Winning Olympic gold in skiing requires a certain risk vs. reward profile. The old saying saying of “without risk, there is no reward” certainly holds true, but just how much risk is the right amount of risk and what motivates people to take that risk instead of playing it safe for a more secure outcome?
There has been a great deal of talk among the skiers and announcers about pointing your skis down the fall line, and letting ‘em run. Listening to the skiers speak about their wins and near misses provides great insight into the motivational focus that is driving these athletes in pursuit of their goals. Here is what Lindsay Vonn had to say after her bronze medal performance in the Super Combi. Her quote gives you a sense what kind of risk profile is necessary to win.

“Once I got past those difficult sections, I kind of backed off the gas pedal,” Vonn said. “I felt like I just didn’t ski as aggressively as I could have, and I think that’s where I lost the race.”

Interestingly, after crashing just before the final jump in the Olympic Ski-Cross event, Chris Del Bosco of Canada had the same implicit understanding of what it would take to win:

“I had the bronze sewn up, but I didn’t want the bronze, I
wanted the gold.” Del Bosco said. He went on to say, ”I wanted to
win, I know what I’m capable of, and I hold myself to a pretty high
level. So I’m always, no matter what the race, going for first place.”
Del Bosco continued, “I think I would have been frustrated with second.
That’s just how I am,” he said. “Sometimes that’s just how it goes when
you’re going for it.”

Bode Miller, known for his risk-seeking ski style, had this to say after winning his first Olypmic gold in the Super Combi:

“You’ve got to get fired up to take full, maximum risk.”

All of this talk of risk, being aggressive, and going for it is a great reminder of the basic motivational drives that push us in pursuit of our goals. In the behavioral sciences, we would call the motivational style of Vonn, Del Bosco and Miller a promotion focused disposition. A promotion focus is concerned primarily with advancement, achievement and the active pursuit of gains. While a prevention focus is primarily concerned with safety and security and avoiding losses. As we have mentioned elsewhere (Didier Cuche and Deviation from Goals as Motivation; Belichick, Rationality and Why the Colts are 14-1) either motivational style can be effective in reaching goals. However, the analysis of these skiers seems to lead to the hypothesis that a promotion focus might be more prevalent among these Olympic athletes.
At Sentient, we measure consumer promotion and prevention focus dispositions to aid in understanding different motivational styles and more accurately predict what products will be most attractive to certain market segments. This motivational perspective is called Regulatory Focus Theory (Higgins, 2000). Our implicit response time measures allow us to capture individual motivational styles at an unconscious level without having to ask explicit questions of our study participants (many people are unable or are unwilling to identify their true motivations).
It would be interesting to run a study among Olympic athletes and test this hypothesis: are successful Olympic skiers more likely to be promotion focused? Anyone interested in partnering on this study? Send me an email.
Pointing ‘em down the fall line, and letting ‘em run…