The Olympic Journey
During a Pandemic
By: Kate Griffin
Introduction/ Overview / Questions
Essential questions :
1. How do Olympic athletes continue to train for the Olympics while under a stay-at-home order?
2. How do coaches support their athletes while under the same restrictions?
3. Will a “level playing field” still exist under these conditions?
Goal: Answer the fundamental questions from different perspectives
Process: Interviewed 5 individuals working towards the 2020 Olympic games (2 athletes, 2 coaches, 1 physiologist)
Interviewed via, Facetime, in- person interview, or email
Sub-questions
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Allison Beverage
- Canadian Cyclist
- Tokyo 2020 Team Member
- Olympic Bronze Medalist Rio 2016
- 5x World Championship medalist
- Pan Am Games Gold Medalist
- Calgary Alberta
Allison Beveridge - current situation
- Already gained selection for 2020 Olympic Team
- Living and training at home in Calgary, Canada
- Unable to train with National Team in Toronto
- Unable to compete with her Professional Team, US based Rally Cycling Team https://rallycycling.com/
Kara Winger
-US javelin
-American record holder
- 8 time National Champion
-3x Olympian
-2019 Pan American gold medalist
-5th place in 2019 IAAF World Championship
Kara Winger - current situation
- Resides in Colorado Springs
- Usually trains at Olympic Training Center and USAFA
- Preparing for US Olympic Team Trials
- Now training in her home
Gary Sutton
- Head Coach, USA Track Cycling 2017 - present
- Head Coach, Australian Track Cycling Head 2009 - 2016
- Resides in Colorado Springs
- Cycling Team based out of Olympic Training Center
Gary Sutton - current situation
- Team of 8 usually based in COS Olympic Training Center
- Athletes given option to stay or return to homes
- 3 athletes remained at OTC, training environment somewhat maintained
- was planning to retire September 2020 and return to Australia
- Olympic Team not selected
Lindsay Golich
Lindsay Golich - current situation
Craig Griffin
- Olympic Cycling Coach
- Japan 2019 → Present
- Canada, 2013 → 2019
- USA (Olympic and Paralympic), 1989 → 2012
- Resides in Colorado Springs, works in Japan
Craig Griffin - current situation
- Japan Cycling team based in Izu Japan
- Now coaching remotely from Colorado Springs until travel ban is removed
- Connects with staff and athletes daily through interpreter (usually via email, Zoom, Line and Teams in middle of night because of time zone)
- Uses commercial training/coaching platform to prescribe and analyze training
Athletes: How has your daily and training routines changed. What are you doing now that is different from pre COVID-19?
“I borrowed weights and a bar and set up a home gym in basement. It’s different, but the general schedule is the same. My technical coach is in COS and can watch me while social distancing. My strength coach evaluates me via video, just like before. So not much has changed”. Kara, Olympic athlete.
“The biggest change for me is that I am home in Calgary and not in Milton at our training center. I can’t access a velodrome or gym, although I can still train on the road, but its cold!! Training is not as regular and with less structure”. Allison, Olympic athlete.
“My role has changed significantly. I manage the athlete performance zone at the Olympic Training Center and now it’s a ghost town. The OTC is under the same restrictions as local restaurants and gyms. Most athlete’s have decentralized their training by going home”. Lindsay, USOPC physiologist
Athletes: Are you utilizing any technology to assist with these changes?
“The professional road cycling teams have taken largely to zwift racing - an online cycling platform where you can race individuals from around the world, to supplement the lack of a race calendar. Aside from the racing, given the spring weather in Calgary I’ve also been training on it if it’s too cold to be out on the road. Other than that, most technology is fairly similar, relying heavily on power meters when training from afar”. Allison, Olympic athlete
“I’m using similar equipment and accessing my coaches the same through video and face to face sessions throwing on the grass”. Kara, Olympic athlete
“We are able to monitor through remote data analysis – with CYC and TRI we use recording devices to measure speed, heart rate power. Tracking prescribed training vs actual. Monitored training effects – does prescribed training elicit desired physical stimulus? Data goes to both coach and myself. This is not new technology. We are just relying on it a lot more than in the past. Swimming is tough. They can’t use a pool and there’s no training or information”. Lindsay, USOPC physiologist
Athletes: What do you see as your greatest challenge(s) while training in your home environment?
“My greatest challenge is motivation. I have managed to source some weights from a squat rack, and have access to a trainer, but without any racing coming up there isn’t as much urgency to train. We spend a lot of time in training camps or around teammates, and going out on your own to push yourself for a far off goal is the biggest challenge. There is also some restlessness to get back on a velodrome by the end of summer”. Allison, Olympic athlete
“I’m very cautious of injuries. Careful not to push to my very limits and get injured. Also, with regular sports medicine support and recovery modalities like ice baths, massage and taping, the risk of injury is higher. So I listen to my body more carefully now”. Kara, Olympic athlete
“Motivation and health – 50% of the athletes are already qualified. Another 50% are still to qualify. Athletes are under a lot more stress. More stress affects health. More training pressure also affects health. It’s also hard to get and stay motivated and re-evaluate timeline of a season extended 1 year”. Lindsay, USOPC physiologist
Athletes: Do you believe your fitness and performance can be maintained?
“I believe that fitness and performance cannot be maintained for another 14 months no matter access to facilities. I think given the fact that the games are pushed back there will need to be a reset and refocus with a new build. I do believe that for cycling, a level of aerobic fitness and strength can be maintained to build off of more easily once track training and racing intensity resumes”. Allison, Olympic athlete
“Yes. One of my best friends and fellow javelin thrower is living and training with me to keep me motivated and challenged. At this point training has not been compromised too much.”. Kara, Olympic athlete
“Athletes have more time to connect with their performance team. More certainty once the new Games date was set. There is good focus and direction. So yes”. Lindsay, USOPC physiologist
Athletes: Are you using this period of isolation to explore new opportunities within or outside of your sport?
“I am using this opportunity and forced quiet time to go back to school and am taking a few spring and summer courses online through the University of Calgary. Within cycling, the industry and teams are pushing social media requirements to promote healthy living messages”. Allison, Olympic athlete
“I’m hiking a lot with my dog”. Kara, Olympic athlete
“In general, Olympic athletes very focused, and not getting distracted by other activities. However, non Olympic athletes are pursuing other things like school with extra time and less obligations. This extra time has presented an opportunity to explore new technology and training ideas with Olympic athletes.” Lindsay, USOPC physiologist
Athletes: Do you believe all athletes have the same opportunities to train?
“All athletes definitely do not have the same opportunities to train, seeing the lockdown situation in some of the European countries, such as Spain, there already haven’t been equal opportunities for athletes to get outside and train. Other sports have been affected even more so and will vary greatly when indoor and close contact facilities can re open. I think there is time for most athletes to regain fitness and provide a relatively equal playing field come next July; however, if strict measures continue to persist into the coming months preventing some athletes from returning to regular training it will not be. Not being able to race, I believe will have a detrimental impact, but it will be similar for all”. Allison, Olympic athlete
“I see on social media not much has changed in other countries in my sport, which keeps me motivated!! For some athletes this could be an opportunity to have “forced rest” now, to return in 2021 with improved performances”. Kara, Olympic athlete
“I believe the Games postponement of 12 months will provide more opportunity to level the playing field. It still won’t be level though. US swimmers will be affected a lot. They can’t get into pools, and when they resume training it will look very different with spaced lanes and maybe one swimmer per lane”. Lindsay, USOPC physiologist
Coaches: · How has COVID-19 affected your team and athletes daily training environment?
“The High Performance Center of Japan Cycling created it’s own “training bubble”. Athletes had choice to live and train in the bubble or live and train outside bubble. Twenty five percent opted to be outside of the bubble, losing access to training partners, facility use (gym, velodrome and recovery center). Athletes who left the bubble were isolated in their individual apartments and provided bars and weights to continue gym training and stationary trainers to perform specific interval training. To date, both groups of athletes are performing equally as well”. Craig, Olympic Coach
“Breaking the news to athletes of the Olympic postponement was difficult. Life was planned, some were thinking of retirement. I was thinking of retiring after Tokyo. Since that announcement, athletes had the opportunity to remain in COS or go home. Half stayed, half went home. We all saw this as an opportunity to reflect and continue building. We have a new team of athletes, so an extra 12 months buys us more time to train, develop and evaluate. The team up for selection this May might be different in 12 months and the door has opened for the selection of other athletes. The original Olympic selection date of May 1 2020 is now May 1 2021”. Gary, Olympic coach
Coaches: Are you utilizing any technology to assist with these changes?
“Athletes outside of bubble are following same training from home, utilizing same technology that allows capture and sharing of biometrics. However, since they cannot access recovery modalities like massage, ultra-sound and the like, we provide them with Normatech devices that provide compression massage”. Craig, Olympic Coach
“As with most cyclists and teams we are using bike mounted power meters to capture data. One cool thing we are doing is working with the a USOPC nutritionist who arranges a weekly video cooking class with a prestigious chef. The girls are really enjoying these”. Gary, Olympic coach
Tools used to coach cyclists remotely
- Training program prepared and sent by coach to athlete(s) via on-line training platform
- Athlete performs training and data collect on the bike with a power meter
- After training, power meter uploaded into training platform and synchronized with analysis software
- Coach and physiologist review workouts in software and sends athlete feedback
Coaches: Are you hearing of athletes struggling with motivation and if so, what are you doing to combat this?
“The biggest factor with low motivation is the uncertainty re-starting competition season – competition is very important component of training and evaluation. Competition, regardless of level, is important for short and long term motivation. To combat this we are trying to include fun activities during training that we typically wouldnt have time for and also including games and challenges away from training. Our nutritionist started a weekly cooking challenge that is both fun and educational”. Craig, Olympic Coach
“The athletes very motivated. As I coach, I’m trying to hold them back. The staff is also very motivated. When everything is reopened, we will be at much higher intensity than before COVID-19!! Overall the athletes are mentally very strong, very positive”. Gary, Olympic coach
Coaches: What are your biggest challenges and concerns with athletes training remotely?
“I believe that most recent performance gains in many sports have been due to better methods of recovery from training stressors and injury. With athletes not being able to access and use sports medicine and recovery tools, training capacity is lowered, leading to overtraining along with increased risk of injury”. Craig, Olympic Coach
“Coaching is a blend of science and experience. You can’t coach exclusively using one or the other. I’m an old school coach and connect best with my athletes in person. That personal subjective feedback of body language and mood allows me to really understand their physical needs. I can’t be my best remote coaching”. Gary, Olympic coach
Coaches: Do you believe all athletes have the same opportunities to train?
“No. Countries like Japan have kept their training centers and environments open, while other countries have closed athlete access. This will have a short term effect on fitness and health, and if these current restrictions are kept in place for another 8-10 months, especially over winter months, gaps will begin to occur in performances. However, I think team and contact sports and athletes will be more disadvantaged than individual sports and athletes”. Craig, Olympic Coach
“Same opportunities to train? I would hope so, but if not, I would be surprised if the Games happened. As long as countries open up and allow access to training facilities, the field could be level. Athletes and coaches are resourceful. If they want it bad enough they’ll find a way. I’m confident the US team will be well prepared. We have an extra year now!”. Gary, Olympic coach
Athletes & Coaches: Do you believe athletes will use performance enhancing substances during this time?
“I believe some athletes will. With a lack of testing there is more of an opportunity; however, I believe those willing to cheat would probably already be doing it in some form or fashion. What it will allow, is the opportunity for those who already are in some way, to do so with no restrictions and could potentially have much larger benefits than something like micro dosing”. Athlete
“There will always be athletes attempting to take short cuts. I think it will be these athletes who have not yet had their trials and selections, who are at risk to cheat the system and dope in the current absence of both in and out of competition testing”. Coach
“There will always be those who take short-cuts. Pandemic or no pandemic. But they will be caught eventually”. Coach
Drug Testing
Drug Testing: a COVID-19 inspired alternative “virtual” test?
- COVID-19 “grounded” Doping Control Officers (people who show up unannounced at athletes residence to collect urine and blood samples).
- It’s unknown when it’s safe to resume testing again, so USADA (US Anti-Doping-Agency) is currently trialling a virtual sample collection process.
- Currently trialed with 20 Olympic athletes (including Katie Ledecky - swimming, Allyson Felix - Track and Field)