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Developmental Biographies of Olympic Super-Elite and Elite Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Pattern Recognition Analysis. / Güllich, Arne; Hardy, Lewis; Kuncheva, Ludmila et al.
In: Journal of Expertise, Vol. 2, No. 1, 03.2019, p. 23-46.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

HarvardHarvard

Güllich, A, Hardy, L, Kuncheva, L, Woodman, T, Laing, S, Barlow, M, Lynne, E, Tim, R, Abernethy, B, Côté, J, Chelsea, W & Wraith, E 2019, 'Developmental Biographies of Olympic Super-Elite and Elite Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Pattern Recognition Analysis', Journal of Expertise, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 23-46. <https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume2_issue1/JoE_2019_2_1_Gullich.html>

APA

Güllich, A., Hardy, L., Kuncheva, L., Woodman, T., Laing, S., Barlow, M., Lynne, E., Tim, R., Abernethy, B., Côté, J., Chelsea, W., & Wraith, E. (2019). Developmental Biographies of Olympic Super-Elite and Elite Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Pattern Recognition Analysis. Journal of Expertise, 2(1), 23-46. https://www.journalofexpertise.org/articles/volume2_issue1/JoE_2019_2_1_Gullich.html

CBE

Güllich A, Hardy L, Kuncheva L, Woodman T, Laing S, Barlow M, Lynne E, Tim R, Abernethy B, Côté J, et al. 2019. Developmental Biographies of Olympic Super-Elite and Elite Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Pattern Recognition Analysis. Journal of Expertise. 2(1):23-46.

MLA

VancouverVancouver

Author

Güllich, Arne ; Hardy, Lewis ; Kuncheva, Ludmila et al. / Developmental Biographies of Olympic Super-Elite and Elite Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Pattern Recognition Analysis. In: Journal of Expertise. 2019 ; Vol. 2, No. 1. pp. 23-46.

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Developmental Biographies of Olympic Super-Elite and Elite Athletes: A Multidisciplinary Pattern Recognition Analysis

AU - Güllich, Arne

AU - Hardy, Lewis

AU - Kuncheva, Ludmila

AU - Woodman, Tim

AU - Laing, Stewart

AU - Barlow, Matthew

AU - Lynne, Evans,

AU - Tim, Rees,

AU - Abernethy, Bruce

AU - Côté, Jean

AU - Chelsea, Warr,

AU - Wraith, Elizabeth

PY - 2019/3

Y1 - 2019/3

N2 - This multidisciplinary study used pattern recognition analyses to examine the developmental biographies of 16 Great British Olympic and World Champions (“Super-Elite”) and 16 matched international athletes who had not won major medals (“Elite”). Athlete, coach and parent interviews (260 total interview hours) combined in-depth qualitative and quantitative methods. A combination of demographics, psychosocial characteristics, coach and family relationships, practice, competition, and performance development discriminated Super-Elite from Elite athletes with > 90% accuracy. Compared to Elite athletes, Super-Elite athletes were characterized by: (1) An early critical negative life experience in close proximity to significant positive sport-related events; (2) higher relative importance of sport over other aspects of life, stronger obsessiveness/perfectionism, and sport-related ruthlessness/selfishness; (3) conjoint outcome and mastery focus, and use of counterphobic and/or “total preparation” strategies to maintain/enhance performance under pressure; (4) coaches who better met their physical and psychosocial needs; (5) coming back after severe performance setbacks during adulthood, and career “turning points” leading to enhanced determination to excel; (6) more pronounced diversified youth sport engagement, and prolonged extensive sport-specific practice and competitions; and (7) continued performance improvement over more years during adulthood, eventually attaining their (first) gold medal after 21 ± 6 practice years. The findings are discussed relative to potential causal interactions and theoretical implications.

AB - This multidisciplinary study used pattern recognition analyses to examine the developmental biographies of 16 Great British Olympic and World Champions (“Super-Elite”) and 16 matched international athletes who had not won major medals (“Elite”). Athlete, coach and parent interviews (260 total interview hours) combined in-depth qualitative and quantitative methods. A combination of demographics, psychosocial characteristics, coach and family relationships, practice, competition, and performance development discriminated Super-Elite from Elite athletes with > 90% accuracy. Compared to Elite athletes, Super-Elite athletes were characterized by: (1) An early critical negative life experience in close proximity to significant positive sport-related events; (2) higher relative importance of sport over other aspects of life, stronger obsessiveness/perfectionism, and sport-related ruthlessness/selfishness; (3) conjoint outcome and mastery focus, and use of counterphobic and/or “total preparation” strategies to maintain/enhance performance under pressure; (4) coaches who better met their physical and psychosocial needs; (5) coming back after severe performance setbacks during adulthood, and career “turning points” leading to enhanced determination to excel; (6) more pronounced diversified youth sport engagement, and prolonged extensive sport-specific practice and competitions; and (7) continued performance improvement over more years during adulthood, eventually attaining their (first) gold medal after 21 ± 6 practice years. The findings are discussed relative to potential causal interactions and theoretical implications.

KW - elite, super-elite, development, biography, psychosocial characteristics, pattern recognition analysis

M3 - Article

VL - 2

SP - 23

EP - 46

JO - Journal of Expertise

JF - Journal of Expertise

SN - 2573-2773

IS - 1

ER -