Habits of Elite Athletes

MUSINGS FROM A COACH - 14 OCTOBER '25

I'm currently in Wollongong, Australia as a Team USA Paratriathlon coach for World Triathlon Championships. We also have the Juniors, U23 and Team USA Olympic Triathlon athletes racing this weekend as well. Finally, there's a couple thousand age-groupers racing as well - a full house!

So I thought this would be a good time to list out some of the top habits I've observed professional triathletes employ during race week to increase their odds of success. And, for the most part, I see these on a daily basis from our top athletes.

Attitude. Most successful professionals love what they do - it's too hard not to. There's that balance between drive and gratitude that is in constant motion, but never out of balance. They know what they can control and what they can't. So during the week leading up to a big race, they stay emotionally level. Not too high and never low. They roll with the punches, because they know that they can't control everything!

Knowing when to focus. There are a million things that can both distract us and also make us anxious in the days leading up to a big event. Successful professionals know when to focus on the task at hand and when to relax and not stress.

Trust in their ability and training. I may have made this up, but I swear that I heard an elite swimmer once say, "We never judge how we're going to do on race day by how we feel during race week." Professionals know their ability and know what they can do when things outside of their control go their way. This calm and honest confidence provides a steady emotional state that athletes use to keep things in perspective if things don't go as planned.

Gratitude. Ah, the holy grail of great habits. Gratitude shapes our daily perspective. It enables us to look at adversity and see an opportunity. If we're grateful, the world just seems to carry a bit more color. Professional athletes truly appreciate when everything comes together on a special workout or race. The power of gratitude is truly limitless.

Taking the lead from the pros, during race week, we should all try and remember the joy of competing, pay attention to the important things, trust that we've done the training and be truly grateful we get to do something so few do.