Phelps narrates tough ‘The Weight of Gold’ ‘The Weight of Gold’ 10 p.m. Wednesday, July 29 on HBO.
If the world were normal right now, we’d be watching the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
But, of course, we’re not, thanks to COVID-19.
Who would have emerged as a star? Who would have surpassed expectations?
And who would have come up short? That’s basically how we think of the Olympics and those who participate in them, right? And that has consequences, as we learn in “The Weight of Gold,” a one-hour HBO documentary that premieres on Wednesday, July 29.
Swimmer Michael Phelps, the mostdecorated Olympian of all time, narrates and is an executive producer of the decidedly downbeat hour that looks at the mental-health effects on Olympic athletes of the intense training, pressure of competing and comedown after it’s over.
It is not a pretty picture. Phelps and other Olympians interviewed in the documentary acknowledge the rewards of success but also its cost. And not every athlete who competes in the Olympics is as successful as Phelps, obviously. The challenges exist for them all.
The danger for so many is that competing is not just something that requires nearly all of their time and energy for most of their lives in just the attempt to reach an elite level. It is more than that — it becomes their identity.
“I thought of myself as just a swimmer,” Phelps, who lives in Paradise Valley, says in the film, “and not a human being.”
Phelps has discussed his depression before, but he does so again here, as part of the larger context. Other athletes interviewed include Sean White, Lolo Jones, Bode Miller, Gracie Gold, Sasha Cohen, Apolo Anton Ono and Katie Uhlaender — as well as the late Steven Holcomb.
Some of them you’ve probably heard of. Some you probably haven’t. They participate in vastly different sports — swimming, figure skating, track and field, bobsledding, etc. But their stories follow a common theme. They sacrificed a normal life to compete. Many don’t make much money. And after their time in the spotlight ends, however brightly it might have shined, they struggled to adapt to life outside their sport. Who retires in their 20s or 30s, Phelps asks.
Cohen is especially poignant on this topic, talking about taking a bus for athletes to the venue to compete and knowing when she got back on her fate would be sealed, one way or the other.
More strikingly, many of them have considered suicide. Some have tried it. Some have completed it.
The interviews are fascinating, particularly those with Jones and Cohen, neither of whom won gold but both of whom came agonizingly close. Jones, massively hyped, was favored to win the 100-meter hurdles in the 2008 Olympics and was leading the field in the finals, but clipped a hurdle and didn’t medal. (She also competed in the 2016 winter games in bobsledding.)
Cohen, a figure skater, won silver in the 2006 winter games but fell twice during her free skate, denying her any chance at gold.
Of course both were among the best in the world at their sports. But it obviously didn’t feel that way after they didn’t win.
But even winning doesn’t guarantee happiness, as Phelps and Ono demonstrate.
Gold, whose struggle with depression was chronicled at length by the New York Times, is a forceful voice for change, for more help for those who need it — as is Phelps. Gold is urgent in her demands, Phelps quiet but insistent. Both are effective.
“The Weight of Gold” is tough sledding at times. One development, if you’re not familiar with the story, is surprising and shattering. But it’s also an honest, difficult look at the lives of those who we typically would be celebrating right now, without knowing the full story.