- Michael Phelps won 28 Olympic medals, including 23 gold, in four Games
- “I had to learn that vulnerability is a good thing,” the retired swimmer said.
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Swimming legend Michael Phelps has opened up about his battle with “post-Olympic depression” which left him struggling to cope with life after reaching “the edge of the cliff”.
Phelps won 28 Olympic medals, including 23 gold, in four Games. That haul, collected between 2004 and 2016, makes him the most decorated Olympian of all time.
But the American faced a hidden battle with his mental health even as he left his rivals behind him in the pool.
The Baltimore native has revealed how he began battling depression in 2004, after winning six gold medals and two bronze medals in Athens.
He said NBC: ‘2004 was my first experience with post-Olympic depression. Getting that high when you basically start to like the edge of the cliff and you’re like, “Great. Now what? Oh, I guess I’ll have to wait four more years to get the chance to do it again.” “.
Swimming legend Michael Phelps opens up about his battle with ‘post-Olympic depression’
The American won 28 Olympic medals, including 23 gold, between 2004 and 2016.
‘And for those who don’t have a hit Olympic Gamesthose four years can be like an absolute eternity.’
The cycle repeated itself four years later, after Phelps enjoyed even greater success, winning eight gold medals in Beijing.
‘2008 was my second experience of post-Olympic depression. Because to get out of that euphoria after doing something that you set out to do your whole life,” she said.
‘My goal was to do something that no one else had done before. I did it when I was 19, 20 or something.’
“I saw it as a weakness…I had to learn that vulnerability is a good thing,” Phelps admitted.
The 38-year-old hid his struggles for fear of ‘giving his competitors an advantage’
The 38-year-old told NBC, in an interview that will air in full on Meet the Press on May 19, that he hid his struggles for fear of “giving an advantage to his competitors.” Instead, he had to learn that depression was not a sign of weakness.
“I think at that moment, as a male athlete, I realized something was wrong. But I think I saw it as a sign of weakness and if I shared something about it, it would give my competitors an advantage,” he explained.
‘And I’m not trying to do that, am I? I don’t want to give my competitors an advantage. I’m trying to be better than anyone, period, ever has been. So, for me, I saw it as a weakness.
‘So, for me, I had to learn that vulnerability is a good thing. And at first it was scary, but I learned that vulnerability only means change. And for me it was a big change.”
