While sports can give athletes a lot of success, it can also provide them with numerous other issues that could affect one’s mental health. This can be caused by many reasons, which include the pressures of the game and the support system of the athlete not being good. Either way, it is not great for an athlete to go through this. This is why the gymnastics community got emotional after a recent confession from one of them.

On December 21st, German gymnast Emelie Petz uploaded a carousel of pictures of her wearing a leotard on Instagram and then spoke in length about how she has struggled with her mental health a lot.Using on-screen text in her photos, she wrote that while gymnastics is a great sport, it has left her with some scars. This includes an eating disorder and the feeling that she was never good enough.

Emelie Petz then also went on to talk about a harsh fact in gymnastics, saying, “My injury has shown me that some people are only interested in me when I am successful.” After that, she also spoke about how, for a long time, she thought that she shouldn’t express an opinion. But now it seems like she has had time to process everything and is trying to find her footing in the world after gymnastics.

Emelie Petz went on to talk about her mental health struggles in more detail in the caption. She said, “These are things I struggle with, and I have realized the last few years. Every person has things that he struggles with, and most of the time he fights with himself. I know from personal experience that most of the time is not the best solution…I am very grateful for everyone who has always supported me & are always there for me! ❤️” Thus, it seemed like Emelie was trying to heal and move on from her mental health issues. For this, it seemed that she had support from the gymnastics community.

This Instagram post was later re-uploaded on the Reddit gymnastics community. There also, the people wholeheartedly backed Emelie. Most felt that it was important to start a dialogue on the subject, as many others might be suffering the same fate as the German gymnast.

This might be the way she could heal from the problems she has had. But most agreed that it was incredibly sad for an athlete who had enjoyed so much success to talk about feeling worthless. “This breaks my heart. I’m so glad that she’s open and talking about this as a way to heal. I wish her the best <3” Most fans wished her in the same way and spoke about how strong she was as a human being.

The gymnastics community shows empathy to Emelie Petz 

Many members of the gymnastics community lauded the decision by Emelie Petz to make the Instagram post where she declared her mental health problems. This level of honesty is rarely seen in sports, as athletes refuse to be vulnerable in front of people who are not their friends or family. But many gymnasts are now coming out publicly with their mental health issues. Most recently, Jordan Chiles showed the whole world how hard she was suffering from the bronze medal fiasco with Ana Barbosu.

She had even announced her decision to quit social media, where she has now returned. Her news gained a lot of supportive responses, which might have helped her move on. Thus, opening up might have been a good decision. Now, it seems that Emelie has taken the same route. “Very strong from Emi,” said gymnast Emma Malewski, a fellow German who showed support for Emilie’s plight.

Other members of the community also showed her a lot of respect. One must remember that despite the fact that Emelie is a very experienced gymnast who has now called a day from the sport, she is still only 21. This is a very young age outside of gymnastics, and the fact is that having too much pressure at this age might not be too good for her. Thus, a supportive space is heavily required for this.

Unfortunately, her comment about not feeling needed when she is not winning makes it seem like she didn’t have the luxury to have that, causing a lot of her problems. This is why it is imperative that Emelie Petz surround herself with the best people so that she can recover from her problems well. “I hope she has a good therapist.” Of course, she can take an example inside gymnastics itself, as Simone Biles herself was the victim of mental health problems during the Tokyo Olympics. It all came to a blow when she realized that her issues had affected her with ‘Twisties,’ making her unable to perform up to the mark.

Thus, she decided to withdraw from the competition for which she received a lot of trolling. However, since then, with the support of coaches and teammates, the gymnast has made a comeback and even snagged four medals in Paris. Thus, she could act as an inspiration for Emelie Petz even if she doesn’t want to return to the sport. “Sending you lots of love, Emi,” said one fan.

Another fan brought up the fact that this seems to be a very prevalent issue in German gymnastics. “Btw, she is not the first German gymnast to open up about eating disorders; Kim Bui and some Chemnitz gymnasts did it too,” said one fan. Kim, a two-time European Championship bronze medalist, represented Germany three times in the Olympics before her retirement in 2022.

In April 2023, the gymnast also put up a post talking about how the sport heavily affected her, leading her into a dark place, which made her develop bulimia. “Gymnastics is a sport where aesthetics are important; you wear figure-hugging leotards where every body proportion is emphasized,” wrote Kim, “and it is still often characterized by a childlike body shape.” Thus, it affected her too. This makes it a recurring issue in the country’s gymnastics and should be looked upon.