‘They get anxious but still win gold’: Team GB’s psychologist on nerves, negativity and self-doubt

Jess Thom hopes a handful of mental strategies will give British athletes an edge at the Paris Olympics

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As they pace to the start line, heart pounding, adrenaline pumping, even the world’s best athletes can be struck by the niggling voice of self-doubt. But while in the past competitors were urged to silence negative thoughts, in this Olympics Team GB athletes have instead been encouraged to give their inner gremlin a name.

Naming the internal critic is one of a handful of mental strategies deployed by Team GB’s lead psychologist, Jess Thom, that she hopes will give athletes an edge in Paris.