Say hello to your all-star support committee, here to deliver 26 tips on winning at life! Gymnastics powerhouse Simone Biles; marathon champ Amy Cragg; swimming standouts Elizabeth Beisel, Natalie Coughlin, and Missy Franklin; rugby newcomer Alev Kelter; diving pro Abby Johnston; track-and-field trio Allyson Felix, Dawn Harper-Nelson, and Alysia Montaño; soccer star Carli Lloyd; paralympic swimmer Jessica Long; triathlete Melissa Stockwell; track-and-field's Tatyana Mcfadden; and wrestling wonder woman Adeline Gray.
Take it away, Team USA!
ASSUME AN ALTER EGO:
"I'm competitive by nature, but the fierceness and aggressiveness on the track isn't who I am in everyday life so I've learned to turn it on," says Allyson Felix. "For me, that means listening to songs like 'Diva' by Beyonce before I hit the track."
BE BLUNT:
On any team, small issues between a few can escalate quickly and corrode the success of the collective. The U.S. soccer team ain't having that nonsense. "If there's an issue, you have to directly approach the people involved, sit down, and try to work it out," says Carli Lloyd. "What's the point of having a conversation if you're not going to say everything?"
COMPOSURE RULES!
A cool, calm, collected spirit is what separates the great athletes from the good. Throwing a hissy fit or acting rude toward others after a tough loss or when something hasn't gone your way doesn't show how much you "care"; it just looks petty. Cue 21-year-old Missy Franklin: "Even if I have a disappointing swim, when I get out of the water, I'm still Missy Franklin. I'm not going to let a race take away any of the sportsmanship, the enthusiasm, or the love I have for what I do."
DON'T LET THEM KILL YOUR VIBE:
Errybody has opinions on how you should deal with an injury, an illness, or a pregnancy. No one knows the latter better than Alysia Montaño, who caught flack when she raced eight months pregnant. "Too often people tend to go off of what everyone else says and get fired up, without stopping to really think about it and inform themselves first."
*I.e., ran a casual pace and finished dead last in her heat. Effort and expectations had been adjusted, and everything was preapproved by her doc. Because sometimes winning isn't the only thing that matters.
EMBRACE YOUR AGE NO MATTER THE NUMBER:
More years brings changes and learnings. Natalie Coughlin, now 33, shares two of hers.
"You don't need recovery when you're 20. Now I have to focus more on getting massages, going to a physical therapist, taking naps (which I hate but I force myself to do!). All those little things add up. It's the one thing that has been making the biggest difference for me now."
"The older I've gotten, the more I realize this is finite, how special this is. You'll hear so many young athletes complain about the endless hours in the pool; I love that pursuit. I'm not always going to have that, and as I get older, I just realize that more and more."
FOCUS ON THE NOW:
As a culture, we're obsessed with the future. Olympians aren't immune: They work around the clock for a moment that happens once. every. four. years. Yet the only way to stay sane is to keep your eyes on specific things like, say, landing that tumbling pass without a hop. As Simone Biles says, "focus on your short-term goals; knowing those will lead you to where you want to go."
GIRLBOSSES GET IT DONE THEIR WAY:
You can be a tough, firm, acerbic leader. Or you can make like Franklin and be goofy, smiley, and friendly. Respect, she says, doesn't come from a certain attitude, but rather an authentic one. "Everyone is their own leader," she says. "It's about figuring out what makes you the most effective. Because if you're trying to emulate someone else's version, it's not going to be you and it's really hard for a team to follow someone like that."
HAVE A GREATER PURPOSE:
"Some of my competitors are only focused on a medal, solely for saying they won," says Montaño. "I'm always asking myself, How is this a bigger picture to life? How are these two laps purposeful for beyond running? That's incredibly motivating for me. It pushes me to be better every day."
INTENSIFY STRENGTHS:
Know that old adage about turning your weaknesses into strengths? All well and good, but have you actually pushed your strength to its limits? "I'm in the weight room four times a week, focusing on heavy lifting, up from two or three lifts a week," says Coughlin. "My overall strength is better than it's ever been."
JUST BE GRATEFUL:
Researchers say it's a key to success, and Paralympians prove it: "[After the bombing in Iraq], I did a lot of my rehab at Walter Reed Medical Center, and I saw people much worse off than I was," says Melissa Stockwell. "I'd be thinking, Oh, I just lost my leg, and I'd look across the room and see a guy who lost both of his legs.
And I'd think, Wow, I'm only missing one leg. I have three good limbs. We all get lost in the day-to-day and lose perspective I'm just as susceptible to that. But when you look at the big picture, you realize how lucky we all are."
And I'd think, Wow, I'm only missing one leg. I have three good limbs. We all get lost in the day-to-day and lose perspective I'm just as susceptible to that. But when you look at the big picture, you realize how lucky we all are."
KNOCK OUT DOUBT:
Winners know that when you feel passionately, you need to pause, process, but not overthink. "I don't just jump into something without thinking it through, but I also don't take extra time going through unnecessary steps," says Lloyd.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY:
"I've had some pretty serious injuries that probably could have been prevented," says Coughlin. "My coach is great about checking how I'm feeling but demanding that I'm specific. I can't just say 'I'm really tired today.' He asks, 'Well, what do you mean?' and I have to say, 'Well, my legs are really tired, but my arms are good.' We work together to push me just to the brink and not over."
MINUTES TURN TO HOURS TURN TO DAYS TURN TO... WINS!
One word that comes up again (and again) with Olympians: mundane. As in the constant training. But it's in that daily grind that these athletes see promise. "I train for thousands of hours in hopes of doing one perfect dive. But that one dive gives me a rush like nothing else I've ever done in my life," says Abby Johnston. (Want to mix up your routine? Check out Women's Health's Ignite routine created by Next Fitness Star Nikki Metzger.)
NERVES COME... AND THEN THEY GO:
Prerace jitters are a real thing. But sometimes, distracting yourself is a better way of calming them than getting all serious and inward. "I talk to as many people as possible. [If I don't], I will freak myself out and make myself extremely nervous; I have found that talking to people helps quell my nerves," says Elizabeth Beisel.
OFF WITH THE LABELS!
Stop telling yourself you're too slow, too uncoordinated, too shy. You're just holding yourself back. "When I hear the word disabled, I don't think of myself. I can't help the fact that I was born without legs, but I can control my attitude and make the best possible situation out of my circumstances," says Jessica Long.
PINK: IT'S HER FAVORITE COLOR.
And Adeline Gray is not about to take crap for it. "Someone on Instagram said, 'Just because you wrestle and want to be a girl doesn't mean you have to wear pink.' And that person's right. But I'm an overly girlie person my nickname is Princess Adeline, I love wearing makeup. At the same time I like to do something really intense. A lot of people need to redefine feminine, because in the dictionary it's a negative adjective it means small, dainty, weak. For me, it's about understanding that hard work and accomplishing my goals is beautiful, and strong, and feminine."
QUIET, PLEASE!
We like Biles's approach: Make specific goals. Write them down. Then keep them to yourself. You don't need to share everything with everyone. (Research agrees: It can backfire, causing you not to work as hard to achieve them.)
REVERSE YOUR PLAN:
It'll give you the most precise map. "The night before every race, I write my competition time on a piece of paper, then work my way back: check-in time, start warm-up, bus time, get dressed, last meal, nap time, lunch, breakfast, wake up," says Dawn Harper-Nelson. "Then I follow it to a T."
STRONGER TOGETHER:
Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan dominate an individual sport but train as a duo. Cragg (on left) shares how teaming up helps them finish ahead of the pack.
WHEN you're out there by yourself and hurting, your mind can go to some dark places. A partner makes sure that doesn't happen.
DON'T drop 'em on a bad day. Sometimes slowing down a little to help your teammate recover and get through a run today will help you both crush it tomorrow.
NURTURE your desire to win. Being competitive giving it your all, wanting to win isn't catty or juvenile. It's a sign of respect to your opponent and her skills.
When you rack up as many frequent flier miles as Lloyd and the U.S. Soccer team, you nail the fine art of beating jet lag. Your simple checklist: Ear plugs. Eye mask. Lots of water. Light jog when you land. Boom, ready to rock.
UNREALISTIC OPTIMISM CAN BACKFIRE:
"Optimism is huge for me, but I think it's important to give yourself time to be disappointed, and really let it set in it's that feeling that really ignites your hunger for more, for better," says Franklin.
BUT VICTORY IS ALWAYS WITHIN REACH:
Being the underdog gives you a different perspective. Take Gray's experience of wrestling boys on her high school team. "Against the boys, I had to deal with their being stronger and faster and find a way to win anyway," she says. That's the same thing I do now. If a girl has a great takedown or a great arm drag, I figure out a way to beat her anyway. I think it helps you stay calm in those moments rather than panicking. You know how to think and fight your way out of them, because you've had to before."
WANT (AND WILL YOURSELF) TO GROW:
When you're at the top of your game like Felix, it can be tempting to just kick back and chill. But in choosing to embrace new challenges, things that don't come as easily, you get to experience the process of seeing yourself grow all over again. It can renew your excitement for seeing how far you can go.
X-TRAIN SMARTER:
Cross training is crucial. But overemphasizing one skill (like your time in the weight room) can often hurt another (like your quickness or long-distance running speed), so the right mix is key. Team USA women's Rugby team goes through four-week cycles of building muscle, then incorporating more running and agility, then bringing in endurance drills. Alev Kelter breaks down what moves you can use to find a good balance.
Building Muscle: back squats, bench presses, deadlifts
Agility: hurdle hops, split-squat jumps, banded running
Endurance: medicine-ball throws, renegade rows, battle ropes
"YOU'VE BEEN THROUGH WORSE."
Just because it's their job and life's passion doesn't mean it's easy. There are no excuses for an Olympian, no real days off. When you want to quit, the above four words from Tatyana McFadden are clutch.
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