Mikaël Kingsbury’s triumph at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics could not have come without terrible disillusionment.
As silver medalist in Sochi in 2014, the goal was clear for the native of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, especially since he had started the season perfectly before the games in South Korea. He won nine victories, including seven in a row, but at the very end, on the slopes of the Sierra Nevada in Spain, everything fell apart. He was unable to achieve more than a bronze medal in the mogul race before finishing 13th.
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The disappointment was great and this poor performance worried many experts and supporters. However, it is perhaps the best thing that could have happened to the “king of moguls” if we follow the words of Jean-François Ménard, the Quebecers’ mental coach.
“I remember it very well, the media made a lot of it,” said the author of bestsellers “The Olympian in the Office” and “Team Chemistry” in an interview with QMI Agency this week. His entire coaching staff and I never wish that on him, but we were pretty happy it happened. It was exactly a moment in which we learned so much. Even Mikaël talks about this experience in the media and at his conferences, saying that it almost cost him to win the Olympic Games.
We all know the rest of the story: A few months later, Kingsbury won the Olympic gold medal. He always had the final say at the World Championships and also won two silver medals at the February 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China.
The benefit of defeat
More broadly, Ménard reminded us how important failure is to achieving the goals we set for ourselves.
“No matter what the outcome, there is always something to learn from. I would even say that we learn the most lessons from defeat because it hurts. Top athletes have big egos, they don’t like to lose and we often ask ourselves a lot of questions when we lose in the hope that we won’t have to experience it again. I’m a big believer in losing,” he concluded.
Here are some inspiring words for the youngest among us.
Sport and mental health: fun comes first
According to a Statistics Canada study released in September, only 48.8% of the 18.3% of Canadians aged 15 and over who met criteria for a mood disorder, anxiety disorder or substance use disorder said they had discussed it with a healthcare professional 22.
According to mental coach Jean-François Ménard, who spoke to the QMI agency last Tuesday as part of World Mental Health Day, the problem is also the same in the world of sport.
“First we have to talk about it,” said the spokesman. To this day, it is still a topic that people feel uncomfortable about. […] It is clear that there are mental health issues in the world of sport […] It absolutely needs to be normalized, and whether you’re an athlete, a coach or a sports manager, it’s part of the daily grind. We need to remove the discomfort of talking about it.”
Ménard has also worked with Marie-Eve Dicaire and Mikaël Kingsbury.
“As mental preparation coaches, we understand that there are mental health issues that we need to pay increasing attention to,” continued the author of bestsellers The Office Olympian and Team Chemistry.
Practicing a high-level sporting activity inevitably brings with it stress. Performance anxiety is common among athletes, but a significant portion of this anxiety is caused by the athlete themselves.
“As athletes, we are responsible for the majority of the fear we feel. The words we use to explain a situation […] are very threatening. We say to ourselves, “Okay, this weekend I want to perform and I can’t wait to be challenged,” and see it as an opportunity to showcase everything we practiced over the weekend. “Training.” […] We are talking about the same competition and the same athletes, but the internal language is completely different.
The importance of the environment
Young people are also affected by these concerns. The role of parents is therefore crucial for the development of their children.
“We explain to parents that sports is a game,” he said. We don’t play sports. Playing is synonymous with fun and entertainment. Parents play an extremely important role in supporting our athletes. You should not be forced or forced to do anything. We have to supervise them, support them.”
Coaches also have a great responsibility for the development of young adolescents, whether in life or on the field.
“You have to remember your role. They will have a huge impact on an athlete’s career and life in general. At the age of 13, 14, 15 or 16 we experience many psychological and physiological changes. “The role of a coach – and they sometimes forget this – is enormous,” Ménard concluded.