Motivation In Elite Athletes

As the weights in the corner of my room were collecting dust, it made me consider how athletes at Leeds Beckett Talent Hub motivate themselves day after day. My goal was to understand elite athlete motivation levels and I knew the perfect starting point. The ‘I Am Bolt’ documentary (Turner, B. & Turner, G., 2016) looks at precisely that.

Surprisingly, Usain Bolt lacked motivation to train in athletics, especially as he got older. Bolt talks about making sacrifices, ‘I want a normal life and to relax. I want to party and socialise. This takes up too much time’.

The reality is Bolt wasn’t motivated due to factors such as boredom; ’can’t go anywhere because of the hussle from fans’, injury; ’he had an ankle injury before the Common Wealth Games’, loneliness; ‘stars like Bolt are the best of their ability so it’s a lonely competition as they are against themselves’ and laziness; ‘doesn’t get up at 6am for training and complains that training is too hard.’ Bolt’s coach, manager and team kept him motivated for competitions. Training with the team, pressuring him, letting him do things he enjoys, rivalry between himself and Gatlin and winning motivated him. His coach believes ‘the journey is as important as the destination’.

My options as a coach, are to learn performers interests and use a range of practice structures to motivate. Sage (1977 cited in Weinberg & Gould, 2015) describes motivation as, ‘the direction and intensity of effort.’ Race’s ripples on a pond model (2005) explains a want or need to do the specific task. However, from studying Bolt’s motivation level, he didn't desire to compete anymore, so it’s not surprising that his motivation was low.

Situational and personal factors affect athlete’s motivation (Weinberg & Gould, 2015). Personal factors like interests and personality had a big impact on Bolt. Situational factors including his coach’s attitude and the teams wins influenced Bolt’s motivation positively.

What next? Bolt’s motivation levels were low and his coach and teammates found different ways to motivate him. If competition, rivalry, training with the team or using different activities worked for Bolt, in terms of my coaching, I could include a variety of activities to keep participants motivated too. Adding a competitive element would enhance motivation levels and training as a team motivates some performers as they compare themselves to others. The biggest challenge is finding out what motivates athletes.

References

Race, P. (2005) Making Learning Happen: A Guide for Post-Compulsory Education. Thousand Oaks, CA: Paul Chapman Pub. / Sage Publications.

Sage, 1977 cited in Weinberg, R. S. & Gould, D. (2015) Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

I Am Bolt (2016) Directed by Benjamin Turner & Gabe Turner. [DVD].

Weinberg, R. S. & Gould, D. (2015) Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.