OPINION:
I was having a conversation the other day with an English journalist about the current state of the game globally. It was sparked by the recent news of Ben Stokes withdrawing himself from the England/India Test series on mental health grounds, but the conversation was more about the feeling amongst players in this day and age in general.
His argument was pretty black and white: that the mental health card is played too readily in the modern era. Players have always found the game difficult, form has always come and gone for every player, but in the past they simply toughened up, pushed through and got the job done.
I know this is a view pretty widely held in society, even with all the progress made on the side of mental health in recent years. As recently as last month Simone Biles was vilified on social media for withdrawing from Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics. She is undeniably the GOAT in the history of her sport. In the past she's been known to finish competitions with broken bones rather than give up on her team. "Mentally weak" she was labeled, "soft". It was later revealed that she was struggling to deal with the death of her aunt while locked down in the Tokyo bubble. I wouldn't imagine the torrent of abuse from the public would've made her struggle any easier.
Days later the devastating news of the death of Olympic Cyclist Olivia Podmore broke in New Zealand. She had recently spoken publicly about the immense pressure she felt as an athlete in the public eye. I wonder how many of Biles' critics drew a link between the two. I would hazard a guess at not many.