Olympic Lessons: Breathing Under Performance
In February 2010, Canada was captivated by the Olympic Games in Vancouver. I was very fortunate to be a part of the broadcast team for CTV and TSN, so I had the opportunity to speak to millions of Canadians about my great life passion — human performance. As a scientist in the center of the Olympic maelstrom, I was able to look very closely at each Olympic success, dissect it, and determine the difference between wining performances and less successful ones.
There were several key events and moments during the games that had a big impact on me personally. Not only because of the inspiration of the performance, but also because of how the athletes were able to execute under pressure. Execution under pressure is what business is all about. My first post covered Alexandre Bilodeau’s gold medal performance in moguls. Here’s the second amazing moment that I’d like to bring to your attention.
Figure skater Joannie Rochette’s performance during her short skate program after losing her mother only days before. As with Bilodeau, people were amazed with her actual skate and the nearly flawless performance on the ice. However, the critical performance moment occurred before the music even started. As Joannie skated onto the ice to assume her start position, the crowd began cheering very loudly. At that moment she began to become emotional and lose focus and control. She had the composure to turn around, return to the side of the ice, take a drink of water and then take 3 deep slow breaths before returning to the ice to begin her performance. This was a brilliant move that allowed her to release some physical tension through her breathing technique, and also to recover her mental focus to stay concentrated on skating and skating only. Watch the first 60 seconds of this video where you can see her amazing composure under the most extreme circumstances.
I used exactly the same breathing technique during my first on-camera interview during the Olympic coverage when I spoke to the tragic events at the sliding track on day 1. Fortunately, I had a colleague who spoke for the first minute during which I could take my deep relaxing breaths before I had to answer questions related to the accident in front of millions viewers. The effects on me physically and mentally were powerful, and this is a key skill for business professionals. Deep breathing is a great tool for relaxing the body and letting the past go so that you can focus and concentrate on your next performance. Imagine if we could take 10 seconds to compose ourselves, relax and focus on the task at hand before presentations, key meetings, or even right before we walk into our homes after a hard day at the office…
Join us for a third key learning moment from the Olympics in our next Olympic Lessons post.
