Olympic Skier Tess Johnson Says She Starts and Ends Days With a Ritual

Olympic skier Tess Johnson, 25, begins and ends on daily basis with the identical ritual that helps her carry out underneath stress.

In an interview with Town & Country Magazine revealed on Wednesday, the American mogul skier stated she all the time packs her journal when she travels for competitions.

“I do a little bit of journaling within the morning to set my day, set my objectives for the day and somewhat little bit of gratitude, however then within the night I let all of it out and it is somewhat bit like phrase vomit, however no matter I want to only get out to get night time of sleep,” Johnson stated.

Johnson made the US nationwide staff at 14 — the youngest athlete to take action on the time — and later turned the youngest American freestyle skier to medal on the World Championships.

She debuted on the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics and reached the finals on the 2026 Milan Cortina Video games, the place she completed tenth.

Johnson, whose grandfather was a former Sports activities Illustrated author who coated the Olympics, stated journaling performs a key function in her psychological preparation.

She believes she inherited her love of writing from her grandfather and now makes use of journaling as a sensible coaching software to trace her progress in snowboarding.

“And likewise an emotional software to only work via no matter anxieties are occurring as a result of this can be a very intense sport and course of that we’re going via,” Johnson stated.

“It is actually useful to get all of it out on paper and sift via it simply by placing pen to paper. So it does so much for me. And on the very least, it is only a solution to keep current and get off my telephone infrequently,” she continued.

Johnson added that she often rereads her outdated journals, together with these from the 2018 Olympics.

“It is actually cool to see the progress I’ve made over time,” she stated.

Aside from being part of her each day routine, journaling can be a key a part of her pre-race ritual.

“The night time earlier than I wish to journal, no matter in coaching that day, some other ideas that I have to get out. Then the morning of, I am going to write down three objectives for the day, often regarding my snowboarding or a psychological efficiency aim, or simply one thing even possibly not associated to snowboarding, simply that I’ve for the day, after which I am going to write down a pair issues that I am grateful for as effectively,” Johnson stated, including that she does her heat ups after that.

Johnson is not the one elite athlete who has embraced journaling as a part of their routine.

Michael Phelps advised Enterprise Insider in 2023 that he makes use of writing to replicate and unwind, whereas WNBA star Caitlin Clark has integrated journaling into her pregame ritual to clear her head and keep targeted.

In the meantime, different Olympians are leaning into surprisingly old-school hobbies of their downtime, together with cross-country skier Ben Ogden, who stated knitting helps him calm down.