Winners Focus on Winning – Losers Focus on Winners

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380 – October, 2016

BY RACHEL KOOIKER

This summer, the Olympics once again put high-level athletic showdowns front and center as the world watched elite athletes face off. For many events, it often seemed like the contest was more about two personalities meeting head to head as it was about crowning an Olympic champion. Perhaps the most widely reported example of this was the intense rivalry between Chad Le Clos and Michael Phelps in men’s swimming. At the 2012 London Games, a swimmer named Le Clos beat Phelps in the 200m butterfly, making it the first time Phelps had lost in that event in ten years. What ensued over the next four years was a very public rivalry that came to a head at the Olympics this year with Le Clos taunting Phelps prior to the start of their race. As it turned out, Phelps won his 20th gold medal and defeated his rival. Could it be that Phelp’s focus on his own performance and Le Clos’s focus on Phelps cost the latter something?

When you get to the top of the field in any sport, the competition gets fierce, and intense rivalries come with the territory. The horse show world is no exception to this, and it can be all too easy to become caught up in thinking about your competitors. So, how exactly do you stay motivated and focused in the midst of intense competition? How can rivalry with another competitor spur you to work harder, or defeat you before you’ve even entered the pen? We chatted with two elite exhibitors to see how their experiences competing with and against other competitors have forced them to step up their game and make them even better riders.

Your Biggest Rival is… You!

When asked if she has any rivals, seasoned AQHA competitor and multiple Select World Champion Kathy Tobin says, “the only person I’m competing against is myself.” This sentiment reflects what many sports psychologists have found in their research about how top athletes perform. Daniel Gould is a sports psychologist with Michigan State University, and his research has shown that the best competitors don’t focus on beating specific opponents; they want to beat everybody.

Click here to read the complete article
380 – October, 2016