Overcoming Youth to Excel in Beijing

With the Olympics under way in Beijing, several storylines have already jumped to the forefront of the sports landscape. Team USA basketball is looking to redeem themselves after the debacle in Athens and return to the world dominance they once enjoyed. Michael Phelps is swimming for a record 8 gold medals in a single Olympics. The People’s Republic of China will be showing off their country in spite of protests from around the world on the country’s human rights violations and their relationship with Tibet and Sudan. Every four years, the sports world’s attention turns to sports that most people don’t usually care about which often turns up world-class athletes that are quite young.
This year alone, the US women’s gymnastics team features five teenagers which is often the norm for gymnastics. The favorite for the women’s all-around title is 4’10” 16 year-old American Shawn Johnson. In swimming, 19-year old American Katie Hoff has set several world records this year and has already won a silver and a bronze in the first two days of competition. However, when the pressure of being on the world stage is put on teenagers, it is much more difficult for them to cope with the stresses of competing at the highest level.
At the Athens Olympics in 2004, Hoff who was just 15 at the time became so overcome with emotion before a race that she threw up minutes before the start. The human brain isn’t fully developed as a teenager which may help to explain why teenagers are careless drivers and often make emotional decisions without thinking about the consequences. When teenagers are put under the pressure of the world stage in sporting events, they often have difficulties handling the stress, which is obviously what happened to Hoff in Athens.
Studies have indicated that the human brain does not reach its final structure until a person is in their mid-20s. Also, the area of the brain that tends to be the last to develop is the completion of the frontal cortex which houses an area known as the executive processing area. This area of the brain is responsible for regulating emotional conflicts such as regulating stress levels and dealing with possible failures. These regulations of the stressors inside the brain make it much more difficult for young people to keep their emotions and nerves in check.
Even though some people naturally develop more quickly than others, it is still incredible that some teenagers have accomplished incredible feats in the sports world. As a 19-year old in Athens, Michael Phelps won a record-tying eight medals at one Olympic Games. In 1976, Nadia Comaneci of Romania put together perhaps the best gymnastics performance of all time at the age of 14. In 1998 in Nagano, Tara Lipinski won the gold medal in women’s figure skating at the age of 15. While competing at the top level is not impossible as a teenager, it remains extremely impressive that these young people can handle the pressure of the spotlight and perform at the highest level.

Tyson Gay and Jeremy Wariner: Conquering Pressure

Over the course of the past week, hundreds of the best American track and field stars have come to Historic Hayward Field in search of the Olympic dream at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Living within walking distance of Hayward Field has given me a chance to see the best athletes up close and personal and has allowed me to see their preparation in the search for the ultimate goal. Although track and field has grown tremendously since the days of Steve Prefontaine and even Edwin Moses, athletes still must face the pressure of years of preparation going into one race that determines whether or not they are going to Beijing.
As Jeremy Wariner, the world’s fastest man in the 400 meters and the defending gold medalist was entering the blocks for his first preliminary race, I saw something in his demeanor that truly surprised. Sitting no more than ten feet away from his position in lane 8, I noticed his hands trembling as he took a drink from his water bottle. Even though Wariner is often viewed as cocky, he was displaying nerves that happen to everyone. The thing is that most people seem to believe athletes are immune to pressure and that nothing fazes them. However, Wariner showed that even the best athletes in the world feel the pressure when so much is on the line. Especially in track and field, where four years of training go into a few races for a chance to compete in the Olympics, the room for error is obsolete.
Later in the day, Tyson Gay was warming up underneath the west grandstand before the 100 meter final featuring the eight fastest men in America. As he went through his normal preparation, he couldn’t stop rolling his neck and shaking his legs. However, as soon as he stepped on the track, his focus and concentration were on display. As he settled into the block, he looked as though he couldn’t have been less nervous or more poised for the race. As he crossed the finish line in 9.68 seconds, the fastest ever recorded for a human under any condition, he looked as though he expected it to happen. The nervous energy he displayed when the cameras weren’t on him was nonexistent once he stepped onto the track.
Both of these athletes’ pre-race antics show that nervousness is something that happens to anyone, no matter if you’re a world-class athlete preparing for the Olympics or a student preparing for a big presentation. The thing that world class athletes do better than anyone is turn their nervous energy into adrenaline that helps them in their competition. Research has shown when epinephrine, the neurotransmitter precursor to adrenaline, is released into the bloodstream, muscle cells are activated according to how much epinephrine is released. Therefore, it can be assumed that the more nervous a person is before a big event, the more their muscles will be able to work for them.
This phenomenon is the reason why people often feel like their muscles could explode when they become nervous or find themselves in an altercation. Also, the secretion of epinephrine allows the body to concentrate more intently on the task at hand. Although the nervousness seems to be an unwelcome occurrence for most people, it is important to remember that it is simply the human body’s natural response to a big moment.

The next time you may experience a moment where your hands are trembling, simply remember that Jeremy Wariner and Tyson Gay experience the same feelings. The important thing to remember when the pressure is overwhelming is that the feeling will actually help you do a better job. Wariner proved this to be true by coasting to a first place finish while Gay only shattered all expectations by running faster than anyone in history.