While this video will alert the "general public" of this problem, I don't think this is news per se to most STers since most of us have experienced some amount of post-event letdown after the end of various seasons and/or events, from HS/college swimming/track to IMs. IIRC, there have been a number of ST threads about post-IM letdown/depression. All that said, I would watch this if I subscribed to HBO. :)

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"Anyone can be who they want to be IF they have the HUNGER and the DRIVE."

But the flick is about a lot more than post event let down.

It is more about how US sports governing bodies are fundamentally failing their athletes, and failing them in big ways. (But, in a way, that's not big news either, because in some cases US governing bodies literally prey on their athletes.)

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I watched this last night, and thought it was solid.

I have a couple of thoughts:

1) I'm paraphrasing here, but a rough quote from one of the interviewees was "in no other realm is your success so tied to your performance." I couldn't help but think that in EVERY job your success is completely tied to your performance.

2) Why couldn't they solicit help from therapists? Is there a significant barrier to seeking private medical help? I'd like to have known more about that.

3) The only reason athletes make money is because they have an opportunity to make someone/something else a LOT of money. The olympics exists (these days) as a way to make people (not the athletes, really) a SHITTON of money. When an athlete stops producing, there will inevitably be a struggle to figure out what they are going to do with their life and how they are going to make money (by making someone else money). I would be surprised if there isn't an awareness of this throughout the athletes' lives. While being aware that they are hyperfocused on the next 1-4 years, there should still be some mental wiggle room to consider, even abstractly and at a distance, the "what's next" question.

4) The "olympics" - while very watchable - is really kind of despicable. It's the governing bodies and federations and committees that are making money, not the performers. When LoLo said she got $750 or something for a SEASON of bobsled racing...I almost laughed. Why would you get into that??

you're completely missing the point

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“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

I don't think that I am.

Not to the same degree, though. I'm a scientist. Not even remotely one of the top 1000 scientists in the world. But I can make six figures and do just great. I'm "successful."

In a lot of Olympic sports you're effectively a nobody almost a nobody unless you're in the top 10 in the world. Can barely make a living, if that. While if you're just a couple of spots better you make millions. There are enormous rewards for razor thin differences in performance that just don't exist to get degree in most professions.

I get that, and those are all good points. I think I should've elaborated on my 1st point more than I did.

In tech there are probably 500K people around the world making more than $500K. Maybe its more like a million people around the world making over a million. In cycling....maybe 20....in swimming....in triathlon....in rowing????

And you don't get fired or demoted if you get sick during certain parts of the year either. You don't have the risk of hitting a bump wrong, crashing your bunsen burner and ending your career. You don't practice science for four years at a time and then go into work for one day on which the salary for perhaps the rest of your life will be decided. Yeah its not really the same is it.

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but also, realistically: at the end of the day what you are doing is a choice that you made.

and i'm not saying it's a wrong or bad choice, just that it's a choice to go down that path.

No one said anything about career choice, just that it professional athletics has its own particular difficulties in terms of mental health. You wouldn't dismiss a veteran's mental health issues by saying it has his/her choice to go to war. Different jobs present different challenges and in a culture that encourages sporting success next to godliness I don't think it is out of line to offer empathy and support for athletes and their mental health.

Don't think that I am advocating for myself either. I have a degree, a business, a house and a family-Iots of other things to fill my cup. Many of the athletes in this doc and in elite athletics have little else but medals and a national ranking to base their identity on.

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Another documentary worth watching is Athlete A
While the main focus is on how us gymnastics facilitated and covered up sexual harassment over many many years, it is also very interesting to see the type of environment these girls are subjected to for the olympics dream. I'm not sure if its as bad for other sports, but this is some crazy unhealthy way to grow up (mentally and probably physically). Even if my kids were genetically gifted and motivated (they are far from it), I would never put them through that hell.

You’re getting closer.

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“You are experiencing the criminal coverup of a foreign backed fascist hostile takeover of a mafia shakedown of an authoritarian religious slow motion coup. Persuade people to vote for Democracy.”

If you choose to chase an Olympic dream you should understand all of this. If not, that’s your fault.

Think of the Missy Franklins of the world (and all those 14 year old gymnasts). A teenager is way too young to have have the mental capacity to navigate all the mental land mines associated with being at the absolute pinnacle of a sport. Most people who work at a career have long-term goals they work towards over a 30 year period. Missy was a super star in her Junior year of high school and her athletic career went downhill from there. It would be nice if the governing bodies put some more effort into helping these kids manage the transition to being just a regular person.

Totally agree. I see this every day. Peter principle taken to the obscene where people are promoted to the position where they do the least harm.

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Great logic amigo. So if I know the risks or downsides inherent in an activity before doing it and then something terrible happens during said activity it is my fault and I don't deserve anyone's help? I mean we all know the risks involved in riding on the road, if I get run over by a bad driver I guess its my fault and no one should ask any questions or call an ambulance?
If you actually watched these docs you would see that we could do a lot better in minimizing the negatives that come with the situation, there are bad policies and bad actors in place that should be addressed. But I guess we shouldn't because its the athlete's fault for knowingly entering into a high pressure environment?

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I doubt there are 100,000 making $500k world wide, but point taken and agreed.

The system sucks. The part where one of the athletes - I think it was Lolo - points out that the system is always looking for the new up and comer and that when you retire no one remembers you. Ouch.

The USOC should be providing, at a minimum, extensive psychological services, education and job placement services for these athletes.

One other thing: I don’t know when and how it happened, but sports are supposed to be a means to an end. It is supposed to teach responsibility, promptness, team work, the value of preparation. Somehow sports has become an ends in itself. The HS football coach was supposed to teach history in the offseason, now there is no offseason.

Sadly when some athletes show an innate talent that may get them to international fame and stardom, they get programmed to believe that is all there is. You think Michael Phelps wasn't told every day as a child that he will be a star swimmer, and so he performed and got to be exactly that. At a huge price. He had no idea how the real world worked and he couldn't cope.

Considering most top level athletes can't afford rent, how can they afford therapy? And many times, how do they know they need it? They almost need to do through a "deprogramming" post-Olympics or when they retire to help them take next steps, and learning to live without handlers taking care of all of their needs.

It's fantastic to watch human performance exceed beyond expectations but sad that it comes at such a tragic price.

Watched “Touch the Wall” about Missy this morning while on trainer. Good watch.

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Let food be thy medicine...

As "corporate athletes" we got it easy :). But treat business like a sport, and use sport training to be sharp for business, omg there is hay to made.

The training that is required and even at a local competitive swim club level, chasing that olympic dream, has PTSD all over it.
I have witnessed several young athletes, not getting to the Oly level but trying hard, the have a really tough time with it.

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You're right. 14 year old Phelps should have seen all of that and known better. What an idiot.

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Long Chile was a silly place.

Many athletes are scared that if they even go down that road, they will lose whatever edge or secret sauce they have. Competition is so fierce, you push out of your mind anything that doesn't revolve around making you stronger/faster etc. That's a problem to deal with later.

Also, in many Canadian olympic sports at least, if you ask for help you are considered a liability and conveniently overlooked for Olympic team selection.

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Long Chile was a silly place.