Mindset is your greatest muscle.

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Celebrating cross-country skiers at a snow-covered event with large text stating 100%. The skier in the foreground is smiling, wearing a red jacket with sponsors and holding skis. Two other skiers are in the background, celebrating. The scene is outdoors with a snowy, wooded backdrop and a crowd of spectators.

Making history. Documenting the first-ever mission to interview an entire Olympic and Paralympic Team from a single Games.

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A Message from Founder, Amy Wotovich

As a springboard diver and Harvard graduate, I’ve spent most of my life in pursuit of excellence (and the perfect 10). My work is fueled by a deep curiosity about how mindset shapes what we believe is possible and how we respond in the face of setbacks.

I founded Back The Team to bring the lessons of elite performance far beyond elite sport. You don’t need an Olympic dream to build an Olympic mindset.

Over the past year, I’ve personally interviewed more than 200 members of the 2026 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team and asked the hard questions: How do you handle failure? What do you tell yourself to overcome fear? How do you recover when things go wrong? How do you keep believing in a goal that feels impossibly far away?

I started to see a pattern. Mindset isn’t something you either have or you don’t. It’s a muscle. And like any muscle, it can be trained. I hope you’ll follow along, train your mind with me, and bring more confidence, self-belief, and courage into your daily life.

- Amy Wotovich, Founder

Connect With Amy

Follow @backtheteam for daily mindset tips

A lot can happen in a year! American professional snowboarder, @mslildice is proof. Check out her nontraditional path to the Games 💪🧠 __ I’m Amy Wotovich and I’m on a mission to interview 100% of the 2026 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic
Webster defines failure as the opposite of success. I believe Webster has it wrong. Here’s why. Follow @backtheteam for daily mental performance tips. #mindset #mentalperformance #gofail #backtheteam

Mindset Mantras

  • "Fear will always be present. It's empowering to look at it in a positive way. I acknowledge that it's there but don't let it take control of me."

    - Jackie Wiles

  • "I'd tell my younger self nothing. She's got it."

    - Alysa Liu

  • "When I cross the finish line, I will never have regrets. I will never wonder what I could have done, what I could have given, what could have been."

    - Jessie Diggins

  • "Don't let the success or lack thereof steal the joy of why you started doing your sport in the first place."

    - Sam Morse

  • "I had to reframe the risk. If I had failed to qualify Team USA for the Olympics, that would honestly be expected. But what if we did succeed?"

    - Anna Gibson

  • "I think a lot of times when it comes to decision-making and taking risks, the risk and downsides aren't that bad. It's an uncomfortable area for folks to operate in."

    - Bryan Sosoo

  • "What really helped was reframing the risk. If I tried skimo and failed to help Team USA qualify for the Olympics, that would honestly be expected. But if we did succeed? Imagining a future of success is a choice."

    - Anna Gibson

  • "Instead of trying to stop an injury or setback from defining you...instead of burying it, forgetting it, and flushing a year or two years of your life...let it define you. Let it help you evolve into a whole different athlete and person."

    - Cameron Smith

  • "If I can fly down a mountain headfirst, then I should be able to get through basic military training. And then if I'm on a new track, I think, okay, I'm in the military, this is just sliding. I can do this. Courage is courage."

    - Kelly Curtis

  • "The wanting to go faster kind of overpowers all of the fear. You're goin g80 miles an hour. There's no room for fear when you're trying to figure out what's literally in front of you."

    - Austin Florian

  • "This new mentality I have of playing with house money, mixed with a skill level that's just as good as everybody else. That's a dangerous thing to go up against."

    - Danny Casper

  • "I was reminded at my first camp: Laura, you belong here. So I wrote it on a post-it note and put it on the wall of every venue. It's not a look-at-me, I'm a normal anybody. That works hard. That has grit."

    - Laura Dwyer

  • "It's common for athletes to travel with a nutritionist or physical therapist. We always travel with our team psych. We spend a lot of time on the mental aspect of the game."

    - Sean O’Neill

  • "We use the high-five as a mental reset point. Drop the negative, focus on the next shot...even if it was a good shot. You have to drop what's in the past and start over with a clean slate. Every time."

    - Dan Rose

  • "People told me, 'You will never be successful as an ice dancer.' And I said, you know what? You can say that, but I'm going to try."

    - Emilea Zingas

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