But these are elite athletes like you say. It's their entire job / existence to perform at their best , regardless of the challenges they have to overcome.
If a player drops below optimal performance due to third party situations (coach being sacked, get more money elsewhere, doesn't get on with X as examples), then that's just an excuse. That's versus a player who has an injury they are carrying, yet are playing at 100% of the possible performance anyways.
One is a testament to character, the other a testament to performance.
We need to he careful with mistaking lack of character with being out of form.