Athletes being pushed over the edge - Tokyo 2020 Olympics stir concern over athletes’ wellbeing

Opinion analysis by Maria Wehbe, Featured Writer

August 5th, 2021

“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it. Go through it or work around it.” – Michael Jordan

But what if these obstacles come at the cost of one’s mental and physical wellbeing? What if overcoming these obstacles requires giving up one’s sanity? This dilemma is one that many athletes encounter: they have to decide between pushing themselves over the edge or prioritizing their wellbeing. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality of many athletes today, who put in countless hours of training and are drained mentally and physically every single day, just so that they can be on top. But what’s the point of being the best if you are not in your best state? This is something that Simone Biles, an Olympic gold medalist, came to realize when she withdrew herself from the women’s team gymnastics final at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on July 27th, declaring that she did so in an attempt to protect ‘her body and mind’. “Whenever you get in a high stress situation, you kind of freak out. I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being. Those competing aren’t just athletes; we’re people at the end of the day,” said the 24-year old. This raises a lot of red flags when it comes to the way athletes are treated today and mental health concerns soon became the center of attention at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

This is not the first time that an athlete withdraws from the Olympics. In the Rio 2016 Olympics, Romania’s world number five Simona Halep and Canada’s world number seven Milos Raonic were the first tennis players to withdraw from the event because of concerns about the Zika Virus, which was said to be linked to brain deformities in newborn babies. “I am making this decision for a variety of health concerns including the uncertainty around Zika. Family is much too important for me and I can’t risk not being able to have one of my own after my career in tennis is over,” said Halep. More than 20 male players withdrew from the golf competition that same year. The fact that Halep and Raonic are such highly-ranked players and cited the Zika Virus as a valid reason for withdrawal was reassuring for some other athletes. “If there are other players who share their concerns, it is possible this news will make them feel more comfortable about pulling out,” said BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller. This demonstrates the amount of pressure and stress that these athletes undergo, where at times, they question their own decisions because of what people may think of them. Getting sick was a risk that these athletes were not willing to take, no matter the amount of external pressure and guilt-tripping – at the end of the day, they decided to prioritize themselves, and yet sadly, not all athletes make the same choices.

Going back to this year’s Olympics, it does not come as a surprise that they were not easy to train for, to say the least. COVID-19 took its toll on these athletes and they were among those that mentally suffered the most. Usually, Olympians and Paralympians are used to a set routine that keeps them in shape, however, the uncertainty of this pandemic led to disruptions. Sports do not make athletes immune to mental health challenges, although the health benefits of exercising and physical activity are immense. As a result of said pandemic, the 2020 Olympics got postponed, and when the games finally began this year, the athletes did not have their loved ones by their side, in the stands, to support them. At the end, the stress and anxiety became too overwhelming, and it does not come as a surprise that some athletes have been withdrawing from their respective competitions; the stress of being a professional athlete is enough to affect their mental health, even under the best circumstances. “It was difficult dealing with finally having to look at my emotional and mental well-being. Many of us choose to neglect mental health until after our competitions,” said Olympic fencer Curtis McDowald. Regrettably, this is the case for most athletes nowadays, especially those who partake in very important competitions such as the Olympics. They have so much to worry about: making sure to train as much as humanly possible, making sure that they secure their place in these competitions, staying in shape, impressing all those around them all while trying to remain sane – it isn’t an easy task, and no wonder so many athletes end up ‘going off the bender’.

 Occurrences such as these are not only limited to the Olympics. In fact, Naomi Osaka, a Japanese professional tennis player, withdrew from Wimbledon this year. She did so after winning her first-round match and cited that the reason behind this was her prioritizing her mental health; she said that she needed some time away from competing, yet again revealing the amount of anxiety and stress that these sorts of events induce. Her advocacy for mental health for athletes has been the center of attention ever since her withdrawal and she took this opportunity to spend some time with her friends and family. However, she did decide to partake in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 

Although these athletes usually stress and worry about the amount of training they put in and staying in shape, other athletes have external factors that they have to keep in mind as well. Indeed, not all countries have the budget to train their athletes for competitions like these, and this leads to them being anxious, because it is not their skill that is putting them at risk of being disqualified or even losing, but rather the lack of budget and resources. In fact, in the United States alone, the Elite Athlete Health Insurance Program and National Medical Network provides elite athletes with more than $6 million in services per year. As well, a total of 186 athletes have received tuition assistance through the Athlete Career and Education (ACE) Program thus far and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) partnered up with 16 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Sites to provide world-class training facilities to American athletes. Unfortunately, not all countries have that privilege towards their own athletes.

Let’s take Lebanon’s case. With little to no financial resources, developing countries like Lebanon often allocate very small budgets to the sports sector, as well as the Lebanese government lacking the strategic approach that is necessary for any nation to achieve elite sport success. This leads to countries such as Lebanon being labeled as weak states, regardless of the capacities and talent of its athletes. Lebanese athletes are met with several barriers that block their achievement: ineffective training, absence of harmony among team members, ineffective rewards and recognition systems, leaders who don’t have the right set of skills, lack of effective communication as well as the athletes possessing negative attitudes at times. As a result, Lebanese athletes have not been able to bring home any major titles thus far, yet the motivation and willingness to fight for it is still there, especially given the country’s current circumstances. With the on-going pandemic that has taken its toll on the Lebanese economy, the hyperinflation, the political turmoil, the poverty rates, wildfires and so on, training for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics has been very tough and stress-inducing. These athletes deserve the biggest round of applause, because no matter what the country has been going through, they kept fighting tooth and nail for what they believe in – they wanted to represent their country the best way they knew how, and wanted to bring home the title for their people. In fact, Munzy Kabbara most recently reached the 2nd place in the Men’s 200m individual medley swimming heat at this year’s Olympics, and he is the true representation of resilience.

“Put mental health first because if you don’t then you are not going to enjoy your sport and you are not going to succeed as much as you want to, so it’s okay sometimes to even sit out the big competitions to focus on yourself, because it shows how strong of a competitor and person you are, rather than just battle through it,” said Simone Biles most recently in an interview. These words of wisdom are some that all athletes should abide by and stick to, whether it be for their mental or physical wellbeing. Prioritizing one’s sanity and health is not a sign of weakness, but rather strength – athletes should be respected and given a break; they are people at the end of the day and deserve to be treated as such.