Day 14 - So Long, From Paris: Lessons Learned from the 2024 Games | The Game Inside The Games

Michael Gervais (0:00)

The final day in Paris. We say farewell to the games, and take a look back at some of our favorite moments. Welcome back, or welcome to The Game Inside The Games on Finding Mastery. I'm Dr. Michael Gervais, by trade and training, a high-performance psychologist.

Nastia Liukin (0:16)

And I'm Nastia Liukin, Olympic gold medalist, and we are here in Paris, and in this special series, we unlock the psychology of pivotal, often unseen moments that can make or break an athlete's dream. What's it like to focus a lifetime of experience into one performance, a single moment?

Michael Gervais (0:32)

What goes on inside the minds of the brightest stars while the whole world is watching? Welcome back to Paris, and let's dive into The Game Inside The Games.

Nastia Liukin (0:42)

Welcome back to Paris in The Game Inside The Games, presented by Microsoft Co-Pilot.

Michael Gervais (0:46)

Our love of the underdog is embedded in our cultural psyche, and reflected in some of our most compelling stories. From Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo's novel, of Les Mis, to the real-life Erin Brockovich, to the American hockey team's miracle on ice, we find ourselves rooting for those with the odds stacked against them. We draw personal inspiration from these stories, which celebrate that when you put in the work, when you invest in your inner life and your craft, anything is possible.

Nastia Liukin (1:21)

So in this final episode of The Game Inside The Games, we want to touch on some of those stories that have touched us in Paris. Stories that highlight the humanity of the competitors and show us that we have so much more inside of us if we're actually willing to go there. And speaking of willing to go there, Simone Biles. She absolutely went there this Olympics. Those that remember in Tokyo had the twisties and really actually put her mental health first. And I think for the first time ever in Olympic history that I can recall, she basically told the world it's okay to not be okay, but it's most important to take care of your mental health first. And I really feel like she opened the door to so many conversations that have happened not even just here at the Olympics, but worldwide.

Michael Gervais (2:10)

What I love that she did is that she came back. She had to put in some real work to work through this. And she's also said, look, I'm not, I am not a solution for mental health. I'm just trying to figure it out. She has a quote in her documentary that she's, she's just wanting to be human, so desperately just wanting to be a human, that her honesty and commitment to really trying to investing in herself, to being vulnerable, to letting it rip, it's really inspiring. It is.

Nastia Liukin (2:42)

And I think to your point of being human, I think so often, you know, we put these Olympic athletes on a pedestal and we forget that they are human. And I think that's what she did. And for her to be able to come back, and by the way, not just come back, but win again. And, you know, she just showed the entire world once again, that she is the very best in the world.

Michael Gervais (3:03)

It's incredible. And then there's the Turkish shooter. And what he ended up doing, he goes to the world's biggest competitive stage, and he doesn't have any of this sophistication of technology. He basically puts one hand in the pocket, grabs his gun in the other hand, and kind of squints his eye and just shoots, and ends up winning a silver medal. Whereas his competitors have all this technology in their lenses and their goggles and the whole thing.

Like, to have that raw talent, this is a great example, to have raw talent and to match it with investing in your skill, both psychological and technical. Like that, there's no magic bullet here, but that is part of the recipe.

Nastia Liukin (3:44)

And maybe not even part of it, but just all you need. You know, I think the simplicity of it. So, so often in today's day and age, there's just so many other things that we all think that we might need this and this and that to win. And he just showed by to win an Olympic medal. You don't need all of that. You just need yourself.

Michael Gervais (4:03)

I love that.

Nastia Liukin (4:04)

And of course, Sunisa Li, who was the reigning Olympic all around champion in gymnastics came back to this Olympics. She was actually told that she might not ever do gymnastics again. After she won gold in Tokyo, she had two very rare kidney diseases. And she said that really put a lot of fear in her thinking somebody was going to take this away from her and not be able to do something that she loved. And not only was she able to squash all of that, she came back out here, won a bronze in the all around. She won a bronze on the uneven bars and of course, the gold medal with the team. So I am just so, so, so happy for her.