We have seen some outstanding performances in the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the likes of Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Chris Hoy and Yelena Isinbayeva confirmed themselves as the undisputed champions of their respective events.

However what has been so iconic about Usain Bolt is the manner in which he has raced. He barely broke sweat in the heats for either the 100m or 200m sprints and he looked like a man who was convinced of his own ability. Bolt raced as if he already had the gold medal won and this was emphasised in his finish to the 100m final. He slowed down and began to nonchalantly celebrate his victory yet still managing to break the world record. The only race in which he looked like he was really pushed in was the 200m final. However he was not pushed by a rival athlete threatening his victory but by the thought of breaking the world record held by Michael Johnson. The technique and speed in Bolt’s possession and a dipped head at the end enabled him to break the world record with just .1 second to spare.

Whether you love or hate the style of a competitor like Bolt he encapsulates the importance of confidence and self-belief to the sports performer. Of course, having high levels of self-confidence is no guarantee of success and will not compensate for lack of skill, but in situations where competitors are evenly matched it can be the defining factor between winning and losing.

Many people mistakenly assume that confidence reflects performance – i.e. we become confident once we have performed consistently well. However Bolt is another prime example of how confidence can be established beforehand. Bolt is not an experienced 100m runner compared with many of the other athletes he competed against, particularly the likes of Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, and he has had a chequered past where his motivation has been questioned. His Olympic debut in 2004 was shrouded in disappointment as he failed to sufficiently recover from a hamstring injury and suffered elimination in the first round. Injury further plagued his career and with less and less time spent on the track he soon found himself facing accusations of being more interested in partying than resuming his athletics career.

Sport psychologists define self-confidence as the belief that you can successfully perform a desired behaviour. Confident athletes expect success and have a high level of self-belief that appears crucial in determining how far they strive towards their goals. It is largely confidence that determines whether people give up or remain committed to their goals following a series of setbacks. The criticism and injury problems that Bolt suffered at the beginning of his athletics career would have required strong self confidence to overcome.

While confident athletes are not afraid of making mistakes, often taking calculated risks in order to take charge of a situation, self-doubters often avoid responsibility, becoming over-conservative and paralysed by fear of failure. You could argue that Bolt took calculated risks in the lead up to his 100m and 200m final. His performances were very relaxed and he looked generally uninterested yet still finished ahead of his competitors. This was calculated as he sent out an intimidating message to his opponents that he was able to beat them and still have plenty left in the tank. The risk of course was that he could have been too relaxed and may have suffered defeat. Had he even lost to one athlete in the heat’s he may then have incurred unnecessary criticism surrounding his concentration and professionalism and thus increased the pressure on him. Just look at the performance of Tyson Gay and the criticism he suffered before eventually crashing out in the semi's. 

According to psychologist Albert Bandura, performers’ situational-specific confidence, or ‘self-efficacy’, is based on four primary sources of information.

The first and most important factor is past performance accomplishments. What we have achieved in training and competition forms the basis of future expectations of success or failure. Repeated success naturally leads to positive expectations of further success, higher motivation and enhanced self-belief. Bolt entered the 2008 Beijing Olympics as the 100m world record holder following his superb run of 9.72 seconds in the New York Grand Prix. As for the 200m, well Bolt has dominated that since breaking the Jamaican record in June 2007 and pundits struggled to come up with a suitable competitor that would rival him for the gold medal when leading up to the Olympics.

Unfortunately, the flip side of this principle is that repeated failures can give rise to a downward performance spiral and a ‘snowball effect’ whereby a performer starts to believe that success is unattainable. Of course, such an athlete does not mysteriously lose his or her physical skills and talents, but without confidence in these abilities high-level performance is rarely achieved. This could go some way to explaining why Phillips Idowu has failed to win gold at this year’s Olympics. Previous Olympic appearances have not gone well for the British triple jumper who finished sixth at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and in last place at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. Athens was particularly disappointing as he failed to register a legal jump.

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The implication of Bandura’s work for coaches is that it is vital for them to make sure their athletes achieve success, even if this means renegotiating overly ambitious goals. The athletes’ perceptions are of overriding importance.

Confidence does not always mean you will perform at your best, but it certainly increases the likelihood of reaching your potential. Outstanding performers like Usain Bolt are not simply born with confidence; they develop it through hard work and effective training. The start point is challenging yourself to think confidently. If you believe you can win, you become a very difficult person to beat. Bolt did just that. He looked like a man who knew he was going to win and the way he effortlessly raced through the heats would have had an unnerving effect on his rivals. Tyson Gay failed to even make the final of the 100m and Asafa Powell was disrupted enough that he did not make the podium.

In a short space of time we have come to expect Bolt to comfortably win any race he competes in and he may appear to compete in an ultra laid back, almost arrogant manner. However the grit and determination he showed to beat the 200m world record highlights that behind the relaxed demeanour is an athlete who is fully committed and fully deserved of a place in the history books.

Learn how to increase your confidence in sport and create a winning mentality with this Sports Psychology report.