Different sports but the same struggles. Elite competition comes with a lot of pressure and this includes pressure on the family. Ask Patrick Mahomes‘s mom, Randi Mahomes, about it. She never expected to find herself walking a path similar to Olympic champion Simone Biles. Yet throughout her life, she grappled with similar pitfalls of fame and the crushing weight of public scrutiny.

Last month, she peeled back the glossy layers of Patrick’s fame and shared the reality behind it. “We just want to be normal and go and have dinner. We don’t do that.”

In the same candid conversation on The Mom Game podcast back on June 21, she further said, “It’s been the hardest 7 years of learning new life… I look at some of my friends on social media … and I’m jealous that they have this normal life.”

Someone like Biles will surely understand Randi Mahomes’s struggles with fame. The most decorated American gymnast shocked the world when she stepped back from several events during the Tokyo Olympics, citing mental health concerns. With that, a lot of criticism was hurled her way. “I worked on myself a lot, I still do therapy weekly,” Biles later revealed, highlighting the ongoing nature of her mental health journey.

Biles’s issues stemmed from performance pressure whereas for Randi Mahomes, it is the relentless spotlight on her family. She also explained how fame took over her professional life and made it difficult for her to work. This stress might have forced Randi to retire from her 20-year career as an event planner, focusing on new interests.

However, she understands her son is a famous player and does her best to cope with all that’s happening around her. Regardless, some things are difficult for her to accept. “I’ve cried myself to sleep reading some of the things that I know my kids see.” This really exposes the mental struggles athletes and their families go through.

Randi Mahomes and Simone Biles: The unexpected duo advocating for mental health

As Randi Mahomes went through these stormy waters, she started understanding what mental health awareness entails. This is something that Simone Biles has been advocating since her Tokyo debacle. She was joined by several other gymnasts who talked about their struggles with competing and most recently, Randi Mahomes has been advocating the same.

“Next up for me: sharing more about my journey with faith, family, and mental health,” On July 5, Randi, posted on her social media accounts, changing her approach towards life. This resembles Biles’ path as she has been using her platform to normalize mental health problems in society as recently covered by Netflix’s ‘Simone Biles: Rising’.

Randi’s journey has not been an easy one. She openly talked about how it was hard for her to make friends. “There’s been a lot that’s been great, but then there have been some that have been really hurtful because they weren’t friends for the right reasons.”

In search of advice, Randi even contacted Kris Jenner- another famous mother who knows a little something about thriving under the spotlight. But in Simone Biles, Randi Mahomes has an inspiration. While competing at the Paris Olympics, where she led the US team to win a gold medal and became America’s most decorated gymnast, Biles came back with a bang. Her comeback only shows that taking care of your mental health sometimes leads to more success than one could imagine.

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