A world leading triathlete will have made millions of decisions over their racing career, some big, some small but all will have had consequence on their journey to the top of the podium.
Above: This VideoScribe explains Informed Choice.
Our best athletes are problem solvers and independent thinkers; they can source and prioritise the best information and with that consistently make excellent choices.
Informed choice can be defined within our Framework as all the decision making that resides outside of racing and training.
Learning to make good decisions doesn’t happen overnight, it is challenging and will naturally mean athletes getting some choices right and some wrong. With this in mind it is essential that our younger athletes are exposed early in their triathlon journey, through a guided and supported process, to information and to making their own choices. As informed choice is explored and enhanced athletes gradually become more proficient decision makers through improved sourcing and collaboration until at the highest level they are moving towards complete mastery.
Athlete Insight
Here is what 2013 World Champion Non Stanford and Commonwealth Champion Jodie Stimpson have to say:
What key decisions have you made in your career and how did you make them?
JS- One of the biggest decisions I made was going full time as an athlete, I spent 2 years working and training around my job and took a leap! Well it felt like that as I only had enough money to last me a winter in Australia. Thinking about it though I spoke to other athletes who had taken a similar decision, along with my coach, using them to gather the information that I needed to make an informed choice. I then used trusted sources like my family and parents to talk through the pro’s and con’s and so get an unbiased and objective perspective to help me make the right choice.
NS - The 2 main decisions for me have been moving from athletics to triathlon and then a couple of years later moving to Leeds. Both decisions I definitely made myself but I used a number of trusted people to support me in this, when I moved to Leeds as an example I spent a lot of time sourcing information from the athletes and coaches in Leeds – I spent quite a bit of time there before committing and went through the pro’s and con’s with my Mum.
