Nicole Forrester, doctoral student in sports psychology. Contributed photo

Dan Gould, professor of kinesiology

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By Nicole Geary

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Six feet, four and three-quarter inches.

High-jumper Nicole Forrester had soared up and over the towering height many times.

But on July 6, as the MSU doctoral student began bounding toward her third and final attempt, the bar once again became the only barrier to her ultimate goal.

She cleared it.

Forrester, a veteran competitor familiar with adversity, qualified to compete in the Beijing Olympics where she will represent Canada as its sole high-jumper.

Forrester, 31, missed the qualifying height by just one centimeter in 2000. Then, in 2004, she severely injured her ankle a month before the trials.

Now in her third year at MSU, she said she draws on her academic studies in sports psychology – and the support of faculty members – to strengthen the mental part of her game.

“You can be the best in Canada and still not attend the Olympics,” the five-time national champion said of her home country’s standard. “I had that happen to me.”

In the months leading to this year’s trials, she relied on frequent conversations with MSU kinesiology professor Dan Gould. He has been helping her develop a tougher, more focused mindset since becoming her sports psychologist consultant – or mental coach – nearly two years ago. She also receives support from academic advisor Deborah Feltz, who chairs the Department of Kinesiology.

Forrester’s forthcoming dissertation as a Ph.D. candidate will explore what makes athletes “make the leap from good to great.” But, she says, “it’s more difficult when you are applying it to yourself.”

Gould is an expert on how psychological factors affect Olympic athletes’ performance, having conducted a series of studies for the U.S. Olympic Committee in the 1990s and early 2000s.

“Athletes who tend to do better at the Olympics engage in mental training a year to a year and a half out,” he said. “Each of us has an optimal emotional temperature that we perform best at. We help (Nicole) identify what those feelings are … to develop a thermostat and adjust.”

And the pressure, of course, is about to get higher.

Forrester, who competed for University of Michigan as an undergraduate, plans to spend about two weeks at her Ann Arbor training base before departing for Beijing. The Ontario, Canada, native will enjoy the excitement of the opening ceremony before re-focusing again, heading to the Canadian track and field team’s Olympic training camp in Singapore.

That’s when she plans to keep Gould’s advice especially close through e-mails and phone calls.

Her now-surpassed goals have been quickly replaced with specific visions for success on the world’s stage. But she won't openly discuss those goals.

“The only person I have to answer to is myself,” she said. “It’s just me and the bar.”

Forrester will compete during the final days of the Beijing Olympics, although the exact dates are uncertain. Track and field events are scheduled for Aug. 15-24.