Willis came out about her mental struggles recently. I just wish her well. She had a very long season last year. A protracted summer break this year can only help her to get healthy and excited again for training in the fall and winter.
Performance anxiety is a real condition. For some of us it means getting a little nervous about an important event. For others it means an overwhelming and paralyzing worry about an important event that makes them afraid and unwilling to do the event. I think we've seen both Willis and Quigley so concerned about failing to meet their self-imposed expectations for themselves that they couldn't even try.
Nothing against Whittaker, I wish her all the best, but it drives me crazy when runners shoo off losses by saying those were blessings in disguise, as Whitakker did after her NCAA showing. Nah ... 9 times out of 10 running badly just means that you are running badly this particularly season. I mean, I guess that athletes need to say this to feel better about their prospects, but I sure hope that others aren't fooled.
The best blessings don't come in disguise. They come because the runner is beating people, again and again. Like Lyles and Kerley and Jakob.
Performance anxiety is a real condition. For some of us it means getting a little nervous about an important event. For others it means an overwhelming and paralyzing worry about an important event that makes them afraid and unwilling to do the event. I think we've seen both Willis and Quigley so concerned about failing to meet their self-imposed expectations for themselves that they couldn't even try.
You don’t say…
So the remedy is to keep trotting her out there and hope for the best?
ncaa loss then mental health revelation then NB deal then run USAs then DNS…
Some posters on here are so insensitive. Things happen in life. We all go through struggles. Stop speculating and pray for her. Mental health is a very serious issue…
Reminds me of Sydney M when she was 15 or 16 years old. It was great that Sydney M's father stepped in and gave Sydney M a motivational speech like only a caring biological father can do. What if Sydney M quit on herself due to anxiety 1/2 dozen or so years ago? No way could Sydney M look in the mirror today and see a champion if Sydney M quit on herself about 1/2 a dozen years ago. Posters on here train through torn ankles. Posters on here train through stress fractures. Posters on here train through torn hamstrings. Posters on here race through badly damaged Achilles. Too many on here think this is okay, skipping out on an opportunity of a lifetime due to wanting a mental health day. She will regret someone in her life was not more like LaVona Golden, Tonya Harding's mother.
The timing of the NB deal is extremely interesting given it was post her revelation and ncaa outdoors race…
why couldn’t they have done it after indoor ncaas?
was it finalized right then to boost her confidence? Or just a coincidence?
weird timing all around…
You don't know what you're talking about. If a college runner is going to sign a deal with a sponsor, it's common to sign a deal after outdoor NCAAs and before USAs.
I would be curious to know if bill rodgers, Jim Ryun, Steve prefontaine, or a Joan Benoit Samuelson went through these type of mental health situations? Seems to me like this is just a result of the the last 10 years. I swear prior to 2010, I never heard anyone mention struggles of mental health, to the extent of it being an easy crutch word. People always said they dealt with: stress and pressure to perform that’s been said for 30-40 years. They used to say pressure either makes a diamond or bust pipes.
social media to me seems to have a direct correlation in many ways including timeline coexisting with mental health. I do say any of this to discredit what our youth are facing oh it’s very real. If Pre had an Instagram account he would either never post on it or be a rockstar on it but at the end of the I think it could alter someone like him to have more pressure to perform. I think the best thing these young athletes can do is completely stay off of social media, its definitely not a necessity for your life you will live just a fruitful without it and be able to focus on you.