Let’s reevaluate the way the media and society treat athletes. There’s more involved than evaluating them based on athletic performance.
Athletes are portrayed as invincible, larger-than-life characters who must perform at peak performance regardless of their circumstances. If they fail in that regard, they often face extreme shame and criticism from the public. Failure yields scrutiny. And if they get down on themselves, they will be labeled as soft, immature, or bad teammates.
The dilemma of being perfect while not being allowed to express yourself can lead athletes to mask their emotions, including ensuring that their public persona is “tough.” As Johanna Hedva portrays in her book Sick Woman Theory, anybody who doesn’t measure up is seen as less valuable in a social world that values productivity. That perspective applies to sports.
Athletes are at risk even when they say, “They are going through things,” because that is often labeled as an excuse for poor performance. Consider the response when Simone Biles announced she would not be competing in the Olympics due to stress and mental health issues. Instead of applauding Biles, some labeled her a “quitter,” “national embarrassment,” and “selfish.”
NOT TRUE!
Simone Biles on the Call Her Daddy podcast (2024): As soon as I landed, I was like ‘Oh, America hates me. The world is going to hate me. I can only see what they’re saying on Twitter right now.’ I was like, ‘Holy s—, what will they say about me?’ I thought I would be banned from America. That’s what they tell you: ‘Don’t return if it’s not gold. Gold or bust.’ Don’t come back.
Biles imagined what was being said about her on Twitter and was nervous about the ramifications that would come from it. She did not need anyone else to judge her; she already judged herself based on her guilt for “letting down her country.”
It is an example of the microscopes that athletes are put under, and it has a negative impact, leading them to believe they are failures when attempting to take care of themselves on a basic human level.
Another example is Boston Red Sox star Jarren Duran, who recently went public with the news that he attempted suicide in 2022.
MLB star Jarren Duran to the Boston Globe: I would think daily, ‘I can’t do this.’ I couldn’t deal with telling myself how much I sucked every f’ing day. I was already hearing what fans say to me. I have told myself ten times worse than that in the mirror. That was a tough time for me. I didn’t even want to be here anymore.
Duran, however, felt obligated to endure the criticism and tough it out because he thought he had no other choice. As Duran stated in the Netflix Series The Clubhouse: A Year with the Red Sox, “I find it hard to reach out to people because I don’t want to bother others with my problems. I build them up inside myself, which worsens everything.” Duran says.
What’s the bottom line? The current systems aren’t good enough for athletes to talk about their issues and get the help they need. They need reassurance rather than criticism for being injury-prone or not meeting expectations.
But that’s a tall hill for a media system focusing on attention through views and clicks. Stories about issues and failings are more likely to capture public attention than pieces about vulnerability and the need for help.
The stakes here are incredibly high. We need to respond with compassion and support. Otherwise, we’ll see more athletes go through what Biles and Duren did. That would be a shame because it would mean that athletes suffer silently.
Humanizing athletes’ struggles and publicly sharing what they are going through will enable everyday people to develop a deeper bond with them. How so? Their idols go through struggles and challenging times, just as they do.
