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Medals & More - a conversation with Dame Katherine Grainger

S1E6 Mental Health Awareness Week during Lockdown

Season 1, Ep. 6

Across the sporting community, there has been an increased focus on athlete wellbeing. We are used to hearing from athletes about their physical problems, but what about their mental health?


In this episode of Medals & More, the podcast getting behind the scenes of Olympic and Paralympic sport, recorded during Mental Health Awareness Week, five time Olympic medallist and now the Chair of UK Sport, Dame Katherine Grainger welcomes a panel of three guests to discuss the emotional challenges facing athletes aiming to be the best.


Two time Olympic Champion Lizzy Yarnold, Great Britain's most successful Winter Olympian ever, describes how the pressure of training for the Olympic Games meant she often cried herself to sleep at night, whilst world record holding race walker Tom Bosworth admits that following his disqualification during the 2017 World Athletics Championships in London, he attempted to take his own life.


There is support for athletes in the shape of Performance Lifestyle Advisors at the English Institute of Sport and Jo Harrison discusses what is now in place to help athletes struggling with their mental health.


The podcast was recorded in mid-May with Katherine and the entire panel speaking remotely from their homes.

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