The success of the US athletes at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris was remarkable: they won 67 of the 126 medals (one of which is still uncertain) and 26 of the 40 gold medals. Their performances were the highlight of the first gender-equal Olympic Games.

Their talent, lifelong dedication and sacrifice are inspiring. However, it is important to recognize that it takes both physical and mental toughness to be a champion. The mental state of an athlete, whether male or female, is probably as important to that person’s endurance and performance as physical attributes.

Female athletes face unique challenges due to their gender. Much like promising female leaders, they face a “double standard”: the conflicting message that they must be intense, aggressive, committed and determined while also being warm and welcoming, which adds to their stress and anxiety.

My recent conversation with clinical psychologist Dr. Joshua Klapow focused on the challenges many female athletes face, both physically and mentally. Klapow’s training as a clinical psychologist is critical to helping female athletes achieve peak performance and succeed in a highly competitive environment.

When the larger societal context and prevailing societal views prevail and are ignored, athletic performance and overall development are often compromised, resulting in significantly more mental health problems among elite athletes than the general population.

Klapow stresses that working on sport performance should take into account the broader psychological and social challenges athletes face. The social pressures of being an athlete go deeper than just executing the game. For athletes, optimizing their sport performance often means learning to deal with broader psychological challenges.

Challenges for female athletes

Female athletes are expected to achieve the same level of elite performance as male athletes, be just as disciplined, obsessed, committed, make just as many sacrifices, and navigate societal expectations of femininity, conformity, compromise, emotional insight, and empathy.

These expectations placed on women, as well as the pressure to succeed in a highly competitive environment, can potentially lead to increased anxiety and depression.

With the advent of NIL (Name, Image Likeness), the stakes for female athletes today are astronomically high. The focus is no longer just on athletic performance or receiving scholarships. At the high school and college levels, female athletes can receive significant financial compensation depending on marketability. Media exposure and business acumen play a much more important role for elite athletes today. Klapow emphasizes that this is especially true for female athletes, who must deal with issues such as body image, societal expectations of beauty and attractiveness, and the pressure to present themselves as brand ambassadors and athletes. Klapow helps female athletes manage the psychological pressures of excelling in sports, media image, and business, as well as the pressures of performing in sports alone.

We witnessed how an athlete’s physiological functions can be coupled with strong emotions that sabotage their performance when Simone Biles withdrew from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Her public description of her body’s response and admission that she needs help to overcome her personal psychological barriers have opened the door to honest conversations about the pressures faced by female athletes and the importance of sport psychology and mental health interventions.

Klapow gives the example of two beach volleyball teammates who played for one of the country’s top universities and expected to compete for national championships. The twin sisters, two of the most physically gifted athletes in the sport, were always forced to perform at and exceed their full potential. Although they worked tirelessly to optimize their physical performance, it was the non-physical factors such as expectations, emotion regulation, anticipation of emotional responses, and body language on and off the sand that presented challenges. When the twins decided to consciously focus on mindset as a routine part of their training, they developed a set of cognitive and emotional tools that helped them navigate some of the most pressure-filled sports situations imaginable—a set of skills that will serve them well beyond their athletic careers.

The key to optimizing athletic performance

Managing emotions

According to the Association of Applied Sports Psychology, “There is no construct of human psychology and functioning that is as prevalent in sport as emotions. Mood, emotions and general feelings can influence every movement in any sport.” Klapow adds, “When emotions drive an athlete’s reasoning, they often misjudge the actions required to successfully overcome a challenge.”

When the pressure is high, emotions come to the fore. They become the most important part of consciousness. The inner dialogue “I feel (Insert emotions), that’s why this is happening to me” is often a fallacy, according to Klapow. He added that emotional intensity does not lead to better results. “Relaxing and dialing back the intensity so that the body and mind can use the skills an athlete has already developed opens the door to peak performance. When the intensity is ramped up and brought back to the challenge of the situation, performance is optimized.”

Going beyond isolation

Compartmentalization is a defense mechanism in which people mentally separate contradictory thoughts, feelings, or experiences in order to avoid the unpleasant feeling of contradiction.

Athletes often rely on the defense mechanism of compartmentalization to perform under pressure, although this is a short-term and often unsuccessful approach. However, ignoring worries, fears and insecurities and denying their existence creates anxiety, which prevents the mind from performing optimally.

“Our thoughts are always present and when we try to push them away as the main cause of coping with a stressful situation, they often push back and become stronger. Deny your truth and it will show up in your stress and lack of optimal physiological responses. Call them out and name them, then you can move on,” Klapow explained.

Addressing the challenges, doubts and insecurities that every athlete experiences but are often taboo to talk about changes the impact they have on the athlete. Klapow explains, “These aversive experiences become learning opportunities for managing emotions.” He adds, “When athletes learn to manage the fear and stress that come with athletic challenges (instead of repressing them), they can perform well in any situation, not just in situations where everything is going well and they are feeling their best.”

Managing expectations

Athletes often believe that they must perform at their best to be successful. However, assuming “best effort” is the only acceptable outcome is an irrational belief system because there is a difference between best effort and best performance.

Klapow told me, “When we set ‘the best’ as a criterion, we often fail because our best performances are rare (otherwise they wouldn’t be the best). An athlete expects his efforts to produce good, and greats can count on them to win. If you expect your best performance instead of trying your best, you set yourself up for frustration and failure. An athlete who expects ‘the best’ will often fail.”

Every elite athlete will lose and fail. But the athlete who accepts that failure is always present and part of the equation of excellence is an athlete who runs toward victory rather than running away from losing.

Klapow emphasizes, “When you learn to listen to your feelings, separate them from the situation, trust and rely on building skills, and accept that failure is a part of life, you can reach your true potential in every aspect of life.”

Any athlete who wants to perform at their peak needs equal parts physical and mental ability. And that’s not a gender-specific requirement. But beyond the normal physical and mental challenges that athletes face, female athletes face unique challenges because of their gender. The double standard for women that is evident throughout sport and business adds additional stress and anxiety and must be addressed in order for them to perform at their peak. Klapow notes, “Any athlete who is committed to performing at their peak physical performance must also be committed to developing a peak performance mindset. The best of the best, the highest performing athletes are those who recognize this, train accordingly, and ultimately reap the rewards of their efforts.”

Bonnie Marcus, M.EDis the author of Not done yet! How women over 50 can regain their confidence and gain power in the workplace And The politics of promotion: How successful women get ahead and stay at the top. Bonnie is an executive coach and speaker and also hosts the podcast Cool women of all ages.