Mental Health Is on Full Display at the Winter Olympics
At the 2022 Winter Olympics, discussions about mental health continue to be front and center. After two-time Olympic gold medalist snowboarder Jamie Anderson fell multiple times, she attributed her 9th-place finish to a breakdown in her mental rather than physical health.
Talking about mental health struggles is becoming increasingly common among Olympians since Simone Biles led the way last summer in Tokyo. Gold-medalist figure skater Nathan Chen commented, “I think what Simone did at the last Olympics is incredibly inspirational.” Snowboarder Anna Gasser elaborated, “I feel like it was a game changer…[her] message was that we’re not just athletes — that we are also humans and not robots.”
With the eyes of the world upon them, Olympic athletes face unique stressors – such as the weight of a nation’s expectations upon them and having a once-in-four-year shot to fulfill your dreams. Some athletes, like American-born figure skater Zhu Yi who gave up her U.S. citizenship to skate for China, are caught in the crossfire of geopolitical expectations. She faced a torrent of online vitriol when she fell in her short program and has faced extra levels of scrutiny related to cultural identity and belonging.
Added to that, the isolation and stress of the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention disqualification from competition should they test positive, have taken a toll on athletes as well. With intense pressures mounting, thank goodness openly discussing mental health is snowballing, too.
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Asmelash, Leah. “’Mental Health is on Full Display at the Winter Olympics.” CNN.com, 12 Feb 2022, www.cnn.com/2022/02/12/sport/athletes-mental-health-winter-olympics-cec-wellness-spt/index.html.