Tokyo Olympics 2021: What challenges will Tokyo Olympians face?

Liam Broady and Marcus Daniell (2-time Olympian) will have many challenges outside their competitors in order to perform at their best. The margins at elite level are so small that eliminating as many “small obstacles” as humanly possible is important. This has become increasingly recognised, with Olympic teams working hard to anticipate potential banana skins.

Here are some examples to watch out for and will be spoken about during the games:

Jetlag and other nasties

So often mistakes that cost athletes are not the big ones. Simple errors of judgement caused by fatigue brought on by jetlag, practices that go too long when tired, common colds and various other unseen or seemingly harmless occurrences can make the difference. Top athletes often deal with the niggles of constant travel and the consistent pressure to perform. In the main they do this extremely well and if you learn the same techniques it can serve you well.

Jetlag

When travelling from Europe to Japan, jetlag is arguably the worst you can experience. It is so important to plan when you will sleep and when to push yourself to stay-up during certain hours to become functional in the time zone as fast as possible. In my experience when you arrive in Japan (usually mid to late morning) it is difficult to near impossible to stay awake all day so taking a 90 min to 2-hour maximum nap and then forcing yourself up out of what seems like an almost comatose sleep to do something physical like a 60-90min light practice is imperative. After that, staying awake until 9 or 10pm then (consider) taking half a sleeping tablet to get a full 6-7 hours sleep works well, possibly for two nights. The teams will have sleep specialists advising athletes to implement the latest known science.

Heat and hydration

Approximately 1% dehydration leads to around a 10% drop in performance, 2% close to 20% drop and so on gives drinking water, specialist hydration drinks and plain salt in water a huge influence on outcomes. Keeping your pee clear in 30 plus degree heat with humidity is not that easy. It is surprising how early, how much and how consistently you need to drink to keep dehydration at bay. Once you are thirsty or have yellow pee, it is already too late. Over hydration of water is equally harmful if too many minerals and salts are filtered out of the body. Cramp or undigested water swashing about in the stomach become a factor. Please consult an expert if you are due to compete in hot and humid conditions.

Dead legs and excitement

The Olympic experience has been relayed to me often as incredible. Athletes who try to take everything in and walk around a bit too much can get overstimulated and slight “shopping legs” which can hurt performance up to two days later. The opening ceremony has hurt many a performance and again astute coaches and managers make sure that there is enough recovery time for an athlete attending the ceremony and help manage their time around and during the ceremony. 

Unique to Tokyo

• The COVID games will have no spectators, so no energy input from crowds. This will affect some athletes who feed off the electricity of crowds. Mentally they have to prepare to bring extra energy from within. 
• Less interaction between sports and teams, which also brings energy and fun to the experience, will play a role.
• Everything will be less busy, but equally this quieter atmosphere will help many athletes with their focus.
• No family members to watch and share the moments in person. Intrinsic motivation will be more important than ever. 

Athletes, coaches and support staff can capitalise on the uniqueness of the Tokyo games, which will be the purest modern games where performances will be down to the athletes. Fewer external distractions and no home crowd or large amounts of fans from different countries cheering for or against mean the dynamics will be very different.

I, for one, think these will turn out to be a fantastic Olympics for reasons we cannot yet imagine.

Written by David Sammel