Aussie swimmer, Stephanie Rice, took to Instagram last Saturday to share her devastating reality of what it is like to be a young professional athlete and her love-hate relationship with the Olympics.
The three-time gold medallist shared a video, which was filmed during Tokyo 2020, of herself weeping.
She said that, for a month, she had debated on whether or not she should post the video but ended up doing so to relay her truest emotions. A part of her caption read:
“Watching the Olympics will always probably be tough emotionally for me, because it brings back so many strong emotions, both good and bad.
Many athletes and high performers speak about the challenges they face with mental health around transition. For me, transitioning was fu**ing hard… and still is at times. After swimming, I felt lost, depressed, irrelevant and as though I had achieved the pinnacle of my life at 24 and everything moving forward would be far less exciting & special.
So in order for me to move on, I had to completely let go of the person I was as an athlete and rediscover myself without the title of being “a swimmer”. This bought up loads of deep seated insecurities that I was able to hide by the validation and recognition I got by being a Gold Medalist.
Honestly, now, after doing so much ‘work’ on myself, I truly am so so happy and content. I love my life and the people in it. But watching the Olympics reminds me of the person I was back then and it’s still hard not to feel sadness that that part of me is gone and isn’t coming back…and that’s what the tears are for,”
ONLINE SUPPORT FROM FELLOW AUSSIE ATHLETES
Her message and experience resonated with other Australian athletes across sports and generations.
“As humans we’re not just one thing. We can be many things as we evolve through life… and each of these things will be different yet just as fulfilling,”
“You have an incredible skill set … a lot of it was developed as a champion swimmer. These skills and traits carry through and are sooooo valuable. Love you xx.” Freestyle skier Lydia Lassila said
Rice responded: “I agree, we are all multifaceted and I’ve enjoyed discovering new parts to myself in this new life outside of sport. You said it so well and I love how supportive we all are of each other in understanding the emotions in it all. So thank you.”
Others to offer support on Rice’s post included diving champion Melissa Wu, Australian cricket greats Matthew Hayden and Michael Clarke, track and field star Sally Pearson, Melbourne Cup winner Michelle Payne and football stars Tim Cahill, Alanna Kennedy and Lydia Williams.