Mental health issues endemic in elite level sport, warns mother who lost her son to suicide

....Four current or recently retired British sportspeople in non-Olympic sports have already died ­suddenly in 2020 and, although ­inquests have not yet been held, their deaths have each been ­followed by references from family or friends to mental health.

A final letter from Fallon to his partner, Rebecca Dunning, said that “depression is very much a problem in sport” and outlined a hope that his experience could be used to help others. June Fallon has been shocked by how many people, particularly in judo, have been in touch since her 36-year-old son died by suicide last July. She believes there are significant flaws in the elite system and that Fallon, for all his vast success, felt like a failure after ending his career without an Olympic medal......

....."I fear that many athletes are, by societal standards, suffering mental health issues,” he said. “Elite sport is a different world, toxic masculinity, fierce competition and extreme pressure in some cases can excuse symptoms and compound the problem. If medals are your sole priority, there is not much motivation for anything substantive to change."...

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Bethany`s Notes: Are medals/winning the sole priority of national sport governing bodies? How about colleges in the US? Where does the winning end and the mental health priority begin?