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Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games

The demands of high-performance sport are exacerbated during the lead up to the Major Games (i.e., Paralympics). The purpose of this study was to better understand the challenges experienced and strategies utilized by Australian athletes (n = 7) and coaches (n = 5) preparing for the Tokyo Paralympic...

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Autores principales: Dehghansai, N., Pinder, R. A., Baker, J., Renshaw, I.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8101742/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33956860
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251171
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author Dehghansai, N.
Pinder, R. A.
Baker, J.
Renshaw, I.
author_facet Dehghansai, N.
Pinder, R. A.
Baker, J.
Renshaw, I.
author_sort Dehghansai, N.
collection PubMed
description The demands of high-performance sport are exacerbated during the lead up to the Major Games (i.e., Paralympics). The purpose of this study was to better understand the challenges experienced and strategies utilized by Australian athletes (n = 7) and coaches (n = 5) preparing for the Tokyo Paralympic Games using semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis highlighted challenges specific to participants’ sport (e.g., budgetary constraints, decentralized experiences, athletes with various impairments), personal life (e.g., moving cities to access coaching, postponing vocational/educational developments, isolation from social circles), and associated uncertainties (e.g., COVID-19, qualifications, accreditations). Participants managed these challenges by utilizing strategies to ‘anticipate and prepare’ (e.g., detailed planning, effective communication, contingency plans) and ‘manage expectations’ (e.g., understanding specific roles and boundaries, focusing on the process [i.e., effort over results]). Trust and communication between athletes and coaches was key in coaches’ better understanding of how athletes’ impairments interact with their training and competition environments and tailor support to each athlete’s unique needs. Last, participants reflected on the ‘pressure’ of the Games due to their performance having an impact on their career trajectory ‘post-Tokyo’ with some athletes contemplating retirement and others realizing the consequences of their performance on sport-related vocation and sponsorship. Coaches also accepted the success of their programs and job security will depend on outcomes at the Games. The findings from this study shed light on factors to consider to reduce challenges for teams preparing for major competitions but also highlight key practical implications to support athletes and coaches leading up, during, and post-major Games.
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spelling pubmed-81017422021-05-17 Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games Dehghansai, N. Pinder, R. A. Baker, J. Renshaw, I. PLoS One Research Article The demands of high-performance sport are exacerbated during the lead up to the Major Games (i.e., Paralympics). The purpose of this study was to better understand the challenges experienced and strategies utilized by Australian athletes (n = 7) and coaches (n = 5) preparing for the Tokyo Paralympic Games using semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis highlighted challenges specific to participants’ sport (e.g., budgetary constraints, decentralized experiences, athletes with various impairments), personal life (e.g., moving cities to access coaching, postponing vocational/educational developments, isolation from social circles), and associated uncertainties (e.g., COVID-19, qualifications, accreditations). Participants managed these challenges by utilizing strategies to ‘anticipate and prepare’ (e.g., detailed planning, effective communication, contingency plans) and ‘manage expectations’ (e.g., understanding specific roles and boundaries, focusing on the process [i.e., effort over results]). Trust and communication between athletes and coaches was key in coaches’ better understanding of how athletes’ impairments interact with their training and competition environments and tailor support to each athlete’s unique needs. Last, participants reflected on the ‘pressure’ of the Games due to their performance having an impact on their career trajectory ‘post-Tokyo’ with some athletes contemplating retirement and others realizing the consequences of their performance on sport-related vocation and sponsorship. Coaches also accepted the success of their programs and job security will depend on outcomes at the Games. The findings from this study shed light on factors to consider to reduce challenges for teams preparing for major competitions but also highlight key practical implications to support athletes and coaches leading up, during, and post-major Games. Public Library of Science 2021-05-06 /pmc/articles/PMC8101742/ /pubmed/33956860 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251171 Text en © 2021 Dehghansai et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Dehghansai, N.
Pinder, R. A.
Baker, J.
Renshaw, I.
Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games
title Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games
title_full Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games
title_fullStr Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games
title_full_unstemmed Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games
title_short Challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the Paralympic Games
title_sort challenges and stresses experienced by athletes and coaches leading up to the paralympic games
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8101742/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33956860
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251171
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