An athletes life is so different from what it was 20 or more years ago. To achieve sporting success at a high level now you need to devote your whole life to it 24/7, usually from a very young age, early teens, and sometimes younger.
Everything you do is controlled in your life, what you eat, how much you sleep, while your day is a relentless cycle of training. Young athletes also have to fit their schooling round all this. then their are the sports psychologists to train your mind to make you think in a way that leads to success.
All this and we are surprised that a growing number of them are having mental health problems, the miracle is that many more are not having them.
I think the whole process of elite sport has to be looked at again, the pressure on the perforers is too much.
If I had a child or grandchild who was good at a sport, I would think twice before encouraging them to pursue it too far. My DGD is a very good swimmer and as she reached 11 her swimming teacher was encourging her to join the local swimming club and start training there as she thought she had potential.
Fortunately, DGD decided herself she didn't want to do it because she said she knew people in the club and once you get started, swimming has to become your whole life outside school and she had too many other interests that she wanted to keep in her life.