Get Inspired by the 2017 IAAF World Championships (no exercise required)

I am not a sporty person, either in what I do with my life, my physical self, or in what I watch on TV. So I am attempting to write about something totally alien to me, through my perspective on the world. This is going to be nothing to do with the actual performance of athletes at the 2017 IAAF World Championships and everything to do with comments made by the athletes in post run/jump/throw etc, interviews, and how we, the people sitting on the sofa drinking wine and groaning in disappointment at Usain Bolt, can take inspiration from the mindsets of these superhumans.

Applaud The Attempt As Well As The Success

The satisfyingly named Katarina Johnson-Thompson, heptathlete, had a disappointing high jump result and this was the heart wrenching picture of her immediately afterwards.

Credit BBC

But this was her, 10 seconds later.

Credit BBC

She knows that her chance of getting a medal is seriously threatened but applauds herself. She spoke later in the competition of how she had been working on her outlook and belief in herself and this is clearly one of the new tactics. No matter how good or bad the performance she applauds her attempt and this I'm sure helps her to emotionally move on to the next event.

Totally applicable to non sporting life, when applying for a job for example, if you get rejected at any stage you can still applaud your attempt, writing cover letters and preparing for interviews is hard and applying is better than not. Applaud the attempt and move on the the next stage.

"I Only Deal With the Expectations I Have of Myself and Not What Others Have of Me"

I apologise but I cannot find who it was who said this. And I promise I have gone back and watched a lot of the events on iPlayer. Like A LOT. So I would just like to say thank you unnamed athlete. For coming up with my favourite quote of the Championships.

State your Goals Without Shame

Credit BBC

Daryll Neita was totally confident and upfront after winning her 100 metre heat which Gabby Logan called "refreshing". Her interview went like this
"I know I'm in the best shape of my life"
"One day I want to be an Olympic Champion"
"I've got a bronze medal, now I'm reaching for the high medals"
Gabby said there was a "collective sit up and listen" in response to her interview, "stating your aims is a bold thing to do but why shouldn't athletes be doing that?"

I definitely sat up and listened to Neita after those comments but had the same reaction, why shouldn't she say that.
Now athletes have an advantage when they are this bold. They know how good they are because their success is timed by a clock, in normal life we can't know how close we are to a promotion or a raise because it can't be measured in the same way. But when we state our aims, people know what they are getting from us and sharing goals with others makes you more likely to achieve them.

Focus on the Task in Hand

Credit BBC

So Michael Johnson's reponse to Daryll Neita's interview was equally as inspiring, he advised that as an athlete you have to,
"produce your best performance right now, when it counts"
"when learning from mistakes, apply now as opposed to using this as an opportunity for something in the future which is not promised"
"You're here, right now"

It's important to learn from our mistakes, and often that is what athletes focus on in interviews, what they could have done better and what is next for them. This is important, but we must also remain in the moment and give 100% to the current challenge.

Have Pride and Don't Give Up

Credit BBC

My heart absolutely went out to Gudaf Tsegay, the Ethiopian runner who fell 1 minute into the 1500 metres women semi final race. She was tripped accidentally and got up and ran but was miles behind the rest of the group. Obviously there was no chance that she would win or even qualify but she still ran, and ran by the looks of it to the best of her ability.

Now this sounds like it is going to be quite a depressing lesson. But to me it brought to mind conversations with people who were comparing their success to their friends. Often circumstances in life stop us being at the stage that we think we should be, illness, a break up, the death of a friend or family member, or smaller things for example, we only just decided that we wanted to succeed in this field and so other people are a few months or years ahead. But the sight of people so far ahead of us in life shouldn't make us stop trying to get to OUR goal.

Long Distance Running is Not Just About Being Fast, It's About Being Clever. 

Credit BBC

So I've never really sat down and watched long distance running before because well it's long, and it's running. But I never realised how tactical it is. I sort of thought you just ran as fast as you could, but no, turns out running at the back is sometimes the clever thing to do, you have to avoid being tripped and make sure you can overtake for the sprint at the end. Many things to think about.
And so this kind of links to my point about Tsegay's fall in the women's 1500 metres about not comparing yourself to others.

Comparing yourself to others and trying to be the best throughout the process won't help you achieve your goal. The runners who sprint ahead and lead for most of the race are very rarely the runners who win, the runners behind know that they will get tired and fall back by the end.
There is no point in working yourself to death just to prove you are better. Know your limits and take care of yourself or you will burn out.

"She seems to get better the more important the effort is. That's the mark of a champion"

Credit NafiThaim.com

I'm afraid I don't know the name of the commentator who said this, but he was talking about Nafi Thiam, the heptathlete competing against Katarina Johnson-Thompson. I wish that I had this quality, it's truly superhuman. Being able to cope BETTER under pressure is an inspiring thing to be able to do.





And as a little bonus of things I got out of the World Championships, here is an adorable video of a small child stuffing her face with popcorn in the crowd.