The UKSI sport psychology team is one of the world’s leading psychological support systems for high performance. Tasked with delivering practical performance psychology solutions to athletes and staff on the Great Britain Olympic and Paralympic programmes, they have faced an ongoing challenge: how to establish common ways of working across a diverse and ever-evolving high-performance system.

In preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, UKSI sought to build on the success of their psychological support during Tokyo 2020. With over 1400 athletes, coaches, and staff supported across 34 sports in the previous cycle, they needed a solution that could foster greater collaboration, enhance knowledge sharing, and provide effective decision-making and support across disciplines, stakeholders, and sites. Crucially, the solution needed to address the behavioural and mindset shifts that occur in high-stakes situations—moments when there’s something to win or lose, just like in Olympic finals.

 

Mindflick has been a trusted collaborator of UKSI for over two Olympic cycles, providing transformative tools and training in our game-changing performance psychometric. During Tokyo, over 30 sport psychology practitioners from UKSI completed our psychometric accreditation, enabling them to embed a shared framework for strengths-based conversations, adaptability, and performance mindsets across the high-performance system. Building on this foundation, Mindflick’s work with UKSI has evolved in preparation for Paris 2024. Our tools, grounded in science yet practical in application, have been integrated into UKSI’s approach to support athletes from the training ground to the podium. Through ongoing CPD and collaboration, we’ve ensured practitioners are equipped to adapt their strategies to meet the unique demands of high-pressure environments.For athletes, this has meant developing deeper self-awareness of their stress responses and the strategies needed to manage them when the stakes are highest. For coaches, it has meant learning to identify behavioural patterns in their athletes and adapting interventions to support individual needs. For teams, it has meant fostering stronger connections and creating environments of psychological safety that enable effective decision-making and collaboration across disciplines, stakeholders, and sites.

The results from Tokyo 2020 demonstrated the power of this approach:

• 1400 athletes, coaches, and staff across the UK high-performance system were supported using Mindflick’s mindset psychometric.
• 245 Team GB and Paralympics GB athletes competing in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games benefitted from these insights.
• Athletes from 34 different sports were equipped with tools to handle high-pressure environments.

As UKSI prepares for Paris 2024, the impact of Mindflick’s work continues to grow. Our performance psychometric remains a cornerstone of UKSI’s psychological support system, providing a shared language for understanding individual differences and performance mindsets. This framework has enabled greater collaboration and knowledge-sharing across disciplines, allowing practitioners to deliver tailored, high-impact support to athletes and teams.

Mindflick’s tools have empowered UKSI to tackle high-stakes situations with confidence. By bridging behavioural insights with practical application, we have helped athletes and teams thrive in moments when there’s something to win or lose. Together, we are not only preparing for success in Paris but setting a new standard for high-performance psychology in elite sport.

Ready to elevate your team’s performance? Start your journey with Mindflick today.