Athletes' and sport entourage's longitudinal experiences on the disruption of the Olympic cycle Tokyo 2020

This research presents the case of a high-performance centre, involving athletes in preparation for Tokyo 2020 and the sport entourage supporting them (i.e., coaches, medical services, career assistance providers and practitioners). Specifically, this study aimed to longitudinally explore the impact of the disrupted Olympic cycle Tokyo 2020 on athletes’ mental health, well-being, and perceived performance from a holistic and ecological approach. Participants were 15 Olympic and 5 Paralympic hopefuls along with key figures of their sport entourage (i.e., 11 coaches and 10 professionals). The semi-structured interviews were conducted before and after Tokyo 2020 and were analysed using thematic and narrative approaches. The results of this project extend the previous literature by (a) presenting experiences and narratives regarding how athletes and their sport entourage responded to the disruption of the Olympic cycle, with a special focus on those that did not classify, (b) describing the impact of those situations on athletes’ and coaches’ mental health, well-being and perceived performance, and (c) describing the factors that undermined or promoted athletes’ and coaches’ mental health and well-being before, during and after the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020