Mental health
FILE - Stanford players huddle before an NCAA college basketball game against Oregon State while wearing warmup shirts honoring the school's soccer team goalkeeper Katie Meyer, who helped Stanford win a national championship, in the quarterfinals of the Pac-12 women's tournament, March 3, 2022, in Las Vegas. There has been a lot of talk about the mental health struggles that many young athletes face, the pressures and vulnerabilities that can seem overwhelming — especially to those who feel compelled to shield their pain from the outside world. (AP Photo/David Becker, File)
Column: May deaths of Katie, Sarah and Lauren not be in vain

By Paul Newberry Apr. 30, 2022 12:40 AM EDT

FILE - Yulia Lipnitskaya of Russia, center, waits for her results after competing in the women's team short program figure skating competition at the Iceberg Skating Palace during the 2014 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, Pool, File)
Figure skating age debate also exposes body image challenges

By Sally Ho Feb. 19, 2022 10:21 PM EST

United State's Nick Goepper reacts during the men's slopestyle finals at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
For Goepper, another Olympic medal and clear outlook on life

By Pat Graham And Eddie Pells Feb. 16, 2022 03:42 AM EST

FILE - United States' Chloe Kim celebrates during the venue ceremony for the women's halfpipe at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)
Mental health hovers over Olympics, on its way to mainstream

By Sarah Dilorenzo Feb. 12, 2022 12:58 AM EST

FILE - Simone Biles, of the United States, stand on the mat during the warm up prior to the artistic gymnastics balance beam final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo. Two-time Alpine skiing gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin has been thinking a lot about the stress and pressure that gymnast Biles and swimmer Caeleb Dressel discussed during last year's Tokyo Olympics. And Shiffrin knows that she will face similar burdens when her races at the Beijing Winter Games. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Shiffrin talks about watching Biles deal with Olympic stress

By Howard Fendrich Feb. 01, 2022 04:39 AM EST

FILE - Norway's Maren Lundby competes in the mixed team ski jumping World Cup event in Rasnov, Romania, on Feb. 20, 2021. Lundby has emerged as an advocate for change in a sport that has historically had athletes develop eating disorders in a quest to be as light as possible to fly farther. (AP Photo/Raed Krishan, File)
Olympic champion Lundby laments ski jumping's weight issues

By Larry Lage Jan. 27, 2022 02:25 AM EST

Sean McCann stares through a spotting scope at the targets 50 meters away during a Biathlon event at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center biathlon shooting range, Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, in Midway, Utah. McCann is a clinical psychologist who works for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee — one of seven assigned to various sports teams. At certain times of the year, he's “embedded” with the U.S. biathlon team to help them perform at their best. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Finding the 'happy bubble': Mental health key for Olympians

By Martha Bellisle Jan. 24, 2022 11:08 AM EST

FILE - United States' Lindsey Vonn poses with her career's medals in the finish area after the women's downhill race, at the alpine ski World Championships in Are, Sweden, Feb. 10, 2019. Vonn details in a column for The Associated Press on Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2021 the mental health challenges she faced after retiring from ski racing. The most successful female ski racer of all time says she needed to find a new outlet after releasing all of her troubles on the mountain for so many years. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati, file)
Lindsey Vonn: I'm here to help for mental health, ski advice

By Lindsey Vonn Dec. 28, 2021 06:00 AM EST

FILE - Madison Hubbell, left, and Zachary Donohue perform during the free dance event at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in San Jose, Calif., Jan. 7, 2018. As U.S. skaters, led by three-time world champion Nathan Chen, two-time U.S. champion Alysa Liu, and outstanding ice dance couples Hubbell and Donohue, and Madison Chock and Evan Bates, prepare for nationals during the first week in Jan. 2022, in Nashville, they need to be aware of the pressure ahead. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
Lipinski, Weir and White evaluate nationals and Olympics

By Barry Wilner Dec. 24, 2021 03:20 AM EST

FILE - Philadelphia Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson (65) watches against the Detroit Lions during an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021. Once taboo topics such a battles with anxiety, depression or addictive behaviors are no longer suppressed and athletes around the world are speaking up: Lance Johnson of the Eagles Calvin Ridley of the Atlanta Falcons and both took leaves of absences from their teams. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)
Philadelphia Eagles at Detroit Lions 10/31/2021

Dec. 22, 2021 09:58 AM EST

FILE - Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley practices before an NFL football game against the New York Giants, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021, in East Rutherford, N.J. Once taboo topics such a battles with anxiety, depression or addictive behaviors are no longer suppressed and athletes around the world are speaking up: Calvin Ridley of the Falcons and Lance Johnson of the Philadelphia Eagles both took leaves of absences from their teams (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Atlanta Falcons at New York Giants 9/26/2021

Dec. 22, 2021 09:58 AM EST

FILE - Simone Biles watches gymnasts perform at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Tuesday, July 27, 2021. Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka were not the first elite athletes to struggle with their own mental health, but their public admissions this year spotlighted a crisis not often addressed in the sporting world. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
Mental health among athletes spotlighted in tumultuous 2021

By Jenna Fryer Dec. 22, 2021 09:56 AM EST

FILE - Simone Biles, of the United States, finishes on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Biles’ 2021 experiences, and how she talked about them, helped drive a robust conversation about athletes’ emotional health. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
2021 Notebook: For athletes, mental health took center stage

By The Associated Press Dec. 14, 2021 05:27 PM EST

Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner (90) saves a shot on goal by the Calgary Flames during the first period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Dec. 5, 2021, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Vegas G Robin Lehner to skip Olympics, cites health reasons

Dec. 06, 2021 04:15 AM EST

FILE - Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Simone Biles believes the post-Olympic tour she headlined proved cathartic. It also served as a touchstone for a movement within her sport and within herself. The 24-year-old gymnastics star thinks the tour -- which will be made available to stream in December -- expanded her horizons about what's next. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, file)
Regroup, reset: Biles to rest after trailblazing tour

By Will Graves Nov. 08, 2021 07:01 AM EST

Spanish Paralympic swimmer to fly home after anxiety attack

Sep. 09, 2021 12:07 PM EDT
MADRID (AP) — A prominent Spanish Paralympic swimmer will be flown home after she was hospitalized in Tokyo because of an anxiety attack, the Spanish...

FILE - Simone Biles performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women's apparatus final at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, in this Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, file photo. Biles is at peace with her decision to opt out of several competitions at the Tokyo Olympics to focus on her mental health. The seven-time Olympic medalist is happy to spread the importance of putting the person ahead of the athlete, one of the themes of her fall exhibition tour that will feature four other members of the 2021 Olympic gymnastics team. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Biles: Mental health advocacy part of post-Olympic tour

By Will Graves Aug. 19, 2021 09:00 AM EDT

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, April 6, 2018, New Zealand's Olivia Podmore waves after competing at the Women's Sprint 1/8 finals at the Anna Meares Velodrome during the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia. The New Zealand Olympic Committee says track cyclist Olivia Podmore has died suddenly at the age of 24, in a statement released Tuesday Aug. 10, 2021, without disclosing the cause of death. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard, FILE)
Olivia Podmore, New Zealand 2016 Olympic cyclist, dies at 24

Aug. 10, 2021 02:41 PM EDT

The Russian Olympic Committee athletes pose for a photo during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 8, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Mixed bag: Erratic Pandemic Olympics come to a nuanced end

By Ted Anthony Aug. 08, 2021 02:18 AM EDT

FILE - In this July 27, 2021 file photo, Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the vault during the artistic gymnastics women's final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in Tokyo. Biles and Naomi Osaka are prominent young Black women under the pressure of a global Olympic spotlight that few human beings ever face. But being a young Black woman -- which, in American life, comes with its own built-in pressure to perform -- entails much more than meets the eye. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko, File)
Black women, across generations, heed Biles’ Olympic example

By Aaron Morrison, Astrid Galvan And Deepti Hajela Aug. 03, 2021 10:19 PM EDT