Psychology & Mindset

📸 by Jodi Hanagan

For the sake of being concise, I’ll start my story in 2017. That year was the high. I'd gotten married, I’d won my second British Masters M35 title over 200m with a lifetime PB, and then gone on to the European Champs later that summer – where I’d picked up an individual bronze and a relay gold.

It felt like vindication; for all the training, for all the hard work. But, most importantly, it felt like a victory over my mental health – that I could accomplish something despite the …

Just like 2020, sport can be very demanding and push us to our limits. Adversities, or any negative events, are inevitable in sport. Athletes may experience failures, mental health problems, injuries, homesickness and overtraining [1]. When dealing with these challenges, athletes are often told to just “get over it” or “move on.” We are told that in order to be successful, we must bounce back from adversity, be more resilient, and learn from our failures [2]. Yet these behaviours are not simple …

What’s up people, I begin this piece by sending peace to everyone reading this and introduce myself - my name is Daniel Oderinde and I am a former national and international medallist at the youth/junior level (AAA’s bronze medallist and FISEC International Catholic School Games 100m champion). As you can tell by my writing in the past tense, I have stopped pursuing a career in athletics, that was due to having suffered from an on-going chronic knee injury called patella femoral pain syndrome. W…

Why are you doing it?

I have read a lot recently around the topic of direction, purpose and how finding your 'why' is so important, I couldn't agree more. Have you ever taken the time out of your day to sit back and just think, think about what you do that makes you feel happy, what makes you say "I have had a great day today"? I have been on one hell of a ride over these past few months (haven't we all...) though it is the small things that have made it an en enjoyable experience, enjoying the h…

Featured Image by Jodi Hanagan

Every athlete deals with injury. But it’s how we deal with it that matters. They test how well your body can hold up to recovery and how you can rehab. But moreover, it tests mental strength as well. Here’s how I have dealt with this latest big injury.

Hip gives:

I had been injured plenty of times before. But this was the worst since shattering my collarbone. In August of 2019 I ran a cross country race in San Francisco. It was part of my last attempt to walk on to t…

📸 by Jodi Hanagan

A guide for understanding Mental Health and Thriving in elite sport

The Olympic Games. A prestigious event in the sporting world that occurs every 4 years. It is logical to propose that every athlete in competitive sport dreams of one day participating. Those who are Olympians hold themselves to extreme standards, but at what cost? Striving to compete among the best in the world can be considered a “double-edged sword”. On one hand, athletes may receive recognition for all the ha…

‘The Athlete Afterlife’ – how high performance environments allow a simplistic and successful transition to the world of work.

“Guidance for athletes to maximise potential in high performing environments”

It isn’t uncommon that athletes struggle to accept that sport doesn’t last forever. What feels like a lifetime of success is usually only 20 years on average^[13]. What happens after that? The fear of entering the real world and realising hours of pushing your body and mind to it…

📸 by Naomi Ogbeta

In some ways, being a semi-professional athlete is a thankless job. You train just as hard as those at the top do, but the rewards aren’t reaped until you make that critical breakthrough to the “elite” level. This is not a complaint about our lot, but rather an observation of fact. We are often told to stay motivated by keeping in mind our goals and focusing on the end result. However, especially due to the times we are in, these can seem rather remote. I think that’s why it is …

If you know me, you will know I try to be a positive person - easier said than done in 2020! With all that life throws at us we humans have to figure out a way through. Sometimes we can manage this alone but often we could do with a bit of help from others, even if it is just a pointer or kick up the bum. We’ve all been through ups and downs, to some these may be a minor bump in the road but to others, they are something more. I am extremely lucky to have had supportive people around me in both …