In the collective imagination, a top athlete eats well and sleeps well, especially in the run-up to major competitions like the Olympic Games. This is a must to recover from exhausting training sessions and perform on the big day. However, the reality is quite different.
While it is recommended that everyone sleeps at least eight hours a night, elite athletes are far from that. And for good reason: most of them have restless nights, which no one envies. Between 50 and 78% of them suffer from sleep disorders. In 22 to 26% of cases, their nights are even very disturbed, according to a global survey.
The reason? Very early or very late training sessions, travel with different time zones, unfamiliar sleeping environments, psychological stress… So many upheavals that put the body to the test, to the point of preventing athletes from sleeping.
When it comes to sleep, not everyone is in the same boat. The quality of their nights depends in particular on the sport they practice. Athletes who practice individual sports go to bed earlier, but also get up earlier, which generally makes them sleep less well than team athletes. Sports such as swimming and triathlon can, for example, require several training sessions per day, with a significant impact on their sleep.
Sleep, the X factor
As you might expect, sleeping well considerably improves athletes’ performance. Restorative sleep allows for maximum concentration, a better mental state during competitions, as well as better recovery and therefore a reduction in the risk of injury.
Conversely, lack of sleep affects athletes’ reaction time, their precision, their strength, their endurance but also the speed of their decision-making. And at the highest level, it pays off dearly.
For ultramarathon runners, for example, the time spent sleeping the nights before a competition represented around a third of the variation in athletes’ performance. In basketball, sleeping less than ten hours a night reduces your sprints and shooting accuracy. In the 100 meters, it has a clear impact on speed and power, while in archery, it is motor skills and reaction time that take a hit. At the end of the day, every second lost, or gained, can take you further away from the title, or put you on the top step.
At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, for example, a 1% improvement in performance would have allowed the athlete who came fourth in the 400 meters of swimming, the 400 meters on the track and the women’s race to win a gold medal. It would also have allowed the sprinter who came fourth in the men’s 100 meters to win a silver medal. Every detail counts.
