Читать книгу The Performance Mindset - Anthony J. Klarica - Страница 32

Canadian high jumper Nicole Forrester competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Her athletic career began after a chance meeting with track coach Dave Hunt, who dropped into McDonald's while Forrester was working there as a 17‐year‐old. Nicole grew up in a small town of about 800 people, where her focus was on study and physical activities, rather than specialising in a sport. After speaking with her while being served and noting her interest and high‐jump physique, Hunt referred her to the high‐jump coach Carl Georgevski at the University of Toronto.

Nicole has attributed her ‘quick progression in the high jump to the various sports I played growing up … Had I specialized in my sport at an earlier age, I doubt I would have lasted for as long as I did or had the same level of success’.¹⁷ Three years after meeting Georgevski she represented Canada at the 1997 World University Games in Italy. However, it took a further 11 years of commitment before she reached her goal of being an Olympic athlete in 2008. In 2010 she won gold at the Commonwealth Games in India. Her account reinforces the major role played by mindset in enabling her to transition from McDonald's to the Olympics. It also reminds us that the training of a junior athlete need not all be specialised.

Nicole later completed a PhD in Sport Psychology with a dissertation titled ‘Good to great in elite athletes: towards an understanding of why some athletes make the leap and others do not’.¹⁸ Nicole has commented that ‘becoming an Olympian requires a mixture of important ingredients that may vary according to the sport and the individual athlete. Ultimately for many, the path is navigated through deliberate play and the involvement in various sports, developed through a commitment of deliberate practice, reinforced by support, resources, motivation and effort’.