Failed due to pressure

We all know that somehow. The grind of life. The always the same procedure, the always the same processes, the possibly always present expectation of delivering the best possible performance day in and day out. Well, of course this can be interpreted very differently and always depends on what position you are in and what hierarchy in the processes. But many people may have already experienced a situation: “I'm fed up, I don't want to do it anymore. I don't get up in the morning anymore. Something has to change.” And in plain language: “It’s all getting too much for me.”

Too many burdens and demands that are extreme, especially in sport, because qualifications have to be completed all the time and then medals have to be won. The so-called “pressure” comes from everywhere. From your own expectations as well as from the association, which ultimately pays the trainers and everything that goes with being a top athlete. Added to this is the public, fed by the media, which can turn a defeat into a catastrophe. As if you lost on purpose. And so the psychological state of some people gets so high that there is only one reaction: it's over, it's over and it's time to finish work. Recently it has been particularly noticeable that there are no longer any large-scale considerations that put an end to the sporting activities. Spontaneous reactions, perhaps even short-circuit actions, are increasing. The word about the evil “depression” is quickly making the rounds. A fit body loses the battle against the malady psyche.

Defeats to suicide There are enough examples. Some who didn't know what to do or what to do even gave up their lives, like soccer goalkeeper Robert Enke, who was run over by a train on November 10, 2009. It is often said that someone left life voluntarily. No, no one does this voluntarily. There are a thousand and more little things that in such situations develop into an unbearable situation that requires a solution. Cries for help that are not recognized lead to catastrophe. The true reasons for the end of a career are rarely found out, as was the case in 2009, when Hermann Maier announced his retirement two weeks before the first race after fully preparing for the season. At least it was somehow planned. Or not.

His name colleague Matthias Mayer stopped suddenly. In Bormio last December he was busy taking part in the inspection. The morning before the Super-G he canceled due to a gastrointestinal upset. Shortly afterwards, the three-time Olympic champion resigned. Not even his wife knew about it. “Resignation with immediate effect,” the message read.

Matthias Mayer retired from active racing this winter. © APA/afp / JOE KLAMAR

The Swiss Beat Feuz was also tired and even decided not to take part in the World Championships this year. Kitzbühel still took part. His favorite race. Then it was over for one of the most successful skiers in Switzerland. Somehow from one day to the next. Olle Sandin from Sweden, only 24 years old, realized at his team's first training camp last September in Saas Fee (Switzerland) that "I'm done with this sport." In his mid-twenties, at what may yet be the peak of his creative power

Strange early resignations The biathlete Magdalena Neuner was only active at the highest level for six years. Laura Dahlmeier ended her highly impressive career at the age of 25, although now, a few years after her greatest successes at the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea), small fragments are coming to light that show that she was probably unwilling even then was to stay active longer. She talks about the lack of emotions at the award ceremony, about emptiness when she had expected the cornucopia of emotions. Disappointment spread, including at the time for Magdalena Neuner, who to this day still cannot understand why she, as the best biathlete in the world at the time, was not nominated for the relay in Vancouver 2010. She fell victim to internal intrigues and only continued until 2012 because the World Championships were taking place in Ruhpolding at that time. In many cases it is the small and large pinpricks that ultimately lead to resignations, although fortunately some are not permanent. Now the biathlete Emilien Jacquelin from France has drawn a line. But only under the previous season, which ultimately got out of hand for one of the most talented athletes in his industry. The successes of the past were only a memory. The victory with the French relay in Oberhof was just a tiny consolation.

People in the industry like to say that someone has pulled the ripcord. Better an ending with horror and so on. Fortunately, there is another way. Johannes Thingnes Bø, currently the best biathlete, showed us an example that could set a precedent. He ended the season after the Olympic Games in Beijing, generously foregone the possible victory in the overall World Cup and allowed himself peace and composure while his colleagues completed their last appearances for weeks. His results are well known - he recently won medals in all seven competitions in Oberhof. Five gold, one silver, one bronze. And he is now the proud father of a son. He made perfect use of the break.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The multi-award-winning sports journalist (including the German Television Prize, the Bavarian Sports Prize, the Biathlon Award and the Grimme Prize nomination) illuminates the entire world of sport in his column “Sigis Spitze”. And sometimes there is more poaching in foreign regions. Sometimes with tongue-in-cheek humor, sometimes serious or deliberately provocative. There should be something for everyone.

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Failed due to pressure

In many sports, the retirements of successful athletes are increasing. Our columnist Sigi Heinrich sees differences between current career ends or interim stops.

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