The transition from athlete to coach has clarified one essential insight: mental performance is not a secondary element of training, but a core performance skill. It shapes how athletes respond to pressure, setbacks, and expectations over time. “What I learned as an athlete, often through challenging experiences, now forms a structured framework that guides my work as a coach” says Kristina Bergquist, cross-country skier and Norwegian Elite Sport School (NTG) coach.
When performance stopped feeling meaningful
We first crossed paths in August 2024. Johanna was on a work trip and happened to stop for a conversation at the Birkebeiner cross-country ski stadium. We talked about sport, life, and the different paths we had taken. During that conversation, she offered her support as an open possibility.
A few months later, we began working together.
At that stage of my career as a competitive athlete, I wasn’t looking for a marginal edge. I was trying to address something more fundamental: I had lost the joy of competing. Over time, competitions had become associated with setbacks and negative experiences. Confidence eroded, self-doubt increased, and I underestimated how central the mental side of performance had become.
It was only through systematic mental high-performance training that this changed.
Understanding mental performance
The process reshaped my understanding of what mental performance is. It is not about eliminating thoughts, suppressing emotions, or forcing positivity. Instead, it is about understanding how thoughts, emotions, and automatic reactions arise and learning how to respond to them in ways that support performance rather than undermine it.
Rather than fighting my inner dialogue, I learned to allow thoughts to be present without letting them dictate my actions. This created space: space for clearer decisions, greater consistency under pressure, and a gradual rebuilding of trust in myself as an athlete.
The tools themselves were simple and practical. Their impact, however, was significant. Step by step, my relationship with pressure, expectations, and setbacks changed.
Competing and coaching in parallel
I still compete as an athlete, but now I have also had the opportunity to test out what feels like my dream job: a role I have consciously trained for.
I have been offered a temporary position as a coach at Norwegian Elite Sport School (NTG) in Lillehammer, supporting young, ambitious athletes in their development. While physical and technical training is still important, I have repeatedly seen how mental demands become the limiting factor when performance levels increase,
Many athletes have the capacity to perform at a high level, yet struggle when pressure, expectations, and unhelpful thought patterns accumulate. When these factors are not addressed systematically, they quietly restrict performance and development.
When experience becomes a coaching tool
As a coach, I’ve noticed how naturally the mental tools I learned as an athlete now appear in my daily work. We talk about breaking courses into manageable sections, using trigger words, and allowing thoughts to exist without assigning them too much power.
What once felt like personal struggles have become shared reference points. They help normalize experiences many athletes believe they face alone, and they provide concrete strategies for working with mental processes rather than against them.
Mental high-performance training becomes most effective when it is practical, contextual, and integrated into everyday training—not treated as something separate or reserved for moments of crisis.
A toolbox that evolves with you
Perhaps the most important insight from this journey is that mental high-performance skills are not tied to a single phase of a career. They evolve and transfer.
The toolbox I’ve built supports me both as an athlete and as a coach. It allows me to approach performance with greater clarity, flexibility, and understanding—and to help others do the same.
Mental high-performance training does not remove difficulty from sport. It helps you meet it with skill. As an athlete, a coach and human being.
Text: Kristina Begquist, athlete and coach cross-country skiing
Picture: Kristina’s archive
