Mental Health and Sport 2021
For many years this Column joined with numerous sports analysts in insisting that due attention was not being given to the mental well-being of the athletes.
We welcomed, over the years, the emergence of sport psychology as a legitimate discipline in its own right, adding to the ever-expanding career options in sport.
Unfortunately, the leaders of sport, always insistent that they place the athletes at the centre of their work, have, at the same time, displayed incredible disrespect for those very athletes.
The vast majority of athletes have suffered quietly, struggling to cope with the demands of their respective sports. There exists examples aplenty.
Over the past few months, however, situations in the world of sport have come to the fore in the international media, largely because of the high profile of the athletes involved. We wish to suggest here too, that the situations highlighted in this Column have been given global attention because of the seemingly inherent biases in the reporting and the sources of the information.
History
For as long as human beings have engaged in sports competition, the matter of a healthy state of mind has always been important. However, the desire to win at all costs allowed for an approach by those responsible for the athletes to so link their own fortunes to those in their charge that their interest was largely one-dimensional in nature – fame and glory.
Investigations have forced many to revisit age-old narratives of the ‘purity’ of the Ancient Olympics, just as is the case with the ‘Olympic Truce’. We have long been taught that the Ancient Olympics were exemplary in bringing people together to witness sports rivalry in its purest form. Today we hear of athletes being ‘paid’ and even of athletes using performance-enhancing substances to ‘win at all cost’ and access enhanced social status in their respective societies.
There is reason to believe that Hitler hosted the Olympic Games of 1936 largely because it was an excellent opportunity to have the entire global community witness the authenticity of his theory in respect of the Arians. It was to showcase that his belief in the superiority of the whites over all other races in society.
During the Cold War, the Olympic Games and all major international sporting competitions focused less on the athletes themselves and more on their valued performances as symbolising the validity and endorsement of the ideological approaches adopted by either side. Sport actually became the vindication of the ideological path undertaken by the countries of the respective participants.
Athletes from the USSR, East Germany and Cuba were seen as bearing all of the aspirations of the Marxist-Leninist socialist/communist approaches to governance while the USA, West Germany and Britain did likewise for the adherents of democracy. The athletes were pawns in the immensely intense political power play that was, at the time, removed from the battlefields onto the sporting arenas around the world. These athletes were pressured into being the playthings of their respective ideologically committed governments.
History is replete with examples of athletes who have been destroyed in the very sport in which they have been involved, because of the treatment of their coaches, their entourage and the ideological insistence of their respective governments. This has been the case long before the world came to publicly acknowledge the existence of professional sport.
Sadly, not much has changed.
For those who are in doubt, take time to analyse the performances of the Chinese at this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo and understand the internationally political statement that the government of that country has made to the entire international community.
Enter Naomi Osaka
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, smashed her way into global highlight on the tennis courts of the WTA’s grand slam. One victory after another has enabled her to become something of a doyen of the international media and the face of contemporary tennis amongst female athletes.
Suddenly, Naomi Osaka called ‘time out’. She wanted to take some time to herself, away from the cameras and the questions that come with the seemingly endless interest in every pint in every match played.
The initial reaction of the WTA and the international media was stunning.
Osaka was quickly fined. According to NBC News dated 30 May 2021, “The fine was announced in a joint statement Sunday by the heads of the organizations that run the Grand Slam tournaments — the U.S. Tennis Association, the French Tennis Federation, the All England Lawn Tennis Club and Tennis Australia.”
This ought to have been expected. The competition is less about the athletes and more about the image of the organisation and its commitment to deliver to its ‘mouth-watering’ stakeholders.
Who cares about Osaka’s mental health? After all, one can conjecture, her value is not to her own well-being, but the satisfaction of those who enhance the coffers and benefit from the largesse.
Osaka suddenly found herself at the centre of a major international controversy that she could not possibly have predicted.
Initially, the forces of contemporary sport business appeared all aligned against Osaka simple request for some time to herself.
It was not until numerous athletes from around the world supported her decision and began revealing their own challenges that the international media started to back off.
Time Magazine carried a piece penned by Osaka herself, dated 8 July 2021, which stated in part, “The world is as divided now as I can remember in my short 23 years. Issues that are so obvious to me at face value, like wearing a mask in a pandemic or kneeling to show support for anti-racism, are ferociously contested. I mean, wow. So, when I said I needed to miss French Open press conferences to take care of myself mentally, I should have been prepared for what unfolded.”
The problem was that she was not prepared for what followed and she is still trying to come to terms with it.
She made it plain that “This was never about the press, but rather the traditional format of the press conference….. The intention was never to inspire revolt, but rather to look critically at our workplace and ask if we can do better.”
Osaka sought to drive home the important point that athletes are human and that this deserves some respect. She stated, “I communicated that I wanted to skip press conferences at Roland Garros to exercise self-care and preservation of my mental health. I stand by that. Athletes are humans. Tennis is our privileged profession, and of course, there are commitments off the court that coincide. But I can’t imagine another profession where a consistent attendance record (I have missed one press conference in my seven years on tour) would be so harshly scrutinized.”
Then comes Simone Biles
Five days into the Tokyo Olympics this year, the news story broke around the world that the avowed best gymnast of all time, Simone Biles, of the USA, expected to be the star of the Games, withdrew in the midst of the women’s all-around finals. This came after she unexpectedly dropped out of the team competition during the preliminaries, left the competition arena for a while before returning to cheer on her teammates, all of whom must have been wondering just what had happened before their eyes.
The immediate response to Simone Biles’ decision, was significantly different to that received by Naomi Osaka.
USA Gymnastics’ statement on Twitter on 28 May read, “After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition.”
The first recourse was to determine what went wrong and how it could impact the athlete. The organisation’s leadership, obviously still suffering from the fallout of the Dr Nasser cases and their impact, quickly stated, “We wholeheartedly support Simone’s decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many.”
Biles’ case was presented as a medical one and the same international media that sought to berate Osaka, suddenly found it within themselves to change tack and offer all sorts of support.
We immediately heard from the media of the medical analyses necessitated by Biles’ action and comments.
What is being addressed here is the clear hypocritical way in which the international media addresses issues.
Osaka was not immediately given the opportunities to be heard that Biles was afforded.
The same media that addressed both cases were distinctly different in their management of the information in their possession as much as they were in their pursuit of that information.
Mental health in sport – the latest buzz
Athletes are human beings!
The way the foregoing statement is now being made across the international media gives the impression that this is some amazing new discovery.
Of course, today’s international media largely lack the objectivity that is usually taught as one of the hallmarks of the once noble profession.
Osaka and Biles have, through their actions in critical times in their respective sports, suddenly impacted the sporting world, albeit through different paths but ending at the same destination athletes as human beings who need to be cared for.
Both athletes have been at the top of their game when they were suddenly confronted with their humanity. Osaka put it this way, “The number of messages I received from such a vast cross-section of people confirms that. I think we can almost universally agree that each of us is a human being and subject to feelings and emotions.”
For her part, Biles stated that she withdrew to protect her mind and body. Unwittingly, she struck a popular note. After all, one of the IOC’s founding fathers insisted that the modern Olympic Movement was using sport to facilitate the enhancement of ‘body, mind and spirit’. We have all appeared to have forgotten this in the headiness to get athletes to deliver at their very best regardless of their own mental health and often general well-being.
The Guardian dated 29 July 2021 quotes US athlete, Tianna Bartoletta, “There are people who witnessed Simone walk away from this who are stuck knee-deep in some shit right now…They watched the greatest gymnast of all-time walk off the biggest stage and I guarantee you that for the first time that same someone somewhere is thinking …“If she can walk away from that – with all that on the line for her, with the entire country and maybe even the world coming in hot with their hot takes – maybe, just maybe I can take this step to walk too. There’s a lot of power in maybe. And hope is one helluva drug.”
Osaka put it in her own words, “It has become apparent to me that literally everyone either suffers from issues related to their mental health or knows someone who does.”
