being during insecure times like the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One possible implication for future practice of mental performance consultants is to employ strategies that foster openness in terms of the broad array of feelings and thoughts that Olympic aspirants are experiencing and support them in developing an agile mindset (
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
Ethical review and approval was not required for the study on human participants in accordance with the local legislation and institutional requirements. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.
Both authors conceived and designed the study, collected the data, conducted the data analyses and contributed to writing the manuscript.
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
We thank all athletes and coaches for participating in our study. We would also like to thank Robert T. Book Jr., who provided valuable expertise and insight and whose comments improved the manuscript.