My name is Ato Boldon. I am currently the lead track analyst for NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. I’m also a world-class coach. I have about 70 NFL active clients, and I also coach one of the fastest teenagers in the world. Prior to that, I was a professional athlete for about 10 years. 4 Olympic medals, and 4 World Championship medals for Trinidad Tobago. And before that I was at UCLA where I set the NCAA and collegiate meet records, as well as the UCLA School Records, which still exist, somehow.

The young lady that I’m coaching now, Brianna Williams of Jamaica, as a high school, junior, she ran the sixth fastest time in the world in the 100 meters. So that person, that sort of individual has to have some built in attitude; “I’m willing to do what it takes, I’m willing to put in the work, I am focused, I’m committed, I’m thinking about the long haul.” It’s not that, as a coach, I have to somehow, you know, wave some magic wand to get her to think like that. The truth is, that’s already in her. What I have to do is, I have to remind her, I have to encourage her, and I have to convince her because conviction is a big part of it too. I like to I like to remind my athletes all the time that, one of my favorite sayings is; Champions are convinced. LeBron didn’t go into the finals thinking, “Well, you know, if maybe, you know, the team plays well, we’ll beat the Miami Heat.” No, he was convinced from the time last year when they didn’t make the playoffs. His attitude was “It’s not gonna take long, Laker Nation, hold on, we will be there.” 12 months later, here we are. So champions are convinced. So, I think that I, as a coach, look for elements of what I had, in young athletes, because I know if they have that initial seed of, “I’m willing to do it, I’m not going to rely just on my talent, I will be committed, I am willing to do what it takes,” then they’re already on the right track. And that’s not something that I’m necessarily gonna have to instill in them. It’s already in there.

[This sound byte is from an interview with Ato Boldon for the Longitude.site Olympian Mindset project. To see more insights on the project, stay tuned for upcoming announcements.]

Obviously, Ato knows what it takes to be a champion, there is no doubt about that. After all, not only is he a champion, but he has coached champions. I believe that this distinction adds further credibility because I am sure that by witnessing other athletes’ accomplishments, his formula for winning has only improved. Therefore, I agree with his opinion regarding the importance of conviction.

I think a champion should be convinced that they can win, but victory is never guaranteed. I used to wrestle in high school, and I remember the corruptive ego that I had going into tournaments. I would over-analyze my opponents’ stats: their win records, previous opponents, high school, etcetera. Of course, Ato would probably point out that a good coach would discourage this, and he would be right. My coach hated it, but nevertheless, I persisted. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to kick the habit until my most disappointing defeat at my last tournament in high school. I entered the tournament ranked number 2, which would have guaranteed all-conference distinction and advancement to sectionals. But true champions know that nothing is guaranteed. I ended up losing the clinching match against someone that I previously dominated earlier in the season. I was humiliated and proceeded to lose the next two matches for the consolation bracket, leading to a disappointing 6^th place finish.

Fortunately, that experience taught me quite a bit about what it takes to become a champion despite not being one. I learned about how important it is to not allow your ego to replace hard work and determination. On the other hand, I realized that I lacked the confidence in myself because I knew that I did not work sufficiently and instead relied on the wishful thinking that my previous victories would guarantee more.

But enough about me because I want to return to what Ato said about conviction because it is so important that we remember that champions need to be convinced that they will win. And that true conviction can only come with having put in the work necessary to know that you have the ability to earn your victory, rather than it be guaranteed.