How do Ireland's athletes mentally prepare for competition?

What are our elite athletes thinking when the bell rings or the gun explodes? How do they train their minds as well as their bodies? Brendan O’Brien picked the brains of six Irish athletes over the course of this Olympic cycle

Paul O'Donovan, left, and Fintan McCarthy during the Rowing Team Ireland Paris 2024 team announcement at the National Rowing Centre in Cork. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

FINTAN McCarthy’s race day kicks in hours before he makes water but it’s the call to the start platoon that signals the shift into business mode. Go-time for Rachael Darragh is that moment when her name is called, she walks into the arena, takes a deep breath and exhales.

Leroy Nisilu Dilandu scrolls through a phone book of cues as he takes to the mat. He jumps, stamps his feet into the ground, high-fives his coach, tells himself “it’s fighting time”. Then it’s all about the man opposite. How big is he? How flexible? Has he a ‘good’ leg. Checks over, it’s time to go.