14/10/2026
Elite gymnastics is still something that my body holds onto, even 8 years after leaving the sport. I continue to have regular nightmares related to the sport, feel triggered by expectations and pressure, and experience uncomfortable feelings when I drive down the road I took everyday to arrive at the gym. The sport may no longer be something in my life, but it is something I continue to carry. Growing up with my identity tied to the sport, I had to find a whole new meaning for life, I had to re-learn how to live, with very limited empathy or support.
This is where I dive into why supporting athlete mental health beyond sport is crucial. Athlete su***de doesn’t happen when they’re at their peak, it happens once it’s taken away from them. When they experience a career altering injury, when they become de-listed from a team they’ve spent their life with, or when retirement becomes their only option.
Athlete su***de happens when they no longer understand their place in the world, when what they’ve worked their whole lives for doesn’t work out, when their worth is questioned, or where they feel they no longer belong. It happens when they are left to work out how to handle a life they’ve never experienced all on their own, when they have to reinvent themselves.
I received one phone call when I retired from elite sport, that lasted all of 1 minute. Besides that radio silence.
Now I’ve built a new life, re-learnt my worth isn’t based on external opinions, and that failure doesn’t mean I’m weak, or pathetic, or useless.
For the athletes/ex athletes, You are enough, and you have a place in this world you deserve to live in. You are so much more than the external achievements that seem to mean everything ❤️🩹
Ps. The link in my bio will take you to my online support community. You’ll always have a place there 🌟
