Joe Fraser exclusive: The importance of failure on the road to success

“Fifteen years ago I came last at my national champs!” tweeted British artistic gymnast, Joe Fraser in May with a screengrab of the offending scoresheet. “I was upset, emotional and worst of all I started to doubt myself.”

The last part is telling.

Doubt is a challenge in any walk of life but for an elite athlete who needs a multitude of stars to align in a single moment to perform at their optimum, mindset management is a key skill that needs nurturing as much as any physical training.

“I’ve always been a glass half full kind of guy,” Fraser told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview ahead of the 2022 Artistic Gymnastics World Championship in Liverpool, UK, starting 29 October.

But the 23-year-old’s positivity was hugely tested during the British summer.

Fraser's setbacks and challenges

When Fraser posted that tweet he was six weeks away from a home Commonwealth Games, the 2022 edition taking place in Birmingham, England.

Training had been going well for the 2019 parallel bars world champion and he was ready to set Arena Birmingham on fire in front of friends and family. The all-around title a personal aim – competing on all six pieces of apparatus in the men’s competition to be crowned the best gymnast in the Commonwealth – with the dream of winning the team title alongside his “brothers” of equal value.

Just weeks later, however, Fraser was having emergency surgery on a burst appendix. Devastated by the set-back, the Tokyo 2020 Olympian was nevertheless back training after one week’s recuperation confident he’d be able to recover fully by the first competition day on Friday 29 July.

With just two weeks to go, a fractured foot in training again tested Fraser’s resolve.

In the end, time proved too short and Fraser opted to compete on four pieces of apparatus, his score contributing to England's team gold medal, and two further apparatus finals top spots on pommel horse and parallel bars, the crowd raucous in its celebration of the hometown lad.

“The competition was in my home city, it was my first Commonwealth Games and I just don't think there was anything that would have stopped me competing. I would have tried to do something no matter what. And the fact that I managed to compete on four events, win three gold medals, even now, I still can't believe it.”

The 23-year-old came away from his debut Commonwealth Games with a grin a mile wide but there was not much time to recuperate. Two weeks later, the European Championship took place in Munich, Germany.

This time, Fraser did manage to compete on all six pieces of apparatus, not only contributing to the men’s team gold medal for Great Britain – alongside Giarnni Regini-Moran, Courtney Tulloch, James Hall and Jake Jarman, the latter also having an outstanding competition at the Commonwealth Games – but also the individual all-around title, the first ever for a British man. Fraser also won gold on parallel bars.

Fraser had been super successful despite a smorgasbord of emotions leading up to the events, but as Fraser is quick to say, he hadn’t done it alone.

Best laid plans

Equally invested in Fraser’s journey is his coach Lee Woolls at City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club. Both had meticulously planned the route from home Commonwealth Games to European Championships to World Championship, all taking place in 2022.

As ever in the world of sport, Fraser’s emergency surgery and foot injury threw them a loop. Both were devastated.

“We've both been on the journey together,” said Fraser. “At the beginning of the year, we had certain targets and process goals of the Games and outcome goals of the Games, so the two things that we wanted to achieve from it. And of course, with the obstacles you overcome, those goals may have to change.

“As devastating as that could be for both of us, because we've put in so much hard work and throughout, as long as I believed in me, he believed in me.

“If I said to him I could do six events, he believed I could do six events and I was so grateful to have someone that believed in me the way he did. And as devastating as it was to go down to four events, it was still a huge success.

“We had our little cry together, which was a shame but it's something that shows how passionate we both were about that Games and how much it meant to us both.

“He was just incredible throughout the period. He's been incredible my whole career. But through those dark times and when you really need someone, I knew I could reach out to him no matter the time of day, and knowing I had that kind of support was crucial in that time.”

Fraser’s girlfriend, Tia Nokes, also provided a vital outside gymnastics perspective during that time.

“It’s easy to get wound up and in your own head about how fast I should be recovering from the foot, how desperate I am to do competitions. And she's a level head, she'd tell me, 'It's okay. You've achieved this, this and this that you didn't do yesterday, see that as a positive'. And that makes you realise, she is right. I have achieved more than I did yesterday and now I'm moving in the right direction. So it's really nice having someone that can see where I want to go from a different perspective.”

Band of brothers

The vibe of the close band of brothers that make up the current British team could be seen throughout the two competitions, and will no doubt help in their efforts to qualify one of the three spots for Paris 2024 that are available for the top three finishing teams in both the men's and women's competitions at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool.

The team work extremely hard, said Fraser, who was talking to Olympics.com from the national training centre at Lilleshall where the boys had gathered for the first week’s training following the successful Europeans.

“We love the idea of enjoying our training and our competitions,” said Fraser. “I've always said that I feel like I personally perform at my best when I'm enjoying myself and having a group of lads that feel that same way really makes us enjoy every part of the competition.

“We don't get many opportunities on the world stage so having one in our home country is something that we are very excited about and we know how much it will mean to the sport. So we are seriously enjoying every moment of this preparation.

"Today was a hard day… but we were pushing the boundaries and it made us feel amazing knowing that we were trying to make those gains. It was hard, but we pulled together.”

Role play

One of Fraser’s roles in this environment is team DJ.

“I love music. Most of the time I'm the one that goes on the music in the gym. So I have a bit of pressure to bring a certain vibe to the gym. I have to read the room. Is it a session we need hyping? So then I'll bring some hype music like rap or something like that. Or is it a bit more chilled out if we're not necessarily doing routines. If it's a bit more relaxed, maybe a bit of pop, just to chill us out. I try to read the room, see what's needed, you know?”

Music also plays a part in the competition environment for Fraser. In a sport that ebbs and flows from the focus, energy and execution of a performance to lengthy waits between apparatus, mindset is key.

“Each event I approach differently. Pommel (horse) I might want to be a bit more calm. Whereas rings, I'll feel like I need to be a bit more hyped up, for the strength.”

When walking out into the competition arena, Fraser may have music playing in one ear but has the other clear so he can interact with what’s going on or hear any last minute guidance from Woolls.

He’s not so crash hot at the dreaded ice bath, however, marvelling at fellow GB international and three-time Olympic champion Max Whitlock’s ability in the cold stuff.

“Max just sits in there like it's normal. He's fine in there.”

As is the aptly monikered ice man Hall, renowned for his cool demeanour under pressure, particularly in the tension-filled team competition.

Again music proves Fraser’s salve, with the aim of staying in for three songs, although definitely not Disney's Frozen. We checked.

“No, no. Oh, no. You don't want to remind yourself you're in freezing water.

“I hate ice baths. I like warm things, so it's definitely a mind over matter.”

Mindset and failure

Despite the setbacks and not being able to compete exactly how he has wanted to so far this year, Fraser’s cup-half-full outlook continues, reframing what success means in the circumstances that present themselves.

But as much as he enjoys the successful moments, it’s as important for him to let the next generation know that it’s okay to fail.

“Although getting amazing results at these major championships is incredible, and I really do hope it inspires our next generation, I want them to know that we make mistakes as well,” says Fraser, referring to the last-place finish at the nationals 15 years ago. “So they feel like, 'it's okay, Joe makes mistakes, so if I keep working hard, I can still achieve great things'.

“And I think that will be just as beneficial for the country as becoming Olympic champion in whatever discipline – all-around or the team or whatever – so although I completely agree, that's my ultimate, I want to be the Olympic champion and I'll do exactly what I can to do that, but I really want to inspire that next generation in other ways.

“Making mistakes is a crucial part in development, regardless whether that's sport or life or education. You have to go through those times to then push boundaries. It's easy for me to sit here and say that having overcome challenges in the past but, when you're faced with these challenges, it's difficult.

"And that's where I was at before the Commonwealths – the appendix, the foot – I was faced with these challenges and it was far from easy. I believed in myself but there were definitely days I didn't and I found it hard. But I pushed through. I believed in myself, in the team and we managed to overcome it. And now I look back and I'm so ecstatic that we did that. And that's how I feel like you have to be with all of the obstacles you get faced with. Of course, some are going to be harder than others but if you can keep your mindset the same, I'm sure you can achieve great things.”