As the NBA Finals concluded this month and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics began, mental performance and mental health of elite athletes have continued to gain attention. Throughout the Milwaukee Bucks run to win the NBA championship title, free throw performances were consistently discussed in local and national media. In this discussion, Laboratory for Sport Psychology & Performance Excellence faculty Dr. Monna Arvinen-Barrow provided local Milwaukee news station, TMJ4, insights into mental performance strategies athletes can use to enhance their free throw performance.
More recently, artistic gymnast Simone Biles, the most decorated American female gymnast of all time with a combined total of 31 Olympic and World Championship medals, pulled out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics women’s all-around competition, bringing continued spotlight to elite athlete mental health. Once again, Dr. Arvinen-Barrow spoke with TMJ4 about how Biles’ decision is continuing to remove stigma around mental health and build on the movement to put the well-being of the athlete first.
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