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Alicia Blagg | Olympian at 15: Dealing with the Pressure
Manage episode 299698913 series 2969062
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Alicia Blagg: Olympian, National Champion, Commonwealth Gold medalist, future detective and mental health advocate. It’s an extensive CV already at just 23 years old.
For most athletes, competing at the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of their career. For Alicia Blagg, involvement in the Games was achieved at just 15 years old when she competed at London 2012 in the diving. Success came even earlier for Alicia, when at 13 she became England’s youngest ever double national champion.
Competing on the big stage and being thrust into the limelight at such a young age is a difficult challenge, and while Alicia successfully dealt with the intense pressure at the time, on reflection she admits it took its toll mentally. So too did horrific injuries to her wrist and shoulder which ultimately forced Alicia into retirement earlier this month at just 23.
The nature of diving contributed to her mental struggles too; it is is a psychologically demanding sport, with such fine margins for error. Tom Daley is another diver who has spoken openly about his mental health after suffering from PTSD following the 2012 Olympic Games.
It’s not just diving though and there is a huge mental health problem throughout sport. However, it is rare to find athletes willing to discuss their mental health, and so we are grateful to Alicia for being so open about her experiences in session #8, and we hope that the discussion will help other athletes who may be struggling.
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