As British Cycling prepares for the Paris 2024 Olympics, the integration of sports psychology has become a cornerstone of its strategy, embodying an ethos of excellence and marginal gains. Partnering with high-performance brands like Lotus, Renishaw, and Hope Technology to develop a world-leading bike, the team leverages cutting-edge technology and psychological insights to enhance performance.
In an interview with Dr Chris Beaumont ahead of Paris 2024, we were able to get first-hand insight into the psychological dynamics at play, offering an in-depth look into how British Cycling’s sports psychologists are fostering high performance, promoting team cohesion, and preparing athletes mentally and emotionally for the pinnacle of competition.
The new 2024 bike is partnered with Lotus (and Renishaw & Hope tech), a high-performance brand making a high-performance, ‘world-leading’ bike. How does this high-performance ethos translate to the team and athlete mindset?
A big part of high performance is about consistency. It’s about being able to deliver your best and get the most out of yourself, over a sustained period, while peaking at certain times. It’s about being clear about what you’re trying to achieve and being focused on how you can do that. This comes down to the approach you bring every day, an approach of looking for ways to move towards your goals, staying focused, and showing up with the right intent. It’s about doing the right things at the right times, in service of what you’re trying to achieve. This approach is something you can see in riders across the programme. We’re also fortunate to have a team of staff who are always looking to be innovative in their approach to identify ways to help riders deliver their best performance.
We know high levels of togetherness leads to better performance. In an individual sport, with great previous success, how does the team promote togetherness?
Regardless of which event riders are in, there are a whole team of people working to support them from all angles – on and off the bike. That could be coaches, other riders in the group, mechanics, or sport science support staff. Everyone is working together towards the same goal – helping to create opportunities for the riders to deliver their best performances when needed. Each squad will then have different processes for coming together, ranging from team connection days where they have opportunities to come together and experience something different away from cycling, to discussing as a team things like group dynamics and standards.
What is the approach, preparation and mindset heading into Paris 2024? How do British Cycling build on Tokyo’s success, are you using previous success as a motivator or ‘rebuilding’ for Paris as a new chapter?
The values of the organisation are printed on the wall just inside the door, so you can’t help but see them every time you come into the building. `Some of them refer to being ‘excellently prepared,’ ‘courageously innovative,’ ‘working together,’ and ‘taking pride in the jersey.’ But these aren’t just words on a wall, these are qualities you can see in action every day, across riders and staff.
There is also a huge focus on athletes as people not just bike riders. When you work with people – in sports or any area – wellbeing is something that should always be high on the agenda. Our team of psychologists and performance lifestyle advisors aim to support riders to develop and maintain high levels of wellbeing by supporting their wider development as individuals. Riders are offered the chance to develop their own personal development plan, which sits alongside their cycling and focuses on supporting a proactive approach to wellbeing. We also have monthly wellbeing and mental health forums to review athletes’ wellbeing and ensure riders’ needs can be supported as effectively as possible. We then have appropriate mechanisms in place to refer anyone for any further support they might need.
You hear the phrase ‘process not outcome’ all the time. When you get to the elite level, it’s unlikely that people don’t want to win, but focusing only on that doesn’t necessarily help. You also have no direct control over the outcome – if you did then you’d win all the time! The ‘process’ part is about understanding what you can control to help you get the outcomes you want – it’s the ‘how’ part of winning. If you’re not clear on your process, you’re not giving yourself the best chance to achieve the outcomes you want.
How do the cyclists prepare for the race, be able to control nerves, maintain concentration and, regulate emotion in an event something like the Olympics? Is this something that is spoken about, taught, workshopped etc? What are some of the habits of your riders?
The ability to control nerves, maintain concentration, and regulate emotions are all skills that we work on developing with the riders. The specific skills or processes each rider needs will differ, but the aim is for riders to understand what works for them. The focus is on creating habits for the individual and ensuring these skills are embedded as part of what the riders do. These skills can be incorporated and practised in training before then being further honed at races well before the Olympics, or Paralympics. Once riders understand the processes that allow them to deliver their best performance, manage themselves and stay focused, the Olympics/ Paralympics is just about applying them in another race situation. There shouldn’t be anything new at that stage!
What has stayed, 12 years later, from Dr. Steve Peter’s (author of The Chimp Paradox) influence on British cycling?
It’s great that British Cycling has a history of embracing psychology, which means there’s a real openness from staff and riders to psychological input. It helps us at Changing Minds be in a position to embed psychology support at all levels, utilising our Performing Well framework to positively influence the system.
If someone is considering a career in sports psychology, what advice would you give them?
There are three things I’d always recommend to someone considering a career in sports psychology. The first is try and spend some time in and around different sports and different environments – don’t just stick to one sport. It doesn’t have to be at an elite level, but seeing how different sports work, at any level, is important. The second is to be clear about the training route you want to take – there are a couple of different paths with different requirements, so map this out in advance to avoid missing a step. And finally, find good mentors and people to guide you. I was fortunate to have some great people around me early on, and that has been invaluable for me!
Sport psychology is growing. It is mentioned more now than ever before in commentary boxes and in the media. British Cycling is exemplary in its approach to integrating sport psychology into its systems when excelling in performance and wellbeing for its athletes and staff. They truly are paving the way for aspiring sport psychologists, a career in sport which we aim to shed more light on.
As British Cycling sets its sights on the Paris 2024 Olympics, the pivotal role of sports psychology in their preparations cannot be overstated. By leveraging a robust psychological support framework, the team is poised to excel on the world stage. The emphasis on high performance, team cohesion, and holistic athlete development demonstrates a commitment to fostering not just elite cyclists, but well-rounded individuals. Through the expertise of sports psychologists like Dr. Chris Beaumont, British Cycling is nurturing an environment where athletes can thrive both mentally and physically. This multifaceted approach, rooted in the principles of marginal gains and a focus on process over outcome, ensures that the team is prepared to tackle the pressures of the Olympics with resilience and confidence. As we look forward to the upcoming Games, it is clear that the synergy between psychological insight and athletic dedication will be key to British Cycling’s pursuit of excellence in Paris 2024. Sport psychology is the difference.
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