Mental Health and Paris 2024 Olympics

It’s August 7th, 2024, which means that I have been glued to my TV watching the Paris Olympics. I LOVE the Olympics. I am not normally a big sports fan/viewer. I don’t watch the typical sports like football, baseball, basketball, or soccer, and I don’t have a particular team that I root for throughout the year. But for me, the Olympics are different. It is the best athletes from all over the world, coming together to compete on the world stage, for a wide variety of different athletic feats.

Up through Monday night, I made certain to watch one of my favorite summer Olympic events, women’s gymnastics. Spoiler alert: the USA won the team final, gold medal, individual all-around gold and bronze, individual event vault final gold and bronze, individual event uneven bars final bronze, and individual event floor final silver and bronze. Team USA cleaned up well with 8 total medals! It was all so fun to watch, and as I tuned into the incredible feats of jumps, twists, and gravity-defying athleticism, I had some thoughts as I begin to launch my private practice this summer.

I have always been a fan of USA women’s gymnastics. I vividly remember watching the 2008 Beijing Olympic team with Shawn Johnson, Nastia Liukin, Chelsie Memmel, Samantha Peszek, Alicia Sacramone, and Bridget Sloan. I remember seeing all of the media talking about how Shawn Johnson was the best gymnast in the world, and how she was expected to win at least 4 goals medals for the USA. And then she didn’t. Instead, she came home with 3 silvers and 1 gold. She was 16 years old at the time, and the media was in a frenzy about what went wrong and why she didn’t perform to “expectations.” I have since followed Shawn since her retirement, and she has talked about the pressure she felt - how she felt she let her country down - and how long it took her to through those feelings (even though she brought home plenty of hardware).

I continued to follow USAG, and you always saw how young the women’s gymnasts were - Ally Raisman in 2016 was called “the grandma” of the 2016 Rio team, at just 22 years old. Typically, these gymnasts were teenagers, and retired in their late teens/early 20s. Until this year. The 2024 Paris Olympics debuted the oldest US women’s gymnastics team since the 1950’s - with the average age being 22 and their best gymnast (also, the best gymnast in the world), being 27. And she looked better than ever. But it wasn’t just their age that stood out to me. While the USA has dominated in women’s gymnastics for quite a while, and have put forth some very good teams, this year’s team looked like the strongest I have ever seen. They looked calm, confident, strong, hungry for redemption from Tokyo 2020, and, importantly, they looked healthy and happy. They had pure fun. And they were GREAT.

So what was different about this team? What was different compared to the last several summer Olympics? What made this particular US team stand out? I think the biggest difference is the new culture of USAG that focuses on physical health, mental health, and proper care. You may remember when the story of Larry Nassar’s (the former USAG physician) crimes broke just months after the Rio 2016 Olympics. If you are not familiar with this story, you can look it up if you choose, but know that it had to do with significant abuse to female gymnasts, including several olympians, that landed him in prison for the rest of his life. That scandal created a domino effect of former and current gymnasts at the time, coming forward about other abuses, usually physical and mental/emotional, that they endured from their coaches. Particularly the cut-throat, unforgiving, environment with the former USAG coaches/coordinators, Marta and Bela Karolyi.

After those accusations, investigations, and the retirement of the Karolyi’s, USAG promised to change the culture of the sport, to be safer for its athletes. And the culture began to change little by little. But it was Simone Biles in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that, I believe, hurdled that culture forward. Simone got the “twisties,” a mental injury that caused her to be unable to do her skills and created a very unsafe environment for her. She put her safety and mental health first, and the world took notice. Simone talks of taking a lot of time away from the gym, taking care of herself, seeking therapy, and living her life. Then, when she decided that she wanted to come back and go to the 2024 Paris Olympics, her coaches told her “no.” They told her to just focus on getting back in the gym and getting back into shape. That’s it. No expectations. No pressure. Just get healthy, and see what happens. What. a. change. from the previous USAG culture.

These gymnasts lives and bodies were now valued well above what they could do in the gym. Gone is the cut-throat culture of train-until-you-break, and then push forward and train some more. Now, physical and mental health was made the priority. And guess what? This current USAG team was phenomenal. Possibly the best, strongest, most consistent team the USA has ever put forth in the Olympics. And that’s despite Simone being away from the gym for years and struggling with mental blocks. That’s despite Suni Lee recovering from not one, but two, significant kidney diseases. That’s despite Jordan Chiles coming back from several injuries. That’s despite Jade Carey competing while feeling ill. They all prioritized their mental and physical health, they all took care of themselves, and they all were taken care of, well. And they got to demonstrate that prioritization and culture to the youngest, rookie teammate, Hezly Rivera, and continue that culture. Ironically, by prioritizing health, safety, and enjoyment over medals, they ended up winning the most medals of any other country, on the words biggest stage.

I write this because it made me think of how it applies to the rest of us everyday, non-olympians. How often do we put pressure on ourselves to be better, do better. “If I can just get this one thing finished,” “if we just do one more thing.” “If I add this one more activity, things will be better.” I’ll be able to do more. Even if it comes at the expense of my sleep, my health, my relationships. We live in a culture that is very cut-throat in its own way. Kids are busier than ever, playing multiple sports, having multiple hobbies, going to many events, competitions, etc., without much of a break. Us adults working multiple jobs, going multiple places, working overtime on a regular basis. Now, I know that there are financial considerations when it comes to some of those things - and there is much respect and understanding for needing to do what’s necessary to provide for yourself and for your family. But our culture moves so fast, and we are expected to keep up. And what is the result? Rates of depression, anxiety, and other mental health disorders continuing to rise year after year.

So what can we learn from USAG? To slow down where we can, and prioritize our mental and physical health. I know that there is only so much we can do to change our cuture here in America - that’s arguably a lot more difficult to change than gymnastics culture. But, even when the world continues to move at a lightning fast paced, there are things we can do. We can find moments to stop what we are doing - even if it’s just for a few moments, and take some deep breaths. We can make sure that we drink enough water, take appropriate bathroom breaks, and eat our lunches. If/when possible, get your body moving, even if it’s just a 5 or 10 minute walk. Eat foods/meals that have good nutrients, but are also foods that make you feel good and that you enjoy. Rest when you can - even if it’s not sleep (looking at you, parents of young children), sitting down or laying down, even if you are not actively sleeping, is still rest. Children don’t have to be a part of everything or every activity. Have nights/evenings/days where children have no where to go or nothing specific to do. And finally, ask for help. Look to those you trust, those people in your life that you can talk to. This can look like therapy. This can also look like asking a friend, family member, or co-worker to do something for you. This can look like taking up offers from others to take something off of your plate. This can look like talking with a trusted person in your life. This can look like just asking someone to spend time with you or sit with you.

I realize that this sounds a whole lot easier said than done. Believe me, I am nowhere near where I would like to be with this concept! But look at what happens when we prioritize what’s most important - we fell better, we accomplish more, and we get to enjoy the process/journey and LIFE, more. Sounds like a win-win to me. Will we ever get there as a culture? I don’t know - maybe not. But we can keep trying, taking those small steps to our own victories.