IN THE 1956 Olympic marathon, Emil Zatopek asked Jim Peters if they were going fast enough. It destroyed Peters. Charlie Spedding, who won Olympic bronze in the marathon, used to write his negative qualities on pieces of paper and throw those pieces of paper into the Tyne.

Sebastian Coe admitted you get your motivation wherever you can and crossing the line after victory at Los Angeles turned and screamed at the press box they were his motivation. The Games of the mind have a history as long as the Olympics. Their importance is recognised in Tallahassee with the British team's largest ever complement of psychologists.

Four of them, Lew Hardy. Graham Jones, Sheelagh Rogers and Peter Terry are there as support staff for the British Olympic Association. Others, like Alma Thomas, are there for the individual sports.

Thomas works with the athletics team all the women and three quarters of the men have consulted her at one time or another. Don't ask for names on the psychological landscape everyone treads carefully.

Like every sports psychologist, Thomas's concern is to keep the athlete engaged in the process and to dispense with anything that might interfere in that. If her goal is to create the perfect psychological athlete, she already has an idea of what be might be like "Michael, Johnson I've never seen him emotional in any way. He never wastes an ounce of energy on that. Daley Thompson had amazing self belief, but I don't feel he was quite as strong. Michael Johnson is perfect."

In the holding camp, to maintain mental equilibrium can be difficult. With training tapering off, boredom is an issue. Time to think can be dangerous, anxieties intrude, issues become complex.

"We are trying to keep it as simple as possible for the athlete. To crystallise their mental preparations in to one or two routines. Most of the demons are in your head," explained Terry.

The dream itself can often be the biggest demon. In 1984, Neil Adams fought the German Frank Wieneke, for the Olympic crown. Adams, fighting at 8kg, was the overwhelming favourite, but for just a moment on the mat forgot the task in hand, mentally strayed from the process and was thrown for ippon for the first time in his life.

Jana Novotna at Wimbledon in 1993 Greg Norman at Augusta this spring both found titles escape at the point they seemed won, at the point when the process no longer became their first concern. For first time Olympians, who constitute over half the British team, the psychological support can be the difference between making the Olympic experience positive or not.

All the focus must be on that athlete achieving their own potential there is no control over what your opponent can do. Success (or positive experiences) can be built on, though not often to the extent that Steve Redgrave has.

"I don't think he's been truly appreciated," said Terry. "When you reach that level we are talking about the immense motivation that athletes get from pride. People say that Regrave doesn't know how to lose.

There is another part to the psychologists job that Terry is less happy to talkabout. Going into the Games is not the moment to consider losing. "Winning 15, the closest you get to killing someone, the rower Peter Haining once said. "His hopes are just as good as yours, but you go out and kill his dreams.

Athletes have vast areas of responsibility to those who have made sacrifices to take them to the Games parents, coaches, clubs, even communities. When the Olympic experience does turn sour, it can be devastating. Consolation is the most complex exercise.

Hard Luck," is not what Faldo said to Norman at Augusta. Often, like Novotna, it is not words but a physical empathy that works best. Terry, whose job is to allow the athlete to do their best, has set similar standards for himself "I see that I have a target, too.

I have to be a better sports psychologist than any other sports psychologist for any other nation." So be it. The mind Games have commenced.