SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2021
HBO documentary ‘The Weight of Gold’
shows grim realities of Olympic athletes
BAKER VOLLEYBALL
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Baker Freshman Ashlyn Dalton (11) and Junior
Makenzie Flanagan (2) attempt to block a Tiger’s spike
midway through the match.
Bulldogs win Greater
Oregon League title
after defeating La
Grande, 3-0
Baker Bulldogs varsity volleyball
team secures their first league title
since the 2017-2018 season
By COREY KIRK
ckirk@bakercityherald.com
The Baker Bulldogs
varsity girls volleyball team
(14-5) walked away as the
Greater Oregon League
champions after sweeping
the La Grande Tigers (5-6)
3-0 in a match on Thursday,
Oct. 14, in La Grande.
The Bulldogs won the
first set 25-19, the second
set 25-23, and the third set
25-22.
Varsity Head Coach Ali
Abrego was proud of her
BAKER CITY HERALD — A7
SPORTS
team’s efforts, and is excited
for what will unfold for them
in the postseason.
“It’s been a while since
we’ve won league or hosted
a playoff game, and I am
just very proud of the girls,”
Abrego said.
The last time the Bulldogs
were GOL league champions
was the 2017-2018 season.
They end their regular sea-
son on the road as they take
on the Mac-Hi Pioneers (5-5)
next Thursday, Oct. 21. Tip-
off will be at 6:30 p.m.
As I panned through the
main menu of HBO Max,
something caught my at-
tention. It involved Michael
Phelps, one of the most
famous Olympic athletes
who has also been a promi-
nent mental health advocate.
Pressing “play” was an easy
decision.
I began to watch HBO’s
“The Weight of Gold” docu-
mentary.
My expectations were
exceeded with each passing
minute. Phelps was the focus,
but what I enjoyed most
about about the documen-
tary is that it featured the
perspectives of many other
Olympians. They talked
about their love for their
sports, training for their
moment of competitive glory,
the overwhelming experience
of partaking in the spectacle
of the Olympics, and the po-
tential outcome that follows.
Phelps pondered that from
his own journey.
“If your whole life was
about building up to one
race, one performance, or one
event, how does that sustain
everything that comes after-
wards?” he said. “Eventually,
for me at least, there was one
question that hit me like a
ton of bricks: Who was I out-
side of the swimming pool?”
What fans of the Olym-
pics tend to forget is the
COREY
KIRK
long interval — four years
— between these athletes’
chance to have career- or life-
defining moments.
What happens if, after all
that preparation, they fail to
reach the medal podium?
Former American skier
Jeremy Bloom talked about
that in “The Weight of Gold.”
“Unless you’re an Olympic
athlete, it’s difficult to under-
stand when you fail at the
Olympics, what a big deal
that is,” Bloom said. “From
an outside perspective, you
can say, ‘Oh, big deal. You’re
an Olympian. People have
bigger problems.’ And that
is true. But for Olympians,
that’s your life. That’s really
what defines you.”
After the talk of the Olym-
pics was over, the meat and
potatoes of the documentary
focused on the mental health
of these athletes. Phelps
describes it as, “Post-Olympic
Depression,” where these ath-
letes face their own perceived
inadequacies and struggle to
keep their dreams alive.
A huge component to this
is the ability to profit off of
your work, because winning
doesn’t always guarantee
financial stability. Olympic
hurdler/bobsledder Lolo
Jones said that while she
was training, she earned
roughly $7,000 a year, and
at one point she nearly
lost her health insurance.
Phelps, recognizing that his
slew of sponsorships helped
him solely focus on his craft,
said his fellow swimmers re-
ceived a stipend of $1,700 per
month. Many Olympic hope-
fuls are struggling financially
to make ends meet.
“The whole thought that
going to the Olympics, and
especially if you win a medal,
sets you up for life, is such
horse (expletive),” former
Olympic figure skater Gracie
Gold said in the documen-
tary.
“The Weight of Gold” also
touches on the trauma some
of these athletes endure,
referring to these as the “side
effects” of being an Olympian.
The biggest point they touch
on is depression and suicidal
ideation. Led by Phelps, ath-
letes talked about how they
can’t endure the consistent
pressure they are under, and
the loss of other athletes who
end up completing suicide
because of it.
What hits you the hardest
as a viewer is how one of the
athletes being interviewed
unfortunately passed away
as well. Steve Holcomb, a
member of the US bobsled
team, didn’t even live long
enough to see the documen-
tary be completed.
I immediately felt my
heart sink to the pit of my
stomach.
What these athletes go
through eliminates this fa-
cade that being an Olympian
is idealistic. These athletes
train vigorously, are paid
next to nothing, and struggle
with mental health. Phelps is
quick to mention that Olym-
pic athletes often hide their
pain, but there is a dire need
to take care of them and the
traumas they are enduring.
“I don’t think that they’re
maliciously ignoring our well-
being, I just don’t know that
they realize it’s, like, a full
crisis yet,” Gold says. “How
many more dead Olympians
do they need before they real-
ize that there might be an
epidemic here?”
In response to the recent
turn of events, the United
States Olympic and Paralym-
pic Committee announced
the creation of a Mental
Health Taskforce in April of
2020 to support Team USA
athletes.
After watching this docu-
mentary I can only hope they
are ready to put the work in.
These athletes deserve it.
Corey Kirk is sports editor
for the Baker City Herald.
Pac-12 aiming to build on 2021 NCAA Tournament run
Eight and UCLA playing
in the Final Four, changing
The Pac-12 had been an national perceptions while
boosting confidence around
afterthought in the NCAA
the league.
Tournament in recent
Now it’s time to take
years, the number of quali-
fying teams dwindling, the that next step of consistent-
deep runs into the bracket ly doing well in March.
rare.
“I’m really excited for
The conference took a big the league with what we
turn last season with three accomplished at the NCAA
teams reaching the Elite
Tournament,” Arizona State
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Basketball Writer
coach Bobby Hurley said
Wednesday, Oct. 13 from
Pac-12 media day in San
Francisco. “It’s what we’ve
been talking about in head
coaches’ meetings for years.
To have that success trans-
late in the NCAA Tourna-
ment. Our conference,
people are viewing us differ-
ent because of that success.
We have good momentum.”
The Pac-12 was arguably
the best conference in last
year’s tournament, going
13-5. UCLA, Southern Cali-
fornia and Oregon State all
reached the Elite Eight. The
Bruins were seconds away
from reaching the NCAA
championship game, losing
to Gonzaga on Jalen Suggs’
banked-in running 3-point-
er at the buzzer.
“We give to help kids experience
the outdoors, music and art
they would otherwise miss in
rural communities.”
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