From gold to blue - coming down from the Olympic high

Some have referred to it as the “Post-Olympic Blues.” Others have called it “Gold Medal Syndrome.”

By whatever name it goes, however, it is the period perhaps most critical to the overall mental health of athletes competing in the Olympics – the weeks and months after the Olympic Flame has been extinguished.

Earlier this month in this space we touched on the lengthy measures the Paris Games were taking to provide on-site mental health support to its athletes during the two weeks of competition. But what happens when the Olympic Village empties and the NBC cameras have signed off? 

Neurofeedback training can play a pivotal role in this period, as we’ve seen with other elite athletes who have used it to “come back” from difficult times, such as alphabeats user and pro kayaker Odette Latenstein van Voorst. For many athletes, maintaining mental fitness becomes a new challenge, as the structure and routine of Olympic preparation suddenly vanish.

Many of the highest-profile athletes won’t skip a beat. LeBron James and Steph Curry will begin preparation for the upcoming NBA season. A’Ja Wilson will return to the WNBA season in progress. Even doubles tennis player and alphabeats user Austin Krajicek, whose heightened mental performance helped him capture a silver medal in Paris, will make his way to New York City for the U.S. Open at month’s end.

For countless others in countries large and small, however, the remainder of 2024 and beyond could be defined by one of three scenarios:

• You’ve capped years of dedicated training with a command performance in Paris and now your next major competition is months away

• You underperformed at the Games or suffered an injury, and you need to wait or recover simply to get another opportunity to compete and ease the sting

• The ’24 Games marked the end of a competitive career that likely began when you were a child and you now must adjust to life in the “real world”

“Whether they’ve achieved or not, it’s the absence of that focus, the habitual training, that goal to strive towards that leaves you feeling a bit empty afterwards and very lost,” David Fletcher, professor of human performance and health at Loughborough University, recently told The Financial Times.

As noted previously, the myriad new mental health services made available to athletes by the International Olympic Committee stay in place for the four years following the Games and lead directly into Los Angeles 2028. Neurofeedback and other mental fitness techniques are expected to play a role in this ongoing support.

Even as the Games drew to a close, mental health issues remained at the forefront, particularly for those thrust into the spotlight from relative obscurity:

• Australian break dancer “Raygun,” whose unusual performance in the inaugural competition earned a score of zero and sparked backlash online, was offered mental health support from the larger breaking community

• South Korean pistol shooter Kim Ye-ji, whose cool demeanor in winning a silver medal made her a viral sensation, blamed stress and exhaustion after she collapsed at a press conference returning home

• British diver Noah Williams, 24, announced he might not return to the sport after winning silver and bronze in Paris alongside legendary partner Tom Daley due to the mental strain

Team Britain is one of many, including the United States, which has staff dedicated to managing the weeks and months that follow the Games. The UK team has implemented measures that mirror the manner in which the country’s military reintroduces soldiers to civilian life once their tours of duty have ended.

Neurofeedback training like the one alphabeats offers could be a key factor in these reintegration strategies, helping athletes rebuild their mental fitness and adjust to life after the intensity of Olympic competition.

Looking ahead, if it’s possible to produce an Olympics with more flare than Paris, look no further than the entertainment capital of the world in four years. For their part, the organizers of Los Angeles 2028 have pledged to make that event the safest in history, due primarily to the fact that LA’s ready-made infrastructure requires no new venue construction and, thus, flexibility to allocate funds to areas such as athlete care.