Biles’ attack of twisties, a condition that means gymnasts lose the ability to orient themselves in the air, is perhaps the most enduring image of the Games.
File image of Simone Biles. access point
Paris: The legacy of American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles may not be the four Olympic gold medals she won in her career, but one Notable collapse at the Tokyo Olympics prompting other sports greats to speak out about their battle with mental health issues.
Biles’ attack of twisties, a condition that means gymnasts lose the ability to orient themselves in the air, is perhaps the most enduring image of the Games.
Explained: What are the twists that caused Simone Biles to withdraw from gymnastics events?
Since then, retired French soccer icon Thierry Henry and Irish rugby great Keith Earls have spoken candidly about their struggles.
Biles’ tribulations followed the four-time Grand Slam winner from Japan Naomi Osaka, who had admitted her battles with depression. in May of last year.
Henry generally showed a very composed and confident figure on and off the field, so his admission came out of the blue and came as a surprise to many.
“Crying was impossible,” said Henry. L’Equipe newspaper in March.
“You are not allowed to show your weaknesses.
“It was: ‘Thierry, don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry!’
“I cried when I was alone, but I fought with myself not to break down in public.
“Now I cry,” the Arsenal legend added.
Earls has amassed more than 90 caps for Ireland and was a pivotal member of the 2018 Six Nations Grand Slam-winning team.
He was diagnosed as bipolar in 2013 after biting the bullet and going to see a psychiatrist.
The 34-year-old’s opening in his 2021 autobiography ‘Fight or Flight: My Life, My Choices’ was described as “inspiring” by Ireland team-mate James Ryan.
“My admiration for him (Earls) has grown more, the way he’s able to normalize that, that it doesn’t matter who you are… Mental health doesn’t discriminate,” Ryan said.
Earls says that in the wake of his revelations, other teammates have decided to see a psychiatrist.
This transparency seems to have broken the taboo where it was not seen as something done that athletes went to see someone to talk about their mental health.
“Twenty years ago, it was the same with regard to mental preparation for events,” said Greg Decamps, a sports psychology researcher at the University of Bordeaux. AFP.
“Nobody said ‘I’m seeing a mental coach’.
“We began to see the same thing in terms of consultations in sports psychology clinics.
“Because we can’t expect athletes to perform if there are unresolved psychological issues.”
England men’s cricket test captain Ben Stokes is another who has opened the door to mental health issues.
The 31-year-old followed a long list of cricketers including Marcus Trescothick, Sarah Taylor and Andrew Flintoff who have struggled with mental health problems when he admitted his problems last year. taking four months out of the game to manage your illness.
“I was in a really dark place and had some tough thoughts,” he said in May when he was promoted to captaincy.
“Now I realize that talking is a very powerful thing and it has completely changed me.”
‘There was suffering’
That’s not to say that in the unforgiving world of sports the floodgates have been opened wide on something some still see as a stigma.
“Sport is a world that prides itself on excellence, strength, virility and where any sign of weakness is forbidden,” Decamp said.
“Those who speak out will be seen, often wrongly, as incapable of going to a national championship or the Olympics.”
Decamp says teams still keep their mouths shut if the reason for a player or athlete’s absence is due to mental health issues.
However, some sporting bodies have taken steps to address the problem.
In the United States, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) introduced “six months of paid mental health leave” in February this year.
This was welcomed by many players, including Cari Roccaro, who played a leading role in getting the NWSL to adopt such a policy after suffering from mental health issues.
“Girls who tear their anterior cruciate ligament still get paid, even if they’re off the team for months,” Roccaro said in March.
“Why treat a mental injury any differently?”
Perhaps surprisingly, success on the court or pitch does not protect you from the black dogs of depression.
According to Olivier Krumbholz, coach of France’s Olympic gold medal-winning women’s handball team, mental health issues are more apparent than ever and “even more so when there are good results”.
He told AFP that after the team’s moment of glory in Tokyo “there was suffering.”
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