Sydney.
Elite sportspeople dedicate themselves to being the best but once it’s over and
the buzz of winning is gone, the transition to regular life can be daunting and
in some cases devastating.
The
difficulties they can face on retirement were illustrated this week when
Australian swimming great Ian Thorpe was admitted to rehab for depression after
a mixture of painkillers and anti-depressants left him disoriented on a Sydney
street.
The
five-time Olympic gold medalist, one of the world’s most recognizable
sportsmen, has been candid about battling the demons of depression and alcohol
abuse since he called it quits in 2006.
Thorpe has
dabbled in various business ventures and tried university courses, and he
launched a failed comeback attempt in 2011. But he has been unable to find a
direction to pursue and at age 31, he is struggling to cope.
As fellow
ex-swim star Kieren Perkins said, after learning of Thorpe’s troubles: “There
would be many of hundreds, if not thousands of athletes that don’t have the
notoriety who are at any one time contending with the same things.”
Andrew
Hughes, an expert in sports marketing and branding at the Australian National
University, said dealing with the transition was a problem across all sports.
“When they
stop, there’s no training regime, no fame, adulation, no adrenaline. It all
disappears,” he said.
“A lot of
athletes have no idea how to cope and that’s why you see some of them wanting
to make a comeback. They long for being the best again.
“Nothing in
life can replicate it, it is not being replaced by anything as fulfilling or
satisfying.”
He said
administrators need to ensure athletes are encouraged to view achievement not
just in sporting terms, and to be equally proud of getting good grades or
working in the community.
He added
that it was important they start establishing a plan for life after sport as
soon as possible, although many did not.
Most sports
in Australia run an Athlete Career and Education Program to help prepare for
life out of sport, but it doesn’t always work out, as evidenced by Thorpe.
Some even
drift into crime. Fellow former Australian swimmer Scott Miller, a silver and
bronze medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, narrowly avoided jail last month
on drug charges.
Even
Thorpe’s long-time rival Grant Hackett has been in the headlines for the wrong
reasons, trashing his apartment in an alcohol-fueled rampage in 2011 that saw
his wife leave him.
It is a
problem across all sports, with plenty of high-profile cases, notably former
English footballer Paul Gascoigne’s very public struggle with alcohol and
mental issues.
Even
yachtsmen find life away from the spotlight hard, as noted by former America’s
Cup winning skipper John Bertrand, who is now president of Swimming Australia.
“When I
retired, I went through something similar after winning the America’s Cup,
nothing as extreme as what we are seeing with Ian,” said Bertrand, who
skippered Australia II to victory in 1983, ending 132 years of US supremacy.
“That is
the big challenge for any person coming from the highest of the high: to find a
new area of endeavor within their life where they can become passionately
involved and loving what they are doing.”
Australian
Institute of Sport psychologist Renee Appaneal said it was important to focus
on how athletes had coped with big career and personal steps in the past.
“Transition
out of sport is just another transition in their life and we encourage them to
look back at how they have successfully coped with other transitions, such as
from junior to senior level, leaving home for training academies,” she said.
“It’s all
about having a development pathway and how they manage that, while helping them
deal with stress.”
It was also
important to have a support network, she added, but conceded this was harder
for elite athletes who are the centre of attention.
“It is
harder for them to find trusted resources and support. This is not unique to
sport, it impacts all people in the limelight.”
Appaneal
said while many sports help athletes prepare for retirement, more could always
be done in delivering the strategy and skills to cope, and also in raising
public awareness on issues such as depression.
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