Biles, Osaka and Phelps spoke up about mental health. Has anything changed for the Paris Olympics?
Lydia Jacoby was a breakout star in the pool for the United States at the last Summer Games, earning a gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke and a relay silver. Part of what comes to mind from those heady days in Tokyo? 바카라 게임 웹사이트People talking about post-Olympic depression,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said.
She was 17 at the time, and her initial response when other athletes brought up the topic was: 바카라 게임 웹사이트Well, that doesn바카라 게임 웹사이트t apply to me.바카라 게임 웹사이트
바카라 게임 웹사이트I essentially did not understand the topic of depression,바카라 게임 웹사이트 she said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트It wasn바카라 게임 웹사이트t until after the Games that I was like, 바카라 게임 웹사이트Oh. ... OK. Yeah, I바카라 게임 웹사이트m feeling this a little.바카라 게임 웹사이트바카라 게임 웹사이트
Jacoby, who didn't qualify for the 2024 Olympics, is now fully aware of the phenomenon, went through it, moved past it and discusses it casually, all of which points to the way things have changed in just a few years when it comes to mental health.
As the Paris Games open on Friday, followed by the Paralympics beginning Aug. 28, athletes have more access than ever to resources in that once-taboo realm and sound more willing than ever to use them. That seems particularly significant given that Jessica Bartley, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee's senior director of psychological services, says about half of the country's athletes at the past two Olympiads were flagged for at least one of the following: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, eating disorders, substance use or abuse.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We really are just a part of the conversation now,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Bartley said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트and not an afterthought or something when someone바카라 게임 웹사이트s struggling.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Among the key questions now: Is everyone going to seek the help they need? And is enough help available?
As for the first, Bartley said: "I바카라 게임 웹사이트d like to think we바카라 게임 웹사이트re over the hump, but we바카라 게임 웹사이트re still not quite there. I feel like there is still some stigma. I think there바카라 게임 웹사이트s still some connections to 바카라 게임 웹사이트weakness.바카라 게임 웹사이트바카라 게임 웹사이트
And the second? 바카라 게임 웹사이트I do think there still could be more,바카라 게임 웹사이트 track star Gabby Thomas said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트but, I mean, they바카라 게임 웹사이트re there.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Olympians Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Michael Phelps opened doors
Three Olympians 바카라 게임 웹사이트 Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka, who participated in the last pandemic-delayed Summer Games, and are returning, and retired swimmer Michael Phelps, who has more medals than anyone in any sport 바카라 게임 웹사이트 provided some of the loudest voices in the growing global conversation in sports and society at large about the importance of protecting, gauging and improving the state of one바카라 게임 웹사이트s mind as much as one바카라 게임 웹사이트s body.
Phelps spoke about having suicidal thoughts at the height of his career and helped produce a documentary about depression among Olympians. He also called on the International Olympic Committee and USOPC to do more.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I do think there바카라 게임 웹사이트s something to be said when a lot of really, really good athletes kind of talk about the same issue. I know all athletes don바카라 게임 웹사이트t feel the same way; you have to be a certain type or in a certain head space. Some people just feel things differently,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and former No. 1-ranked player in tennis who lit the cauldron in Japan.
She's been forthcoming about her bouts with anxiety and depression and was among the first sports figures to take mental-health breaks away from competition, paving the way for others.
Osaka, in turn, said she felt 바카라 게임 웹사이트very heard바카라 게임 웹사이트 when she listened to Biles and Phelps.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I바카라 게임 웹사이트m pretty sure a lot of different athletes also felt heard," Osaka said. "They didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t feel like it was a weakness or anything like that, so I바카라 게임 웹사이트m really glad we all talked about it.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Biles, who redefined excellence in gymnastics and picked up seven Olympic medals along the way, drew attention and, from some, criticism, for pulling out of events in Tokyo because of a mental block 바카라 게임 웹사이트 known in the gymnastics world as 바카라 게임 웹사이트the twisties바카라 게임 웹사이트 바카라 게임 웹사이트 that made her afraid to attempt certain dangerous moves.
That her explanations of what went awry came in such a public setting, as THE biggest star in Tokyo, only made it all the more meaningful to other athletes.
바카라 게임 웹사이트She didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t have to,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said basketball player Breanna Stewart, a WNBA MVP. 바카라 게임 웹사이트She used her platform to help others.바카라 게임 웹사이트
What Biles did resonated with athletes like canoeist Nevin Harrison, a gold medalist in Tokyo, who said 바카라 게임 웹사이트anxiety, fear, stress ... are all going to be huge parts in competing at such a high level.바카라 게임 웹사이트
Biles made them see that there can be a way out.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I was, at one time, in those shoes," boxer Morelle McCane said, "where I was just like, 바카라 게임 웹사이트It바카라 게임 웹사이트s do or die! It바카라 게임 웹사이트s do or die!바카라 게임 웹사이트"
How different is it for today's Olympians?
Janet Evans won four swimming golds at the 1988 and 1992 Games and recalls the never-easing pressure to perform. In her day, she says, there wasn't nearly the empathy or outlets for help available as there are for today's Olympians.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t talk about the struggles. No one taught me that it was OK to lose, right? I mean, I was Janet Evans, and when I went to a swim meet, I was supposed to win,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Evans, the chief athlete officer for the 2028 Los Angeles Games. 바카라 게임 웹사이트We talk about it now and we recognize it with our athletes. And I think that is an important first step."
Which means that even 38-year-old rugby player Perry Baker has seen changes since his Olympic debut at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
바카라 게임 웹사이트You had to tough it out. You kind of felt by yourself. You kind of felt like you couldn바카라 게임 웹사이트t talk to anyone,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Baker, who briefly was with the NFL바카라 게임 웹사이트s Philadelphia Eagles.
The balance national Olympic committees must strike between caring about athletes as people but making sure the medals pile up is 바카라 게임 웹사이트threading a needle,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Evans acknowledged.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We should go to the Olympics and Paralympics and win medals. But I don바카라 게임 웹사이트t think that should be at the cost of how we바카라 게임 웹사이트re preparing our athletes for the future,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Evans said. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Both can happen.바카라 게임 웹사이트
That's where Bartley and her counterparts in other countries and at the IOC come in.
The Beijing Winter Games two years ago were the first with extra credentials issued for national Olympic committees to bring athlete welfare officers 바카라 게임 웹사이트 registered mental health professionals or qualified safeguarding experts 바카라 게임 웹사이트 and more than 170 from more than 90 countries will be in Paris.
바카라 게임 웹사이트We didn바카라 게임 웹사이트t have it in Tokyo, and now it will be implemented for every Games,바카라 게임 웹사이트 said Kirsty Burrows, head of an IOC unit focused on athletes바카라 게임 웹사이트 mental health. 바카라 게임 웹사이트Because we really see the impact.바카라 게임 웹사이트
There will be a 24/7 helpline with mental health counselors who speak more than 70 languages, a program started for the Beijing Games but now available to every Olympian and Paralympian until four years after the event. There's also AI to monitor athletes바카라 게임 웹사이트 social media for cyberbullying, and a 바카라 게임 웹사이트mind zone바카라 게임 웹사이트 in the athletes village with a yoga area, low lighting, comfortable seating and other tools 바카라 게임 웹사이트dedicated to disconnection, decompression,바카라 게임 웹사이트 Burrows said.
The USOPC went from six mental-health providers 3 1/2 years ago to 15 now; 14 will be in France. Last year, 1,300 Team USA athletes participated in more than 6,000 therapy sessions set up by the USOPC.
바카라 게임 웹사이트I expect the numbers to be even higher," Bartley said, 바카라 게임 웹사이트especially in a Games year.바카라 게임 웹사이트