Experts say that, for elite athletes, losing a sport can be like losing a loved one. The pandemic has hit elite athletes in different ways—Simone Biles, Kevin Love and others shared how they're coping.
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00:00 For many elite athletes, their sport is their identity.
00:06 In a time of social distancing amidst the global coronavirus pandemic,
00:09 athletes at all levels are finding themselves unable to
00:12 maintain the training schedule and routine they are so accustomed to.
00:16 So in today's SI Daily cover,
00:18 Julie Kligman examines the role and importance of
00:21 mental health in a challenging time for sports and the world.
00:24 Julie, as you note, athletes are used to a regimented schedule.
00:28 So how challenging of a mental hurdle is it for those you spoke to?
00:33 Yeah, it's definitely a big shift going from spending seven or eight hours in
00:37 the gym every day to suddenly only
00:40 breaking up time with grocery store trips like the rest of us.
00:43 It's a little unsettling for them.
00:46 Now, Michael Phelps, he's been open about
00:49 his own relationship with his mental health and he
00:51 noted that he'd be flipping out if
00:53 the Olympic Games that he was scheduled to participate in were pushed back a year.
00:57 So why is that such an adjustment and
00:59 how have athletes been coping with this change in schedule?
01:03 Well, it's not only a challenge physically because obviously,
01:06 you have to readjust your whole training schedule to compete a year out,
01:10 but it's a whole mentality as well.
01:12 If you look at someone like Simone Biles,
01:15 she has to weigh competing an extra year when she's
01:19 already at the peak of her sport now and you look at it mentally,
01:23 and it's just you have to be in this mindset to take on
01:27 a whole extra year of training, it's not easy.
01:30 We've seen different sports adjusting in different ways.
01:34 The NBA and the NHL had to suspend mid-season.
01:37 Major League Baseball has its start date up in the air and
01:40 the NFL is doing its best to maintain the schedule as planned.
01:43 But in the story you discussed
01:45 the masculine nature of some sports like football, for example,
01:48 are there certain sports that make it more challenging to have
01:51 these open discussions about this mental health struggle in these times?
01:56 Yeah, I think for men's sports,
01:59 men are always a little less encouraged to speak out than women are about their struggles.
02:06 Something like football is certainly a big challenge,
02:10 but it really affects everyone.
02:13 Obviously, though, the conversation has become so much less taboo in recent years.
02:17 How beneficial is it to have such an open conversation about mental health?
02:22 It makes all the difference to people.
02:24 It encourages them to speak out and get help,
02:28 and to see athletes like Michael Phelps doing that.
02:32 That doesn't only help other athletes, it helps all of us.
02:36 As I was Julie Kliegman,
02:37 thanks so much for taking the time.
02:39 Thank you.
02:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]