“A Blank Slate”: Preparing for Tokyo 2021 During COVID-19

This article presents a case study of an applied consultancy experience with WL, an Olympic athlete preparing for Tokyo 2021. WL sought psychological support after decreases in performance and well-being forced them to consider their future as an athlete. COVID-19 and the lockdown of the United Kingdom were highly influential to the consultancy process, providing WL with the opportunity to explore their identity in the absence of sport. WL framed their emergence from the lockdown as a “Blank Slate,” which was a critical moment allowing them to “find themselves on and off the mat.” The sport psychologist’s existential philosophy is presented and discussed in detail. Furthermore, reflections are provided by WL’s strength and conditioning coach about the referral process and by WL themself about the efficacy of the interventions. The importance of supporting both the person and the performer when working with aspiring Olympic athletes is also discussed.

Neural Oscillation During Mental Imagery in Sport: An Olympic Sailor Case Study

The purpose of the current study was to examine the cortical correlates of imagery depending on instructional modality (guided vs. self-produced) using various sports-related scripts. According to the expert-performance approach, we took an idiosyncratic perspective analyzing the mental imagery of an experienced two-time Olympic athlete to verify whether different instructional modalities of imagery (i.e., guided vs. self-produced) and different scripts (e.g., training or competition environment) could differently involve brain activity. The subject listened to each previously recorded script taken from two existing questionnaires concerning imagery ability in sport and then was asked to imagine the scene for a minute. During the task, brain waves were monitored using EEG (32-channel g. Nautilus). Our findings indicate that guided imagery might induce higher high alpha and SMR (usually associated with selective attention), whereas self-produced imagery might facilitate higher low alpha (associated with global resting state and relaxation). Results are discussed in light of the neural efficiency hypothesis as a marker of optimal performance and transient hypofrontality as a marker of flow state. Practical mental training recommendations are presented.

The representation of Yusra Mardini as a Refugee Olympic Athlete: A sociological analysis

Summary This article explores the representation of Yusra Mardini as a refugee Olympic athlete. Her participation in the 2016 Olympic Games is analyzed through different areas of programming of the mass media and, specifically, through Mardini’s autobiography, documents of the International Olympic Committee, and German newspapers. A qualitative content analysis is carried out and a systems theoretical framework applied. The results reveal that Mardini’s refugee background was both an obstacle and an advantage for her career within the sport system. The establishment of the Refugee Olympic Team generated positive response from the International Olympic Committee but also exposed contradictions in its inclusion rules. The newspapers showed a strong interest in Mardini and presented her as a hero, downplaying her performances and emphasizing her life story. Following an analysis of the interconnections between these different representations, the discussion turns to the mechanisms that go beyond the inclusion of Mardini in professional sports and focuses on the latent information within the materials.

El espíritu olímpico en Occidente desde sus orígenes en Grecia y los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio (1964-2021)

Given the importance that sport has acquired in today’s society and the futuristic relevance that the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021 have achieved, this study proposes to focus on sport and the Olympics as a literary and artistic phenomenon in Japan, analyzing the main connotations of the Japanese imaginary, in contrast to the West. The presentation of the historical-literary layout in relation to the theme of sport and the Olympics throughout the history of literature supposes the verification of the enormous amount of archetypes that can be found in the 21st century. All this highlights, at least qualitatively, the importance of sport as a literary, mythological and artistic subject between 1964 and 2020, period on which we will try to focus our critical and analytical vision, highlighting the main literary skills used to immortalize this world event, ritualized since the Greco-Latin era. We will also carry out an analysis of the literary and philosophical meaning of the Olympics and of the Olympic athlete as a character in Western antiquity and of the Olympics and the athlete in Japanese antiquity, rescuing the ritual and literary evolution until the current century

At the Dawn of a Great Transition - The Question of Radical Enhancement

<P>Radical enhancement would employ technology to extend human capacities far beyond anything yet seen or experienced. Imagine, for example, <I>easily</I> outrunning any Olympic athlete while being <I>dramatically</I> smarter than Albert Einstein. Or imagine living for hundreds or thousands of years, making today’s super-centenarians seem like mayflies. Soon – perhaps some time this century – we may have the technology for this. But if we had it, should we use it? Radical enhancement might seem like a gift, but could it become, as its critics warn, a poisoned chalice for individuals and a curse for human societies? In this fascinating book, Russell Blackford examines the pros and cons, bringing good humour, philosophical insight, and historical perspective to this most modern of modern debates.</P>

Ending an Elite Sports Career: Case Report of Behavioral Activation Applied as an Evidence-Based Intervention With a Former Olympic Athlete Developing Depression

This case report described the use of behavioral activation when a former Olympic athlete developed depression after career termination. Four sessions were conducted, one session each week, followed by a boost session 1 month later. In Session 1, the former Olympic athlete displayed mild-to-moderate depression with anxiety and a low quality of life (Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale = 21; Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale = 17; Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale = 44). By Session 3, the Olympic athlete no longer met the diagnostic criteria for clinical depression or anxiety (Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale = 2; Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale = 7) and the quality of life was improved (Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale = 60). Follow-up assessments 1-year posttreatment confirmed that the former Olympic athlete continued to improve (Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale = 0; Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 Scale = 0; Brunnsviken Brief Quality of Life Scale = 96). This case report discusses the benefits of proactive support to elite athletes and the use of established clinical psychological treatments, for example, behavioral activation, when athletes develop health-related conditions.

The classification in Para swimming: Analysis of a Paralympic champion’s withdraw case

This study compared the in-water bilateral leg kick speed difference between a Paralympic and an Olympic athlete. The Paralympic (former S10) was not eligible after his reclassification in 2019, whereas the Olympic was a semi-finalist in 50 m freestyle in Rio 2016. Kick performance was assessed by a speedometer in one push-off ∼15 m maximal kick sprint. Ten complete cycles were analyzed, and the average speed of each leg in each cycle was calculated. Computerized planimetry assessed plantar feet areas. Differences between right and left feet areas were –22% and –2.1% for the Paralympic and Olympic, respectively. The left kick was slower in the Paralympic (p < 0.0001, ES: 2.35, very large), whereas no difference was found for the Olympic (p = 0.55, ES: 0.27, small). There is a substantial bilateral leg kick speed difference for the Paralympic, but not for the Olympic. The impact of Paralympic’s impairment on his kick performance considerably differs when using quantitative and qualitative assessments.

The Son of Pharnabazos and Parapita, a Persian Competing in the Olympic Games: Xenophon Hellenica 4.1.39-40

This article seeks to develop, with some significant change, the arguments put forward by Bresson to show that a Persian boy, the son of Pharnabazos, was allowed to compete in the Olympic Games. It is argued that at Olympia his admission was supported by his older Spartan lover, himself an Olympic athlete, and by the Spartan king Agesilaos who acted as the boy’s guardian. These arguments support the view recently advanced by Nielsen and, at greater length, by Remijsen that non-Greeks were not excluded from competing in the Olympic Games