OpinionAfter Tokyo Olympics, athletes may face mental health battles as they return to normal life

It has been estimated that approximately one-third of elite athletes around the world experience symptoms of depression or anxiety

Research explores factors most important to athlete well-being, seeking to understand strategies athletes use following their Olympic experiences

4-MIN READ4-MIN

Nicola McDermott won a silver medal for Australia in the women’s high jump. Photo: Reuters

Published: 1:15pm, 9 Aug 2021Updated: 1:23pm, 9 Aug 2021

With the Olympics drawing to a close, many athletes will begin to turn their attention to a crucial yet daunting question: what’s next?

The Olympic Games are a unique event, with the potential for extreme highs and lows that accompany success, loss, injury, or regret. The experience of the games on athlete mental health goes far beyond the competition itself, though, with the weeks and months following the event crucial to athlete well-being.

It is critical to understand what can contribute to better or worse post-Olympic experiences for our athletes. In our recently published research, we set out to explore this question by interviewing 18 Australian athletes who had competed in the 2016 Rio Games.

Our goal was to explore what factors are most important to athlete well-being (and why), in addition to understanding the strategies athletes used to cope following their Olympic experiences.

The mental health of athletes is of increasing concern

The mental health of athletes has attracted increased attention, thanks to high-profile stars like Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles.