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Generation Z athletes (those ) have emerged in 2021 as global wellbeing leaders and advocates, challenging outdated ideas about what it takes to be an athlete. Many of these young sportspeople have gone beyond their sport and taken on roles of advocacy, sponsorship and politics. Through social media, they have opened up conversations about performance, mental health and the .
Sports stars are making their voices heard across a range of different sporting arenas. They are doing this by shifting the power over the conversation and this is particularly facilitated by social media. These athletes are making it clear that, while they love their sports, their primary responsibility is their duty to themselves.
Two of the most prominent sportspeople to take a stand for themselves and their mental health this year were tennis player and gymnast .
Osaka has used social media to . She has made it clear that 鈥渂efore [she is] an athlete, [she is] a Black Woman鈥�. Biles has pointed to how having such a huge (she has 1.7 million followers on Twitter alone) stopped the governing body USA Gymnastics from turning a blind eye to sexual assault and harassment allegations against coaches and staff.
Both are leading advocates on key social issues: Osaka on and Biles as a survivor of . As well as performing at the highest levels of their disciplines they are holding society to account. No wonder this takes a toll on their mental health.
The emergence of the athlete鈥檚 during their career is new and growing. You might think that they always had access to a platform to speak through traditional sports media but this was always sanitised, often limited to interviews that sought to capture the immediacy of a performance. Social media has expanded and accelerated a properly authentic voice that is also more personal and openly political.
The athlete鈥檚 voice
These gen Z players, born into or at the cusp of the social media boom, can connect directly with their millions of followers on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok to share personal insights. In doing so they are bypassing the more traditional communication channels, highlighting how the away from traditional sports journalists to the sportspeople themselves.
It is unusual for active athletes to be so transparent about their health 鈥� particularly, their mental health. At the Tokyo Olympics, Biles made a rare exception. She used social media to explain an attack of the 鈥溾�� and the impact on her performance and mental health. This disrupted the narrative of victory at all costs.
It鈥檚 in an athlete鈥檚 interest to minimise their opposition鈥檚 understanding of their injuries or 鈥渨eaknesses鈥�. Typically, sports fans must wait for the 鈥渢ell-all鈥� book or autobiography that articulates an athlete鈥檚 previous struggles with injury, doubt and mental health. For example, tennis player Pete Sampras only revealed he had a (which can make people tired and short of breath) in his book A Champion鈥檚 Mind. Similarly, tennis player Andre Agassi鈥檚 confessed to in his book, Open.
Our research suggests that social media has undermined the need for this . Sportspeople can construct their own narratives and control their stories as they go along. It represents the perfect sports autobiography for the digital age.
Social media vs legacy media
Sports journalism has become an the lives and experiences of athletes. The relationship between athletes and the press has developed over time, with athletes typically contracted to participate in press commitments. These press commitments are required by sponsors and tournaments alike and are used to promote people, brands and events.
We are seeing an evolution of this relationship, which disrupts existing power systems. In 2021, actions at the French Open challenged the relationship between sport and the media. She initially used her social media channels to announce she wouldn鈥檛 be participating in press conferences during the tournament. Later, after being threatened with expulsion, she again took to social media and highlight her depression and struggles with mental health.
翱蝉补办补鈥檚 social media interventions were followed up by her , which stressed the need for change. Her immediate focus was to remove the unnecessary burden of particular press duties, especially the press conference, to protect athletes鈥� mental health. 翱蝉补办补鈥檚 high profile interventions are likely to bring change which, coupled with better training for athletes on the use and , will be more useful and effective than dealing with the mental health after-effects when things go wrong.
The social media backlash against some of these gen Z athletes highlights a generational clash, exposing the relationship between sports and mental health, as well as traditional and new media. Athletes have led the way in exposing the power imbalance. Now, the exchanges between the public, press and athletes are becoming more equal.
By taking control of their own stories, these athletes have broken the idea that top sports stars 鈥� with their extreme athleticism, dedication and seemingly invincibility 鈥� are somehow superhuman. Elite athletes carry enormous burdens of responsibility and winning doesn鈥檛 come before everything else. As : 鈥淲e are not just entertainment, we are human鈥�.
, Professor of Intellectual Property and Innovation Law and Co-Director of the Jean Monet Centre of Excellence for European Intellectual Property and Information Rights, ; , Senior Academic in Sociology of Sport, , and , Head of department of Humanities and Law,
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