As the Olympic Games come to a close, a recurring factor has been discovered in the preparation of the most successful athletes. Those athletes who have won Gold at the Beijing Olympics all seem to have one thing in common, they’re all avid iPod users.

Simon Whitfield, who competes in the triathlon, listens to his iPod right before competing:

I watched the guys warm up and it’s hot out there. I just sat there with my cooling vest on listening to music and just chilled out. I think that really paid off.

It did pay off for Whitfield, as he won Silver at this year’s Olympics.

Penny Werthner is a sports psychologist at the Beijing Olympics. She says that athletes use music to psyche themselves up and to free themselves of distractions before competition.

The majority are using it to block out everything else that’s going on around them. Essentially what they’re doing is really not thinking at all. They’re just listening to music and being in a space before they actually get ready to narrow their focus.

Sadly for Whitfield his iPod went dead just 20 minutes too early on Tuesday last week as he’d forgotten to charge it up the night before! He was able to roll with the problem though, as it could have effected his preparation badly:

I roll with it. I’m pretty casual about all that.

You have to also plan for contingency if you forgot your music or something happens. Ideally, you don’t forget it.