In this op-ed, two-time Olympian Laura Zeng reflects on what she wish she had known before her first Olympic Games.
I always felt annoyed when people told me to enjoy myself at the Olympic Games. I was stressed out of my mind at both the 2016 Rio De Janeiro and the 2021 Tokyo Games, where I competed as a rhythmic gymnast representing Team USA. I was at the edge of my wits, and felt like I could only truly relax when I was done competing (rhythmic gymnastics is coincidentally one of the last sports to compete at the Games, so the wait seemed extra long).
When yet another person would tell me to just “enjoy the ride,” it was like someone in a relationship telling their single friend to enjoy their singleness: I knew where the sentiment was coming from, and what I should be taking away from the overall experience. But it rang a bit hollow because enjoyment felt conditional upon the experience and completion of something else first — something that is, for most athletes, the pinnacle of a lifetime of hard work and dedication.
It was mostly just hard, I think, to be offered counsel by people who didn’t understand what the pressure was like. However well-intentioned they might’ve been.
So to the athletes headed to Paris 2024, here are some things I wish I had known before competing at the behemoth that is the Olympic Games, from my experience.
Bring shirts, swag, and gear that says “USA” for trading
For the uninitiated, trading national gear is a major behind-the-scenes tradition. One reporter even called the trade network “the world’s highest end rummage sale.” It’s hard to give up anything limited-edition Nike or Ralph Lauren that gets bestowed upon you before the Games (although I do regret not trading my Team USA bucket hat in 2021 for a Team France Lacoste backpack. Bucket hats simply do not work for my head shape). Instead, I recommend keeping most of the Paris 2024 stuff you receive, and bringing any old sports-specific or branded training gear to trade with athletes from other countries. In the bus, in delegation house lobbies, in the dining hall, at competitions, at parties, at opening/closing ceremonies: swap with other countries as much as you can.
Get some rest
There are people everywhere. The Village never sleeps — literally, the dining hall is open 24/7, and different sports operate on different timelines — but you should. You should sleep as much as you need to, and remember that competing is your foremost priority.
Find moments to laugh
That might sound hypocritical coming from me now, but looking back, I really do wish I had found more levity in the small things. While the need to take yourself seriously is real, so is the need to give yourself a break. And at the end of the day, doesn’t everyone look a little silly? With our silly little shorts and our silly little leotards and our silly little pins?
Remember the big picture
Remember what Charlie Chaplin said about life being a tragedy up close, and a comedy in long-shot. For the next two weeks, win or lose, you will be collecting a million stories for your future self. However triumphant or painful they may seem now, time will age your experience like fine wine. In five years, any story you tell will sound so much cooler when you begin it with “When I was at the Olympics…”
Look around you
The race walkers are making their laps around the Village in the morning, the artistic swimmers are practicing the arm movements of their routines in the park, the swimmers are eating twice the amount of food you are, the baseball players are walking into the dining hall with ass stains on their uniforms. Marvel at the breadth of size and shape in the athletes all around you: you are all at the top of your games, and yet you are all playing different games.
Talk to people
If you are an introvert, now is the time to surprise people with your latent sociality; if you are an extrovert, find an introvert to adopt. If you need help making conversation, ask people how things are going: there is always someone feeling sh*tty and someone on top of the world at the Games. Empathizing with your fellow athletes will give you perspective, solace, and encouragement all at once.
Decide what works for you on social media
From a financial standpoint, you might feel like you should capitalize on your digital presence. But from a psychological one, you should do what feels best to you. Indulge, or avoid completely — just make that call for yourself.
Know it will all be OK
The wave is going to hit you, at some point or at many points during these Games, that your whole life has been preparing for this. Time becomes weird, and the mind-boggling sensation of everything converging at once might threaten to consume you. Maybe this feeling is gratitude, but for me it was fear. And this is the thing to tell yourself at this moment, if it comes: everything will be OK. It’s the one thing I wish more people had told me, and that I had told myself more before competing. If you fail, if you succeed, if you make a fool of yourself, or if you become a hero: things will be OK, no matter what.
Make memories, make friends. Rely on your preparation, rely on your family. But above all else, trust yourself — you’ve already done the work.
