To think that a trend is starting here

Do you know Simone Biles history?

In team sports, possibly, but there will be substitutes who will be delighted to get a chance to perform (I assume?).

In a work situation I would sympathise if someone left and got a less stressful role, but having worked with someone who regularly was off sick with stress (to the point that others could predict when it was going to happen) and knew that we would have to pick up her slack, I'm afraid I have no sympathy left, and I do see it as different.

@Doodledog. But do you not think there are similarities with people taking time off work at peak times ? The athletes pulling out are putting extra pressure on their team mates to pick up the slack. Surely it’s the same thing.

Yes, for things to end like that after the years of preparation must be devastating, which is why I have problems understanding the number of athletes who’ve followed suit. I don’t recall it happening in previous Olympics, and I wonder whether a lot of it is down the various pressures of the pandemic. The postponement of the games and the ensuing doubts about whether they would go ahead at all can’t have been easy to deal with I suppose.

I have a lot more respect for people who pull out of things like this, where it is their own lives that are impacted than I do for people who take time off work on a regular basis because of stress.

I dare say that it's not until you get to the top of a career like competitive sport that you realise that it is affecting your mental health, but I have known people who have kept jobs for years whilst regularly taking time off at peak times or when they feel the pressure getting to them. They keep the job (and the salary) but pass on the stress to colleagues, and it is so selfish of them.

Pulling out of the Olympics must be a huge decision, and like B9exchange I have every sympathy.

I’m just surprised that with the support top athletes receive from various professionals that mental health issues are not spotted before the athlete is selected to compete. Surely coaches etc would realise that something was not right?

Sadly mental health issues are not something you can control, any more than a broken leg. They happen, and need fixing. What those athletes are doing is putting extreme pressure on their bodies, and trying to do that while not focused could lead to life changing injuries.

I do understand the fear that some might use 'needing to look after my mental health' as an excuse not to do something they would rather not, but in this case after years of preparation, I imagine the poor girl must be absolutely devastated to have to pull out, and she has all my sympathies and wishes for a full recovery.