Physical health is mental health and mental health is physical health. They can have an effect on each other. To me, they are the same thing.
[uck fay], I agree with this too. Osaka is also nowhere close to GOAT level, and Tennis is a solo sport (at least in this case). The only place I see similarities is attributing it to "mental health issues."
She walked off in the middle of the tournament so not entirely different. With Biles, she's the GOAT, that's a fact, but she did quit when things weren't going her way, that's also a fact. I feel for the stress and pressure athletes are under, but that's part of being at the top and you have to push through it and finish the event.
The spotlight and the 1,000,000 takes per minute via Twitter and other social media is just part of being an athlete, today. You have to be able to handle it if you're going to be a successful professional athlete in 2021. It's also part of why LeBron is better than MJ.
The real reason I came to this thread: Did this happen? Has it been discussed here? I've been caught off guard by seeing like, 5 or 6 of these posts on Facebook when I figured people would be talking about her dropping out of the team competition. Are the two related?
Hmm. Maybe they are related. What is the point of doing your super hard routines if they aren't going to be scored accordingly? And why risk deductions doing them, when your teammates can do lesser routines and not be under the same amount of risk? Maybe it was strategy.
It could also be morons spouting bullshit on the internet. I decided to be lazy and come here for answers rather than looking into it and researching it myself. That I haven’t seen it mentioned here makes the “morons spouting bullshit on the internet” seem more likely to me.
Physical injury leading to concern over competing and the mental obstacle of a bad wheel or arm in a sport is one thing. Not competing due to fear of losing or stress is another. I've been around guys who puked their guts out before games due to stress and nerves. It's nothing new to be stressed before competition.
I agree. Both Federer and Osaka’s reasons are valid, but it sure seems like we heard more about the latter than we did the former. And Federer was even further along in the tournament than she was.
"No audience, long week, long process, long year... We're too stressed. We should be out here having fun." Idk man. Feels like a lot of excuses to me. It's not like their conditions are any worse than the other competitors'. Why did she feel that she was going to get injured if she competed? Seems like something one could easily talk oneself into if looking for a reason to back out.
I don't know much about Osaka's mental health situation. Has she been diagnosed with something? Uni mentioned she's shy. Shyness isn't really a mental health issue. Is anxiety something you can be diagnosed with? Has she been? I think for a lot of people, they deal with stress in their lives, so it's hard for them to empathize with someone else succumbing to stress and then falling back on "it's mental health." Knee surgeries are easier to understand and sympathize with. I just don't really see how the comparison to Federer makes sense. Federer was coming back from multiple knee surgeries and withdrew after particularly long matches, from what I read. He is also 39 years old and at the back end of his career, where the body starts to break down. Lastly, again, from what I read, he's largely focused on Wimbledon, so withdrawing from the French Open is somewhat of a strategic move.
Anxiety is definitely a real thing, my wife has it occasionally and it doesn’t make any sense, and she will tell you this. But it is what it is
So why has this suddenly become something beyond critical discussion in sports? Why at this very moment? What is the difference between someone "choking" and this?
I think everyone get anxiety and anxious when having to perform, especially at that level and stage. That’s why we celebrate and admire those that can face and over come it. It doesn’t make her a bad person but it’s fair game to say it became too much for her to face.
Also feels a little different that the French Open is an individual event, and she wasn’t letting teammates down.
The reasons may be equally valid, but they’re not equally newsworthy, IMO. An old player withdrawing for health concerns to maximize his few remaining chances to win a trophy is pretty much expected (no one on the planet thought he had a real shot at the French Open, anyways). It’s far less common to see a player sit out because she didn’t want to talk to the media (even if her reasons for not wanting to are perfectly reasonable).
The mind can break down just like the body can break down. They both need real and active maintenance.
