There is nothing new about the importance of self-belief, as any sports coach will tell you. The full extent of the power of the mind, however, is often underestimated. Lars Christensen, sports director of the Danish Rowing Federation, says it can make all the difference. ‘If you can see winning as a possibility and you have the belief that you can achieve, it means you will go into a race so much stronger than if the opposite were the case,’ he says. ‘In fact, if two teams are equally strong, both physically and technically, it is going to be the level of self-belief that decides the winner.’
Mads Rasmussen, bow of the Danish lightweight men’s double in 2012, says it is this belief that propelled them at the Olympic Games in London: ‘What made the London Olympic final special was knowing we were capable of winning. It meant, despite being well behind in the final, we had a great feeling and confidence in our boat. We knew that if we just stayed focussed on ourselves and made a long sprint, the British would pay the price.’