When we watch the Olympics and Paralympics on TV, we mostly see the highlight reel: the medals, the tears, the interviews, the national anthem, and the occasional inspirational backstory.

And that’s natural – we’re spectators. We focus on performance.

But the games aren’t really just a two-week sporting event. For the athletes, it’s better understood as a multi-year psychological transition – and it comes with a real emotional price tag.

In this episode, we’re joined by Professor Binna Kandola OBE to unpack the psychological journey of Olympic and Paralympic athletes. We explore how elite performance shapes identity, the emotional instability of the games themselves, and why the most intense moments often occur far from the podium.

References:

• Roy David Samuel, Itay Basevitch, The Olympic Games transition: a narrative review and a conceptual model, Performance Enhancement & Health, Volume 13, Issue 4, October 2025 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211266925000660
• David Awosoga, Matthew Chow, Peaks and primes: Do athletes get one shot at glory?, Significance, Volume 21, Issue 3, July 2024, Pages 6-9, https://doi.org/10.1093/jrssig/qmae038
• Starting and Specialisation Ages of Elite Athletes across Olympic Sports: An International Cross-sectional Study. (2023). European Journal of Sport Sciences, 2(5), 9-19. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejsport.2023.2.5.100

A podcast exploring the psychology behind current events, daily decision-making, and the ideas that frame our thinking.

Brought to you by the expert team of chartered business psychologists at Pearn Kandola LLP.

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