Longitude Sound Bytes
Ep 66: Source of confident presence | Ato Boldon – by Maddie Turner (Listen)
I am Longitude fellow Maddie Turner from Rice University, and today I will be presenting a sound byte by Ato Boldon, a four-time Olympic medalist in track and field, the lead track and field analyst at NBC sports, and a professional coach. He will be speaking to us about the source of his confidence, and the value of consistent practice and preparation.
Ato Boldon, Olympic medalist and Lead Track and Field Analyst at NBC Sports:
I’m sure that everybody’s preparation methods are different. For me, I can tell you that my confidence came from my preparation. So, in the same way that if you have a big exam, and you’re studying for the exam, and it has gone flawlessly. Maybe you have great study partners. Maybe you’ve been laser focused, no distractions, no drama with your girlfriend or whatever. You step into that examination room and you’re like, “It doesn’t matter what they throw at me. I’m ready.” That is exactly what it feels like when you step to the line, when you know you’re ready for a race.
I was a college senior, as a UCLA senior, at age 22 in Atlanta, in 1996, for the Olympic final. You could not have told me that I was not going to win that race that night. And it’s not because of anything else other than I could not have prepared better. No, I didn’t win the race, but in terms of the preparation and where does my confidence come from? My confidence comes from my preparation. And that’s the way I coach, we have to ramp up your preparation and you have to have your best month of practice leading into your biggest race ever. And that’s why I’ve had success as a coach because the same way I used to be about my own scholastic life and my own athletic life is exactly what I pass on to my athletes now in theirs, because it’s the one thing that I know that I can count on. If you have had great practices, you’re going to be fine.
It goes back to Kobe and being in the gym at 3am. He’s in the gym at 3am, shooting a hundred shots or whatever crazy story we’ve heard about Kobe, not for the hundred, it’s so that when he’s called on to take that shot to win the title, with time expiring on the clock, that his body is so dialed in to making that shot, fatigued or not, making that shot under pressure or making that shot with two hands in his face that it becomes second nature. And that’s the life of an Olympian. You have to train so rigorously, that at the moment of truth, your body is not flustered at all because your body goes, “Yeah, we went through training, this is easier than training. This is just one shot. I’ve already made 200 of them.”
Maddie Turner, Longitude fellow, Rice University:
Thank you, Ato, for sharing these insights.
What struck me most about Ato’s comments is his absolute certainty in his own abilities, both as an athlete and as a coach. In the past, I have sometimes felt that confidence is a character trait: you either have it or you don’t. While it is true that some people tend to doubt themselves more than others, Ato explains that confidence is only gained through hours and hours of hard work, practice, and preparation. When you practice something enough times to perform it flawlessly, it becomes muscle memory: you are able to run the race, take the test, or meet whatever goal you have set for yourself without even thinking about it. When it comes to the day of the actual race or performance, of course it is natural to feel anxiety and pressure not to mess up. But all of your preparation and practice does not desert you in that moment. As Ato says, “If you have great practices, you are going to be fine.” Keeping this mantra in mind allows you to find calm in the moments leading up to a high-stress performance. His confidence in the value of preparation is inspiring to me, and I know it is to his athletes as well.
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