The cherry blossom sculpture containing the Olympic Flame may have closed up on Sunday in Tokyo, but it did not extinguish the fire that the “Pandemic Games” has lit globally. The sakura, Japan’s national flower, is a symbol of many things, from rebirth and renewal to the hope and promise that the buds dormant in winter will bloom again … even if it’s a year later. But always when the time is right.
And such was the takeaway from the 32nd Olympiad, which debuted its augmented motto of “Citius, Altius, Fortius” — “Faster, Higher, Stronger” — when adding “Together.” The change was approved this past July 20 by the International Olympic Committee to recognize the unifying power of sport and the importance of solidarity.
IOC President Thomas Bach stressed the “Stronger Together” part of the organization’s new campaign during Sunday’s closing ceremony, of how the athletes who competed kept moving even when the world around them stopped. And the belief that the world moves forward only when it moves together.
The Olympic sakura bloomed in Tokyo a year later than expected, with an additional and unexpected message. The time was right for the discussion on mental health.
It literally took center stage the past few weeks with gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka, the latter the first of her sport to light the Olympic cauldron. There was much backlash when Biles “quit on her team,” as many criticized, as well as for Osaka, whose early exit from Ariake Tennis Park only rekindled the debate when she refused to hold a press conference after winning her first-round match at the French Open.
By comparison, it seemed not as much attention was given to Novak Djokovic’s unsportsmanlike meltdown during his bronze-medal loss at the Olympics. He then left before the third-place mixed doubles match, at first citing mental exhaustion … later changed to shoulder injury … thus denying his partner Nina Stojanovic a shot at bronze. (Now THAT is quitting on your teammate).
Interestingly, Djokovic was asked about Biles’ withdrawing only days before his outburst.
“If you’re aiming to be at the top of the game, you better start learning how to deal with pressure. And how to cope with those moments on the court but also off the court,” the Serbian was quoted in a Washington Post article.
“Pressure is a privilege.”
Maybe so. But until one walks in someone else’s Nikes or follows their chalky footprints, there is no right to criticize someone’s brave — and very public — decision to admit to a mental health problem.
Former Hawai’i men’s volleyball players James Anastassiades and Dalton Solbrig aren’t as well known as Biles or Osaka but they are equally as brave. They, along with former UT Dallas volleyball player Fayna Zeng, have launched OffTheCourtHealth.com, described as an athlete wellness initiative aiming to improve mental health, nutrition and recovery from injury.
All speak from experience, their personal struggles that include injuries, surgeries, eating disorders and depression lending even more credibility to their venture.
Anastassiades decided to forego the extra year granted by the NCAA to play for the Warriors last spring, and was the graduate assistant/team manager during the championship run.
“It was a hard decision not to come back,” he said. “I had always been an athlete, still had that competitive mindset. The question was how to keep that in my daily life.
“As collegiate athletes, we’re told to maximize our potential and perform like professionals. Different schools have different resources but it got me thinking: ‘Why isn’t there one place to have all those resources that are in your area? Why is there no app so that it’s automatically there?’ ”
That’s one of the items the trio is working on. They already offer podcasts as well as youth volleyball clinics (the latter on hold likely until next summer).
“The end goal is an app that is really easy and affordable to get professional help,” said Solbrig, who sat out the end of his season with SVG Lueneburg (Germany) with an ankle injury that required surgery. “We’re doing social media, growing our following. For whoever is reading this, we could always use the support and share our website.
“(The injury) gave me a new sense of perspective. To this day, it is difficult to say I’m depressed, or sad. One of our big themes is to encourage athletes to talk about it.”
Their startup did not come without challenges, from COVID to three different time zones: Solbrig then in Germany, Zeng in Texas and Anastassiades in Hawaii. It continues to be a work in progress, which mirrored what the trio went through when recovering from their respective injuries.
“I struggled with the loss of identity, I had played volleyball for 15 years,” said Zeng, who retired from competition following her second ACL surgery. “I’ve learned the hard way that everyone’s career as an athlete has to come to an end sometime and we have to discover our identity outside of sports.
“I’m so excited to help as many people as we can.”
Biles’ situation resonated with the OffTheCourtHealth.com co-founders. Zeng said they are looking at doing a video to discuss it.
There is no need to wait for the flame at the Winter Olympics in Beijing to be lit on Feb. 4. This is the right time to continue what Tokyo ignited.
