Countdown to Paris Olympics really on and I need to keep the buzz and bounce

The one-year-to-go mark can bring out a range of emotions in an athlete where an Olympic Games is concerned and this is my fourth time preparing to compete at the greatest show in the world, so I feel like it is a path I know well now.

The crucial thing, after doing three previous Games – in London, Rio and Tokyo – and having turned 30 earlier this year, is that I am still enjoying what I do.

It has not always been easy, as I have documented, since my last Olympics in Tokyo. There have been times when I’ve needed to step away for the sake of my mental health.

But now – with the aid of a different approach which I adopted when I took time out from gymnastics – I am loving being back in the gym, around the guys and in this environment.

I am grabbing my chances with both hands at this point in my career and know I need those championship workouts in preparation for Paris.

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I am having to dig deep for motivation at times during the harder weeks of training and am trying to squeeze as much as I can out of the time I’ve got before next summer and the big one.

Knowing there is one year until the biggest event of all really does provide an energy boost, whether consciously or unconsciously.

There are periods when you feel tired or sluggish and motivation is low. You feel drained and fatigued. But the thought of 2024 keeps you going: there is a very clear long-term goal there to work towards and that is where I am at currently.

My challenge is to keep feeling the way I do now, to maintain that buzz and that bounce, a zip around the gym with Paris and another Olympic success in mind.

Of course, next year comes with pressures and I am always in the public eye more when the Games is on the horizon. I am expected to perform every time.

The anxiety can be there. Whatever you do, you know you’re in the spotlight. So now I try to go back to basics and take the positives in everything I do. I’m busy away from training and competing so that gives me a balance. And I know there are still many short-term goals I need to tick off ahead of Paris.

The main one will be the world championships, which begin in September in Antwerp. It is another important step for me towards my ultimate aim.

So as regards France and next year, one year to go definitely helps to build excitement and adds focus to what you are doing in the gym. The fact the Olympics is in Paris also means it is as close as it can be to another home Games for us after London 2012.

I know it will come around quickly but it is the short term which occupies my thoughts right now, despite growing thoughts about Paris.

A lot of people like to see the venue beforehand, go and look at it, familiarise themselves with it, but I don’t. Paris, just like all competitions, has to be a clean slate for me.

I want to go into it like it is my first Olympics and I hope that’s what I can do with a new mindset, staying free of the stresses and strains that can come with being a defending champion at such a major event.

It will be my fourth Olympic Games and I intend to do it my way and that’s something I now feel completely comfortable and confident in.

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