Simone Biles (24) is the best gymnast in the world – but the American was not up to the pressure of the Olympic Games: She gives forfait for several competitions – with reference to her mental health.
Naomi Osaka (23) is one of the best tennis players in the world – at the French Open, the Japanese refused to give any information at the press conferences – with reference to her anxiety, depression and mental health. At the Olympic Games, she retired early.
How sick is top-class sport? What goes wrong when even the world’s best break up under pressure and get mentally ill?
Marc Risch, chief physician at the Clinicum Alpinum, a specialist clinic that also specializes in sports psychiatry, says: “The public pressure on top athletes has never been greater than it is now.”
Guilt is a toxic cocktail
According to the specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, this is also due to the harsh tone on social media: “The rawness of what people in public have to endure is hard to beat. What we must not forget: Top athletes are also often victims of threats and stalking. “
This is also shown by the examples of Osaka and Biles: In Japan, commentators accuse Osaka after its defeat of not being worth lighting the Olympic flame. Biles also has to listen to a lot: a lack of loyalty, even treason.
The job profile of a top athlete is unattainable
But that’s not all: the expectations of sponsors are also enormous. Risch says: “Let’s be honest – a sponsor wants heroes.” There is no place for weakness. Last but not least, there is the pressure that coaches and sports associations build up. And sometimes inhuman, in some cases even abusive training methods.
A toxic cocktail, says Risch. The job profile of a top athlete today reads: “Capable of physical, emotional and communicative top performance, maximum willingness to suffer and available 24/7.” Risch’s conclusion: Unattainable.
Ariella Kaeslin (33) knows all of this from personal experience. The twenty-time Swiss art gymnastics champion and multiple European and World Cup medalist withdrew from top-class sport at the height of her career in 2012 – and wrote about her depression and psychological terror in her book “Leiden im Licht” four years later was exposed to her then coach.
Simone Biles is simply a 24-year-old woman with great talent, “from whom a huge nation expects several gold medals,” said Käslin. Association, team, multi-million dollar sponsors, yes, the entire USA are expecting something. “Nobody can really withstand that.”
Kaeslin was warned not to expose himself
Nevertheless: Biles’ public withdrawal with reference to her own mental health is a positive development for her. Kaeslin himself encountered immense resistance back then: “Various people told me that my career was over, that I would only be viewed as a ‘psycho’ if I spoke publicly about my exhaustion depression.”
Kaeslin is therefore happy when more and more athletes – including various Swiss such as tennis player Timea Bacsinszky (32) or orienteer Florian Schneider (28) – speak out in public about their mental illnesses. This is how stigmatization is broken in the “normal” population. Because around a quarter of the population suffers from a mental illness in their lifetime.
Andres Schneeberger, specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy and member of the Swiss Society for Sports Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, also welcomes the new openness: “Tragic events such as Robert Enke’s suicide have meant that the subject is no longer so much concealed and more talked about . ” This is how the young discipline of sports psychiatry and psychotherapy emerged and established itself in some countries, including Switzerland.
For Ariella Kaeslin, we should all learn one thing from the Biles and Osaka cases: “Depression can affect anyone – top athletes just like everyone else. As fellow human beings, as spectators and as sports enthusiasts, we have to learn to be mindful of our fellow human beings and our idols. ”
Summer Olympics in Tokyo
The 32nd Summer Olympics will take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021 in the Japanese capital, Tokyo. All information about the opening, broadcast, competition dates, disciplines, innovations, venues and mascots can be found in the large overview.
The 32nd Summer Olympics will take place from July 23 to August 8, 2021 in the Japanese capital, Tokyo. All information about the opening, broadcast, competition dates, disciplines, innovations, venues and mascots can be found in the large overview.
Everything about the Olympics