The 2024 Paris Olympics will see over 10,000 top athletes from around the world take part, facing incredible pressure to perform in front of billions of spectators.
For these Olympians, years of rigorous preparation and training come before a competition where there is no room for error, and a difference of just a few seconds can be the difference between a medal on the winner’s podium or being eliminated from the competition, retired Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno told PBS NewsHour’s Amna Nawaz.
And even for multiple gold medal winners, the day comes when they have to say goodbye to the highest level of sport, a challenge as tough as any race, match or routine.
When Ohno was competing about 15 years ago, the conversation about mental health among athletes was much different than it is today. “To be honest with you, we didn’t even know what it meant,” Ohno said. “The term ‘mental health’ actually meant mental performance. That’s where we spent a lot of time.”
FILE PHOTO: Team USA’s Apolo Ohno competes in the men’s 5,000-meter relay in short track speed skating during the 2002 Winter Olympics at the Salt Lake Ice Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, on February 23, 2002. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
Jessica Bartley, senior director of psychological services at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, said athletes are increasingly balancing their own mental health with the demands of their sport and the pressures of performance.
Bartley said the one-year postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic was “one of the most notable times” in terms of athletes needing mental health services. The postponement sparked anxiety among many athletes, especially the more experienced ones, Bartley noted, because it allowed younger generations of athletes to become eligible to compete against them.
Simone Biles of Team USA practices on the balance beam during a gymnastics training session at the Bercy Arena ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 25, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
When the Tokyo Olympics resumed in 2021, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from team competition, sparking a global conversation about the importance of mental health awareness.
“Instead of just going out there and doing what the public wants, we have to take care of our minds and our bodies,” Biles told reporters at the time, as she competes in this summer’s Olympics on her own terms and with a newfound honor as the all-time medal winner.
Pressure to perform
Olympians face high expectations, Bartley said, and many have dedicated most of their lives to just one thing, starting training for their sport as soon as they learned to walk.
Bartley said athletes often train with the mindset that they won’t perform at their best if they take their eye off the ball, which includes not paying attention to their mental health or balancing the demands of their sport with the rest of their lives.
A meta-analysis of studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2019 found that at least a fifth of current elite athletes struggled with alcoholism, and a quarter of former athletes suffered from anxiety or depression.
Responding to Biles’ call that athletes’ mental health must be prioritised, the International Olympic Committee released an action plan for 2023 which highlighted that elite athletes are “at heightened risk of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and eating disorders”.
“Despite the large global mental health burden, we need to recognise that mental health conditions are treatable and in many cases preventable,” Professor Ugur Erdener, chair of the commission’s medical and scientific committee, said in a statement announcing the plan. “By inspiring, encouraging and supporting those involved in the Olympic Movement, we can contribute to building a healthier world through sport.” The commission’s plan to address mental health challenges and promote wellbeing focuses on improving culture and leadership, using data and research, among other measures.
When Bartley’s staff meets with U.S. Team players each year, they regularly ask about their mental health as well as their physical health, including about sleep, vaccination status, nutrition, eating disorders, trauma, substance use, anxiety and depression.
“We’ve made a shift to make it normal to ask and check in about mental health. We’ll check in before the Olympics and Paralympics and we’ll check in after,” Bartley said. “We’ll be in touch with each and every athlete.”
Ohno has been speaking out in recent years to raise awareness about mental health needs and resources, including through her book, “Hard Pivot,” and the 2020 HBO documentary, “The Weight of Gold.”
The former speed skater has stood on the Olympic podium eight times, more than any other U.S. winter skater in history, but as he looks back on his career, which ended at age 27, he says the victories have been fleeting.
Instead, his strongest memories happened when no one was watching: “fighting with myself, digging, working, trying to find that one percent.”
“You can’t always control these outcomes, but it’s the process that can create real value,” he said.
Seeking help and moving forward
When athletes in the later stages of their careers turn to Bartley and his staff for support, they often have the same question: What can we do to help them?
They’re wondering if they can continue for the next four years until the next Olympic Games. Many have postponed college or graduate school. Some are waiting until they have families so they can focus more on training for their next competitive opportunity. Or they’re watching their parents age and thinking about what to do to accommodate caregivers.
“Athletes often ask, ‘Am I ready to give up?'” Bartley says.
Change is inevitable. For Olympic athletes, transitioning away from a sport happens relatively early in life, says Jeff Brown, a clinical cognitive behavioral psychologist at Harvard Medical School. Sometimes it’s outside of an athlete’s control, like an accident that instantly changes their trajectory. Or it can be a conscious decision to quit a sport and start a new one, which can be traumatic.
“Identity is deeply connected to performance,” Brown says.
Growing up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, Taylor Fletcher learned to ski down mountains by the age of four, and it’s still one of his favorite ways to relieve stress.
FILE PHOTO: Taylor Fletcher of the United States competes in the men’s Nordic combined ski jumping event during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics at the National Cross-Country Ski Centre in Zhangjiakou, China, on February 15, 2022. (Photo by Tom Weller/VOIGT/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)
Fletcher’s parents, especially his mother, made sacrifices so he and his brother could join a local ski team coached by a former Olympian who paved the way for them to the Winter Olympics. Fletcher said the Olympic journey wasn’t a foregone conclusion, but the desire to make the national team drove him to work hard. For years, Fletcher said he was focused on just one thing: “Everything else took a back seat.”
In retrospect, an athlete’s laser-like focus might mean “you can put yourself in a certain box and get stuck,” said the four-time U.S. Nordic combined team member.
When athletes are considering retirement, Bartley said, he and his staff encourage them to reach out to their support networks of family, friends and fellow athletes, and to think long and hard about what they want.
Over the years, Team USA has developed Pivot programs designed to help athletes cope as they transition to the next stage in their lives, with experts speaking to current and former athletes about job skills, financial literacy, preparing for higher education and mental health and well-being.
“That’s one thing I wish I’d known,” Fletcher said. “Sports is a big thing, but it’s not everything.”
In his post-Olympic life, Ohno said he’s made countless mistakes, but what’s helped him bounce back is his desire to encourage people to “listen with an open, accepting heart and an empathetic ear” and to “help others realize and navigate their own inner truth.”
“They can bounce back and continue,” he said. “It’s not too late. It’s better to start today than tomorrow.”
