She thought an Olympic gold medal would change her life. It did — but in unexpected ways.
U.S. Olympic swimmer Lydia Jacoby was on top of the world.
U.S. Olympic swimmer Lydia Jacoby was on top of the world.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter breaststroke after having recorded the fastest time ever achieved by a female American swimmer (1:04.95).
But shortly after she returned home to Alaska, Jacoby, then 17, discovered in real time how her life had changed from being an obscure athlete to being famous worldwide.
In a conversation on NBC's “My New Favorite Olympian” podcast, Jacoby detailed the challenges of experiencing depression.
“After the Olympics, you’re getting pulled so many different directions,” she said. “I’m very much a people pleaser. So I was like, ‘I want to do this for everyone.’ And I felt, like, at a point I’d given every piece of myself away and I had nothing left for myself.
Rating: 5