Blog - Sarah Holt: Inside the mind of an athlete as competition approaches

Sunday, July 29

As far as opening ceremonies go, we smashed it out of the ball park!

I was a little bit worried about how we could possibly trump Beijing’s effort four years ago, but on Friday night, we truly demonstrated to the world that London can put on an absolutely magnificent show.

For our athletes, this literally is the biggest event of their lives. An Olympic Games is the pinnacle of every career, but a home Olympic Games is something much, much bigger.

Focus at this point is absolutely essential. With many of the sports now underway, one of the most important decisions for any competitor is how to conduct themselves with only a matter of days remaining until they take to the stage.

As the GB athletics head coach, Charles Van Commenee, said in an Olympic preparation meeting around 10 weeks ago, there is not a lot that can be done to improve athletic form now, but there are many mistakes to be made which can have a significant effect on performance.

These ‘mistakes’ mainly refer to the athlete’s ability to recover adequately.

It is often said that the harder you train the better you get, but this is only true if you can recover your body as well as you can push it in practice.

As we have seen in previous Olympic years, the margin between victory and defeat can be so slim that preparation cannot allow any room at all for error. Training for most is now at a minimum, mainly to stimulate the body and to consolidate technique. So, after training, the big question is what to do with the other 22 hours of the day?

Deducting around nine hours of sleep each night, a further 13 hours of the day remain. While rest is essential, boredom can also become a problem. The food hall becomes a particularly social area, being one of the only structured events of the day and for many watching films and box sets helps to fill some of the time.

In addition, athletes may choose to watch videos of their previous successes, spend time with family members or cheer on team mates from other sports compete.

With not long to wait, self-belief must be unshakable. However athletes decide to spend their time, it must not compromise this confidence, because on the day, this confidence combined with immaculate execution is what will count.

While there will always be favourites, the Olympics is such an extraordinary event that the survival of the fittest notion isn’t quite as it seems.

Put simply, this competition isn’t an assessment of past statistics; but a test where desire on the day has an astonishing way of trumping logic.

One thing is sure, while only one person can win, elation will collide with disaster and tears will be shed for both joy and heartache.

Who will mount the podium victorious? Well you will just have to tune in and see.

Monday, July 23

For me the 2012 home Olympic Games are very bitter sweet.

Having dedicated a significant amount of years to making the Games, only to have fractionally missed out, is nothing short of gutting.

To now wake up without that goal to get me out of bed in a morning and into the gym; I have felt pretty lost.

But to know I have given 100 per cent and established myself in the senior GB squad at the European Championships, is a source of pride.

I have to now hold my head high and look forward to the next challenge, the World Championships in Moscow next summer.

The home Olympics is so special; it’s the pinnacle of every athlete’s career and the catalyst of many young children’s dreams.

For me, sport gives every day a purpose and an opportunity to better myself, mentally and physically, and for that I feel blessed to be involved at an elite level.

In the meantime I am just a fan of the Olympics, like everyone else.

Of course for me, I am looking forward to watching track and field, not only because that’s ‘my sport’ but because many of my close friends who I have shared highs and lows with over the years have an opportunity to showcase themselves to the world.

In particular I have high hopes for Martyn Rooney (400m), Hannah England (1,500m) and Goldie Sayers (javelin). Martyn, Hannah and I all competed at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing and both are now hunting for a medal.

They are equally ambitious and successful yet their humbleness is admirable.

Martyn finished sixth at the Beijing Games as a 21-year-old and has made his medal intensions in London very clear.

He is one of the most naturally gifted runners I have seen and I believe in his medal ambitions as much as he does.

Hannah, on the other hand, is a first-time Olympian having narrowly missed out on Beijing selection.

With her silver medal from last year’s World Championships she has established herself as another medal contender.

Her improvement over the last Olympiad is astonishing and I would love to see her add another medal to her collection.

Finally, Goldie is a few years older than me, she has been competitive on the world stage for over a decade and with an agonising previous Olympic fourth place and a new personal best set last week, she has unfinished business to attend to.

But away from athletics I am excited to watch cycling, rowing, football and diving.

I think Tom Daley is our nation’s adopted little brother.

Having seen him as a 14-year-old on the 10m high board in 2008 to the young man he is now, his difficult journey captured all our hearts and for him to achieve gold would be nothing short of an Olympic fairy tale.

So sit back and enjoy. I’ll be blogging throughout the Games.