Navigating the Mental Triad During the Olympic and Paralympic Quadrennium: A Longitudinal Analysis of Canadian Athletes’ Experiences

Mental health is an important component of high-performance athletes’ overall functioning, and mental performance may help protect athletes’ mental health. While research on mental health in sport is growing, the inter-relationships between mental health, mental performance, mental illness, and sport performance require further investigation, as evidence remains limited. The purpose of this study was to better understand the interplay between these variables in a sample of Canadian athletes. A longitudinal design was used to track a group of 12 athletes (nine women) in team and individual sports during the 2020 Tokyo and 2022 Beijing Olympic/Paralympic Games quadrennium. Participants selected (n = 7) and not selected (n = 5) to compete at the Games completed an online survey at three timepoints assessing mental health, mental performance, symptoms of common mental illnesses, and perceptions of sport performance. Visual analyses using a heat map and descriptive statistical analyses were conducted. Findings suggest meaningful variability in athletes’ psychological profiles and perceptions of sport performance over time, and a consistent association between frequency of mental performance skill use and better mental health. Key implications of the study findings include the importance of individual assessment and tailored support to address athletes’ varied mental health needs, and the potential value of mental performance training for both overall performance and well-being.