The personality of a champion.

This week I have been contemplating this question quite a bit – What is the personality of a champion like? There may not be a single answer to this question. In fact there probably isn’t one personality type common to all champions, but I’ll share my thoughts and open the topic for discussion.

Lance, Tiger and Alex

I have previously written about Alex Rodriguez in regards to his ability to perform athletically and deal with the New York fans. This week brought Rodriguez back into the sports news with his interview that caused a lot of comotion. What is the main issue with Rodriguez’s interview? For me it is not that he is discussing the opt out clause in his contract, it is the fact that he is showing his need to be loved by everyone. I have always found it amazing that Rodriguez could play at the level he does, yet handle the lack of respect he appears to get from the Yankees’ fans. Maybe he doesn’t handle it too well. This need for fan approval was also seen in his back and forth decisions about playing in the World Baseball Classic and who he should play for.

Now compare that mentality, the need for everyone’s love, to Lance Armstrong’s approach to handling his decisions. In the book, Lance Armstrong’s War, Coyle talks about how Lance sees everything in black and white. There are no grey areas, you are with Lance or against him. Coyle mentions how this ability to see everything in black and white allows Armstrong to make decisions quickly therefore wasting little time and energy. (It also means that those who are against him often get chewed up and left behind.) In the book, How Lance Does It, Kearns gives a similar perspective although he says that Lance has a “clarity of purpose”.

Using those two examples, what does that say about the personality of a champion? I am not completely sure because Armstrong has been a successful cyclist by having a “with me or against me” attitude, but Rodriguez has been one of the best baseball players over the last ten years displaying a “please, please love me” desperation. A person could make a distinction between the two by saying that Armstrong became the best Tour de France rider of all-time, while Rodiguez hasn’t been able to lift up and become a great post season player – maybe due to his inability to move past what others think of his performances?

Tiger Woods is an athlete that is commonly used as an example of performing well under pressure and possessing the mentality needed to be the best. There’s a difference between Tiger’s approach to the sport and Phil Mickelson’s that has been discussed before in my post titled, “Planning to Fail.” This difference doesn’t have to do with a need to be like or not, but it does highlight something that I think might be a key personality trait shared by high performing athletes – Emotional Stability.

Elaine Breeden, Gordo Byrn, Tim Holla and others…

In the summer of 2003, I was asked to help a young swimmer out with some core strengthening and pilates. I gladly helped because I wanted the experience and because I was told that the swimmer was a motivated and talented swimmer. I ended up helping her for the summer with the core strengthening exercises and some relaxation ideas, then I began teaching the Wildcat Aquatics program for the school year. During the entire time that I helped this swimmer, there was one characteristic that I witnessed that was way above average, her maturity and emotional stability. She was only fourteen years old at the time, but she had several things going for her:

1. She knew what she wanted to accomplish.
2. She knew it would take some hard work and was willing to do it.
3. She had the emotional makeup to deal with those around her that knew she had a special talent and were giving either solicited or unsolicited advice.

One thing I shared with her were ways I found effective to prepare for races, practices or just calm myself down daily. The information I shared is – Here. Ironically, she probably already possessed a better ability to remain focused yet relaxed at fourteen than I do to this day.

The other day I was watching the Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, when I saw the highlights of the 200 meter butterfly. It was exciting to see, but not surprising at all when I realized that a freshmen swimmer for Stanford University won the race. Why wasn’t it surprising to me that a freshmen won the NCAA’s? Because the swimmer was Elaine Breeden, the same swimmer that had a great deal of emotional stability as a freshmen in high school.

I mentioned Gordo Byrn and Tim Hola in this discussion because of the observation I made at the Long Course Clinc last November. I mentioned then that they both possessed a “go-with-the-flow” characteristic, which could easily coincide with an emotional stabilty. This “go-with-the-flow” personality could also describe the two best local trithletes we have here in Lexington – Dave and Tony.

Finals Thoughts

Like I said in the opening, I don’t know if there is a “personality of champions” but these observations have been bouncing around in my thoughts this week. It is possible that I am making too general of observations, especially when characterizing these different individuals own personalities. But from the public’s eye or the brief interactions that I have with them, there appears to be a common theme.

The other possibility is that I see a lack of emotional stability in my own life, therefore want to attribute my yet_unfullfilled_goals to that lack of stability. In either case, I think it does raise a good discussion.

Here are a few questions to ponder: Can we change our personalities? Would more emotional stability in our lives allow us to train better, recover better and/or perform better? Do we see an emotional stability in those that we perceive to be “successful”?