What really drives extreme athletes?

Christoph Negri, what is the most extreme sport you practice?

I was an orienteer for years, running through seemingly endless forests in Scandinavia and Russia. I was in the middle of no man’s land and couldn’t get lost – an uneasy feeling. I once took part in the Swiss Alpine Marathon in Davos. The 79 km distance and 2300 m elevation were physically and mentally challenging. But that wouldn’t be extreme today. I recently read about an athlete who wants to do a triathlon every day for weeks.

You mean the German triathlete Jonas Deichmann, who is currently completing 120 Ironmen in a row. Why is sport becoming more and more extreme?

I claim that extreme sports have become easier. The equipment has improved, freeriding skis, for example, have become lighter. We know more about training methods, and the range of personal training options is growing. In addition, extreme sports are now more public, athletes post their successes on social media, present themselves, and long for recognition. They build a community, and others want to follow suit. Extreme athletes want to be unique. But ultimately, they are totally in the mainstream.

Is the boom in extreme sports also a consequence of the increasing individualization of society?

 

You can look at it this way. While traditional sports clubs are losing members, adventure sports are growing. Extreme sports enthusiasts want to escape from everyday life, fulfill their potential, and explore their limits. They decide for themselves what they do and experience freedom in nature.

Extreme athletes reach a very large audience, in the traditional media but also on social media. Where does this fascination come from?

It is a field of tension. On the one hand, we admire the athletes for their extreme performances. On the other hand, we also ask ourselves why they do this to themselves and put themselves in such danger. A football match is almost too normal in this respect. I know from my own experience the enthusiasm for extreme sports. We have a holiday home in the Maggia Valley, and I like to watch the cliff divers who throw themselves into the depths at Ponte Brolla. I am fascinated by the performance, but also by the meticulousness with which these athletes behave and prepare.

Extreme athletes run ultramarathons, climb without safety equipment, and dive without breathing apparatus. Why don’t people just sit back and enjoy life?

Our ancestors hardly sat still for five minutes, they were constantly on guard, danger lurked everywhere. Humans want to move, it is part of us. For some, it is an adventure to make a fire at the edge of the forest, grill a sausage and drink a few beers. Others, on the other hand, seek the extreme. How extreme we like it depends on how driven we are. Athletes who see extreme sports as the meaning of life seek absolute fulfillment there.

What kind of people are extreme athletes?

In extreme sports, self-control is key; everyone is their own master. Extreme athletes want to explore the limits of what is possible. That motivates them. From a psychological perspective, there is a basic need for development, for self-determination: How much can I do? In everyday working life, there are many activities in which self-determination is limited. It is quite possible that some people try to exercise it elsewhere. And at the end of the day, a mastered challenge leaves you with a good feeling. Self-efficacy increases when you know what you are capable of.

Many athletes who achieve extreme endurance feats are professionally successful. Is there a connection?

There is no single type of extreme athlete – the motives are varied. What is striking, however, is that many of these athletes are successful in their careers. We very rarely find a construction worker who signs up for an Ironman. It is understandable that they do not want to train after a hard day on the construction site. On the other hand, if we only do mental work all the time for years, getting to know our physical limits can be a counterbalance.

Extreme athletes risk their lives. Are they still self-determined or simply negligent?

There are always deaths in extreme sports and mountaineering, that’s true. But it bothers me when athletes are described as negligent. Extreme athletes are very risk-conscious people, they prepare meticulously. Let’s take the example of cliff divers: they study the situation, know every detail of the rock, are trained. They create the situation in such a way that they are masters of it. They do everything that I try to teach athletes as a sports psychologist.

No matter how well you prepare, there is always a residual risk. Are extreme athletes afraid?

Extreme athletes are very aware of the risk and deal with their fears beforehand. But the moment they do the extreme sport, the fear is gone. It has to be that way, otherwise it would all be over. The athletes are in a flow state in which they are completely immersed in the situation, believe they can handle everything, and lose their sense of space and time. Surgeons are also familiar with this state, operating for hours without eating or drinking.

Why do surgeons and base jumpers in particular reach the flow state?

The flow state occurs when abilities and demands are coordinated. In psychology, we speak of the id states, i.e. “it works”, “it’s going well”, “it works”. We reach this state when we manage to find the perfect level of tension, both physically and mentally. It is a fine balance, so fine that we don’t always manage to find it. Extreme athletes have to master it excellently.

How do extreme athletes do it?

Relaxation and visualization techniques can help. An extreme climber, for example, can calm down with breathing exercises and imagine himself climbing the route in advance. The goal is always for everything to happen subconsciously. The head is always slower than everything else. As soon as we start thinking, we lag behind.

Why is a leisurely jog enough for some people to reach the flow state, while others have to climb overhanging walls without any safety equipment?

Those who practice a sport for a long time often become more ambitious and need a greater challenge to achieve a flow state. The difficulty of the task should be in an optimal range. If it is too easy, it leads to boredom; if it is too difficult, it leads to fear or frustration.

Many extreme athletes have to maintain their performance for days, for example in the Race Across America. How do they do that?

The flow state works well in shorter phases, for example when climbing or for a skier when freeriding. Willpower is an important factor in long and hard performances. These athletes are aware that a race like the Race Across America will be tough. They know that they will experience crises. They can prepare for this.

How do the athletes endure these hardships?

There are various techniques to trick your mind. Some athletes work with images, others talk to themselves. These athletes tell themselves sentences like: “Now just five more kilometers, then it’s time for a drink break.” But the prerequisite for this is meticulous preparation. You have to get to grips with the race and the route and come up with a strategy in case a crisis occurs.

How often do extreme athletes come to you for advice?

I often look after ambitious amateur athletes. They often go harder than professional athletes. In the morning they go swimming in the indoor pool, then they work, at lunchtime they cycle, in the evening they jog. Then they fall into bed dead tired, and the next day it all starts again from the beginning. For me, this is an extreme situation in everyday life. Many of these amateur athletes experience the classic stress symptoms at some point: they can no longer sleep and feel exhausted. I advise them to slow down.

Have you ever advised a base jumper or a freerider?

I have worked with climbers before, and their goal was to get the situation under control. But overall, I have hardly worked with extreme sports athletes. I don’t know where they get advice, perhaps within their community. Extreme sports are not well researched, but we know quite a lot about the mental aspects of sport, how we can control performance and influence emotions. This is also relevant for extreme sports.

How do extreme sports differ from classic elite sports?

Extreme athletes are task-oriented. They enjoy the experience; they are not interested in winning, but in achieving a personal goal. The classic top athlete is usually results-oriented. If he wins, everything is fine, even if his performance was mediocre. That is what is needed in top-level sport. If that is missing, then the drive and ambition to go to the end are also missing. But if an athlete is too results-oriented, he may no longer be able to assess his performance, and a blockage arises. But if he takes too much credit for his performance, he becomes arrogant.

Last year, Swiss cyclist Marlen Reusser gave up the World Championship time trial despite being the favorite, and multi-athlete Simon Ehammer abandoned the decathlon in Götzis. What happened?

I’m just going to say that the two of them ignored pain, exhaustion or blockages, which is completely understandable. But at some point the suffering becomes too great and that’s it.

In extreme sports, correct self-assessment is even more important than in classic top-level sports. Ueli Steck, for example, was one of the world’s best mountaineers, but still died on Nuptse.

Steck had all the prerequisites for success. I don’t know exactly what happened when he had the accident. I can only hypothesize that he may have overestimated himself a little bit at that moment. There can be nuances that suddenly become decisive, for example a small period of weakness that an athlete thinks he will overcome. Extreme athletes have to be radically honest with themselves. For them, it is often not a question of victory or defeat, but of life or death.