A Rutgers expert explains what everyday people can learn from elite athletes about handling stress
From Simone Biles, the U.S. gymnast who withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo Olympics to protect her mental health, to Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, and Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion who has spoken candidly about anxiety and depression, elite athletes are reshaping how the world understands mental health in high-stakes competition.
As the Olympic Games place competitors under unparalleled global scrutiny, psychological resilience has become just as essential as physical training for athletes.
Ahead of the opening ceremonies, Peter J. Economou, assistant professor in the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology and director of behavioral health and wellness for Rutgers University Athletics, discusses what makes the Olympic stage psychologically unique and what everyday people can learn from elite athletes about handling pressure.
Many Olympians now speak openly about mental health. How has that shifted the culture of sports, and why is that change especially significant on a global stage like the Olympics?
From my perspective, the shift we're seeing in sport reflects a long-overdue redefinition of what strength actually means. For decades, athletes were taught that vulnerability was weakness and that psychological struggle should be hidden. What has changed is not that athletes are struggling more, but that they are finally being permitted to speak honestly about their internal experience.
When elite athletes like Biles, Phelps and Osaka speak openly about mental health, it signals a cultural shift toward acceptance, self-awareness and responsibility. Today's athletes understand that mental health is not separate from performance; it is foundational to it. This openness reflects greater psychological literacy, stronger support systems, and a recognition that sustainable excellence requires care for the whole person, not just the performer. They are more than just athletes.
Acceptance in sport does not lower standards. It raises them. It allows athletes to compete with integrity, make informed decisions about their well-being and build careers rooted in longevity rather than burnout. Ultimately, this shift represents a healthier, more human model of high performance.
Even for elite athletes used to pressure, what makes the Olympic Games psychologically different from any other competition?
The Olympic Games represent the pinnacle of human performance, and they can be a psychological pressure cooker unlike any other sporting event in the world. While the physical requirements of a sport may remain constant, the context of the Olympics fundamentally transforms the experience, often through the heavy weight of patriotism. Unlike professional leagues, where athletes compete for club or individual titles, Olympians carry the collective expectations of an entire nation, adding a layer of social responsibility that can heighten performance anxiety. The environment becomes one where the perceived consequences of every move are amplified.
In this elevated arena, the role of a sport psychologist is to help athletes recognize that the emotional weight of the games is a valid, normal response to an environment rather than a sign of weakness. By teaching athletes to regulate their physiological and emotional spikes - focusing on active management and engagement, rather than the suppression of feelings - we build the mental skills necessary to perform under duress.
The pressure of the Olympics cannot be removed, but we can empower athletes to navigate its intensity and maintain their peak performance within it.
World-class athletes train their minds as deliberately as their bodies. What does mental training actually look like day to day, and how do athletes prepare psychologically for performances that may last only seconds after years of preparation?
Mental skills training is an abstract concept in many ways, which I suspect is why it has taken some time for coaches and athletes to embrace it (assuming that we have). It also looks different for athletes. Some athletes will visualize their performance, some will meditate, some athletes will attach biofeedback devices to themselves and much more.
The industry of sport performance, including mental skills training, has grown immensely as athletes and their organizations are always looking for the edge. Because of training in Zen meditation, research on mindfulness, and training in neuropsychology, I have found that the blend between the eastern and western principles produces the best practices. This means recognizing thoughts as distorted and defusing from them, practicing mindfulness and meditation regularly, living consistently with one's values, and fostering psychological flexibility.
The key is not to prepare only during the Olympics. Rather, we practice this daily and integrate it into our regular training. This helps our brain become familiar with these practices and the mental skills become habits.
What can everyday people learn from Olympic athletes about handling pressure, setbacks, and high-stakes moments and which performance strategies translate most directly to situations like big presentations, exams, or job interviews?
As you watch the Olympic Games, challenge yourself to notice your thoughts and judgments about the athletes. Perhaps you are judging how they look (i.e., too big, too skinny, etc.), or when they "choke," you have thoughts about that, or you feel a certain way about their stance on some issue that they may comment on. Notice these thoughts.
Athletes have sacrificed like most of us cannot fathom. They miss family events, they have to travel all over and live out of suitcases, they can be terminated from sponsorship or be cut from a team at any moment, etc. We can instead practice compassion. These are life lessons that we can use across our identities. How so?
When you disagree with a coworker, take a moment for perspective-taking. Where is that person coming from? Stay curious. Also, could you be working harder? Are you scrolling more, or is your brain drifting throughout the day? What sacrifices have you made for your role? A little self-reflection can go a long way, leading to increased productivity, alignment of values and overall improved satisfaction.
