In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week 2022, this May, ESPN highlights the stories of athletes, coaches and other sports figures who have experienced personal battles with mental health, and who want to use their platforms to openly discuss what happened next, and what helped them.
These stories reflect a broad range of subjects and experiences, including life amid the coronavirus pandemic, living with anxiety, depression, coping with pressure in their respective sports, dealing with addiction, and many more.
Jade Jones lost her first fight at the Tokyo Olympics last summer after winning gold in the previous two Games. Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images
Double Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones has said she suffered from anxiety in lockdown and “wasn’t in a good place” at last summer’s Tokyo Games.
“I didn’t realise how much lockdown affected me,” Jones said. “I haven’t really spoken about it because it’s not the kind of thing I do. But I was struggling with a lot of anxiety in lockdown and had never really experienced that before. I was petrified to go near my family, thinking I was going to pass on this deadly thing — like everybody was. I was over-thinking everything. That’s where it started from.”
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Seven-time Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton spoke about his mental and emotional struggles, saying in a social media post in March that it was “hard some days to stay positive.”
Amelia Kerr gets ready to bowl in the nets Kai Schwoerer / © Getty ImagesThe New Zealand allrounder talks to ESPN’s Valkerie Baynes about how her mental-health break made her appreciate the value of sharing your problems with your loved ones
Stockwell, a U.S. army veteran, was selected to be one of the two Team USA flag bearers in Tokyo. In 2018 at the Beijing Games, the 41-year-old Paralympian carried the flag during the Closing Ceremony where she competed in swimming. Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images
Paralympian and para-triathlete Melissa…
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