The journey to the top of any sport can be extremely solitary. This, however, is amplified when the sport in question is not a team sport. In any individual sport, all of the glory and all the pitfalls as well fall on one shoulder. As the athlete finds more success and gains more attention the pressure and expectations only increase. While this may be easy for some to handle for others, it is not as easy which can lead them to fall out of love with their sport. This is something that happened in the case of the most decorated Olympian of all time Michael Phelps.
The American swimmer suffered majorly with mental health during his time at the top of the sport. Now, Phelps is one of the very few athletes brave enough to come forward and talk about it to raise awareness about the same.