Interview 

What do you think is your greatest achievement both in life and in sports?

As an athlete making it to the Olympics was really significant for my career but also personally it was a feeling of relief because for the previous Olympics I was really nervous and I didn’t make it and the ones before that I was injured. So finally making it to the Olympics was really nice.

When it comes to life, I would say that my biggest achievement are my friends.  I am really surrounded by people that I truly love and love me and I think that that is the greatest thing you can ask for in life.

What do you consider to be the most stressful part of your sport? What causes you the most anxiety?

There are two parts that cause me a lot of anxiety. The first one is competitions. And especially the first ones in the season or the biggest in the season, so obviously in the Olympics I was insanely stressed. Everybody gets stressed. Also, during the preparation time, so basically on the off season from competition the stressful part is getting back is shape, eating right, having your thoughts together and in general the process of putting everything together. During this period, if one of these things is not working out, then that is really hard. So this is the one part and then the competitions are the other one.

Do you believe that the anxiety you experience motivates you or hinders you from performing at your best? Have you ever felt that you did not perform as well as you could in a competition due to anxiety?

Yeah, of course. This year in the Olympics, in the semi-final I was nervous but I was controlling it and I was prepared for it, so the nerves did not get to me. However, in the final, they got to me. I got there and on my first jump I felt fine. Then, on the second jump I realized that I am on the biggest stage of my life. I realized that it is the Olympics and that there are 80.000 plus people watching me right now. I watched my jumps before and I realized that this is not me jumping. I was extremely tight, I was nervous, I was anxious. So, in that case, my anxiety definitely did not help me. I felt it in my gut and it numbed me.

So, I worked with a mental coach the previous year. I always thought of anxiety and nerves as my enemy and I wanted to get out of it. However, if you learn how to control it then it is a lot better.

How do you generally manage your anxiety, and how do you manage it specifically right before a competition?

Before I started working with a mental coach, I tried to ignore it. I knew that it was there and I said that it was okay, but in reality I wasn’t really active about acknowledging my nerves and everything. I used to tell myself that it was fine and that I should just breathe and it would leave. Sometimes, before a competition, I would even go to a corner and just scream, to get it out of my system. Otherwise, I would ignore it completely.

When I started working with my  mental coach, she went through a process. This process was visualizing your competitions so when you arrive there you have seen it before in your head and you have done this competition before in your head. In this way the nerves are a little bit more controlled. She also taught me techniques for breathing. She helped me to acknowledge that the nerves are there, but the anxiety part is what actually gives you adrenaline and that is what helps you perform better. For instance, in competitions I jump 1.90 or 1.94 but in practice I jump 1.75 or 1.80. So I do need it. Thus, acknowledging that I need it and learning how to manage it helps a lot. I put myself into really stressful situations, visualizing. I saw everything. I acknowledged everything that can go wrong in my competitions. I acknowledged everything that plays a part in my nerves such as my coach maybe, giving me directions that I don’t want to listen to, or the people, or everything. So this, in combination with the techniques of breathing and acknowledging that whatever I am feeling is going to help me were extremely useful. Obviously, I still have a lot of work to do which also became evident through the Olympics.

Do you think that a certain amount of anxiety is good?

I think it depends where. In sports, we do need it. In other circumstances we don’t. For instance, I had anxiety in my job which I did not need. I did not need to be so nervous and take everything that was wrong home with me because I couldn’t save the world. But  acknowledging that and learning how to deal with it is a whole process. So in my opinion, anxiety is good in particular parts of our lives because it makes us better but it shouldn’t exist for unimportant things.

How do you handle failure in a competition (When the result is not what you hoped for)?

I believe that failure in track is harder to measure than it is in other sports such as football.  The reason for this is that I didn’t win or lose a match. Maybe I came second or third, or maybe I even won the competition but I didn’t jump as much as I wanted. There are a lot of failures but I have always tried to look on the bright side as I am a very positive person in general. I try to focus on the right part. For instance I may think that I didn’t jump what I wanted but even though my technique on top of the bar may not have been good my run was a lot better. So, in the next competition I am going to combine those and it will be perfect. In a few words, I choose to always concentrate on the good part even though I might have lost or not jumped what I wanted. And I have lost, but also I am in a country where I don’t always have competitors that jump the same height as me, so it is easier for me. The worst that can happen to me is to come third at my nationals as there are another one or two girls. That has happened once because I was not in a good shape. So, it is hard for me to say losing. Going out of Greece, I come fourth or sixth in Europe and I see it as a success-I am sixth in Europe. I don’t necessarily go for a medal, I go to jump as much as I want. Overall, I believe that we all have failures, but it is important to see the bright side, take pieces of it and use them for motivation. I have been first in Greece for ten years. So, the one time in lost I am going to take that and I am going to say okay good for you, but what did I do wrong, so let me try and put in together again. And if I jump what I want then you can take the win, I am okay that too. This, being okay with it took a lot of work with myself. Even more, I believe that what helps athletes is having something else in life, outside of sports so you don’t put yourself together with your sport. What I mean by that, is that there is another Tatiana, not the high-jumper. As a result, if Tatiana the high-jumper loses, then it is okay as I have other parts of my life that will make me happy. But if I am only there, and I am only an athlete and that is my whole identity then that’s it and if I lose I beat myself up a lot harder.  Overall, having that other part and having a great community including your friends and other things as well helps a lot. In the Olympics for example, when I had the worst competition of my life in the final, I celebrated it. I had made it and it was okay, I jumped 1.86  which I did not jump at my nationals or my first competition. Even though it was the worst competition of my life I had made it to the finals and I’ll take that and I celebrated with my friends.

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Do you believe that dietary or other habits can play a role in controlling anxiety?

I am not sure that they play a role in controlling anxiety, I haven’t looked into it but they definitely play a part in your mental health in general. I am not sure about the co-relation with anxiety exactly but for sure when your body is getting the nutrition and everything that it needs it performs better in general and I have seen that physically and I am certain that it does the same mentally. Personally, I have not done any research on the matter because I always have to eat healthy, but if I don’t eat healthy my body, not only its shape physically and the gain of weight which I do not care for during the summer, but I have observed that I am slower and more lazy with less energy for other activities. So I do think  it does have an impact on the mental capability but I am not sure about anxiety as I have not looked into that.