Winning the Long Game: Mental Health in Sports By David Williams (he/him)
Professional athletes push themselves to the limit in their quest for greatness. But when does that push for gold become too much? David Williams investigates the pressures under which athletes are placed, and what happens to their mental health after they retire. CW: Suicide to focus on her own mental health. Both
Now questions are being asked as to
Whether on a national or an international
women were praised (and criticised)
whether this is all worth it. Are Olympic
level, fans want victory. To achieve that,
for opening the conversation about the
medals and world records worth risking
We all want our favourite athletes to win.
sporting bodies spend millions of dollars
mental health struggles that professional
the mental wellbeing of the athletes who
athletes face.
pursue them?
surpass records. There’s a win at all costs
However, sadly, sometimes the pressure
I spoke to New Zealand track cyclist
mentality ingrained in athletes as they set
of high-performance sport on athletes
out on their journey. But how do they feel
can end in tragedy. Olivia Podmore, a
about this?
24-year-old New Zealand Olympic and
and put in thousands of hours pushing athletes to reach greater goals and
During this year’s Tokyo Olympic games, American gymnast Simone Biles stated that she was taking a break from the competition to focus on her mental health. Two months before that, Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka expressed similar sentiments when she chose not to speak to tennis media because of the
22
Commonwealth games track cyclist, died on the 9th of August this year. Although not confirmed, it was a suspected suicide. In the hours before her death, Podmore posted on Instagram talking about the pressures high performance sports takes
Rushlee Buchanan and retired Football Fern Katie Duncan about their experiences at high level sport. Buchanan tells me that the nature of high-performance sport means that you are constantly under scrutiny. Sporting bodies and clubs set performance standards for their athletes. Unfortunately, that is the nature of the
on an individual. Former New Zealand
task at hand. “If you want to perform
Olympic cyclist Eddie Dawkins called her
and win on the international stage you
anxiety this causes her. She later pulled
death heart wrenching but completely
have to accept that you will be held to
out of Wimbledon and the French Open
avoidable.
particular standards.”
