Richard Arnold: US Correspondent on Michael Phelps speaking on anxiety, Biden's regrets and sports star robberies.

One of the most decorated Olympians of all time with 28 medals, Michael Phelps is speaking out on his struggles with anxiety and depression. 

The Olympian said there needs to be more emotional support for athletes. 

In other US news, outgoing President Joe Biden is reflecting on his term and declaring any regrets. 

US Correspondent joins the show to discuss this and more. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks. It'd be
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Speaker 2 (00:17):
Yes, and time to say good morning Richard Arnold.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
Good morning again, Tim.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey, Michael Phelps is speaking out about mental health.

Speaker 3 (00:26):
Yeah, this is interesting because it'll close out of the
year now many folks are taking a break, a time
of reflection, I guess, and the world's greatest Olympian Phelps
is looking back on his story swimming career and saying
there needs to be more emotional support for athletes involved. Phelps,
of course one twenty three Olympic gold medals and several others,
but he now says he struggled and still struggles with

(00:47):
anxiety and depression and had little help at the time
of his sports triumphs from Olympic trainers. What Phelps is
saying today is the athletes must come first, and they
still do not. That might be surprising to those who
think of Phelps are simply the super competitor of the superfish.
He admits that he kept to himself some of what
was going on because he did not want to give

(01:10):
his rivals any mental edge. He meddled at four different Olympics,
but it was after his first in Athens in two
thousand and four that he says he felt at the
edge of a cliff. After his initial successes, that's when
he began feeling at something of a loss.

Speaker 4 (01:24):
I have mydeas like everyone does, right, We go through
ups and downs and that's just life. I feel like
I have more tools now to prepare me through the
bumps of the roller coasters.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
Because Michael Phelps came back to the winning market three
more Olympic Games in Beijing, London, and Rio, but he says.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
Personally, I struggle with almost every single day, and you know,
depression and anxiety aren't just going to disappear.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
You know. In between those last two, Phelps was arrested
for driving under the influence, and he says that became
really a critical moment for him.

Speaker 4 (01:56):
I didn't really want to talk to anybody, didn't want
to see anybody. It was kind of just to the
point where I knew I needed help, right Like, the
thoughts that I was having were too much and they
were overwhelming and they were scary.

Speaker 3 (02:08):
So he checked himself into a forty five day rehamp.

Speaker 4 (02:11):
I basically got ripped apart and I say that in
like imagine like a motherboard of a computer and you
just take everything apart and you just kind of rebuild
and talk about whether it's you know, my childhood things
that I'm having difficulty times with good things and kind
of just piecing it all back together.

Speaker 3 (02:30):
Well, he says he still deals with these issues and
says a key for him is being able to reach out,
and that too is his thought for others who are
going through similar issues, I.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Would say, You're not alone, Like, without question. You know,
there are times, even though I have a rolodex of
people I can reach out to, there are times where
I feel like I'm all of them. It's those days,
but I still know that I'm like, all right, pick
up the phone. Who can I call? Like, just go
through and make a phone.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Well, he's married now, he has four children. But this
is pretty dang on ors, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Yeah? Great an analogy about the motherboard being rebuilt, I
thought anyway, And Joe Biden, he's getting near the end
of his term, any regrets.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
You know.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Another person who is also in this reflective mode is
the outgoing president, with just over three weeks of his
term remaining. Biden is telling some of those around him
that he would have defeated Donald Trump in the last elections.
That is not the view of most in his party.
Despite the Democrats lost to Trump in November. Most thinks
that he should have gotten out of the race much
earlier in order to give Kamala Harris a decent shot

(03:29):
at the thing instead of being forced into a shortened campaign.
Harris's selection brought a spur of party enthusiasm, as he recall,
it improved poll numbers but led to the return of
Donald Trump. Biden now believes he should have stood his ground,
even in the wake of his disasters debate performance, where
he lost track of what he was trying to say
at points and seemed in poor command. President Biden also

(03:51):
suggests he made a mistake when he chose Mary Garlan
as his attorney general. He's blaming Garland for not acting
quickly enough on prosecuting Trump for the role in the
general of the Six Riots of the US Capital. Now
most all of the legal actions against Trump had boone collapsed,
have collapsed, but that with the support of an increasingly
politically parts and you were Supreme Court, you'd have to

(04:12):
say and the feeling that equality under the rule of
law in this country has been damaged. There will be
many assessments of this political era. Clearly Biden still is
in the throes of coming to terms with things.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, and what's the story with these sports star robberies?

Speaker 3 (04:27):
Similar enough? I guess it's the sports stars at risk.
Top players are being worn to increase their home security
after a series of robberies at their homes. Basketball star
Luca Donjiics of the Dallas Mavericks it's the latest to
be hit. He was not at home when his place
was broken into this past weekend. Some expensive jewelry and
other items were stolen. Others who've been targeted include Kansas

(04:48):
City Chiefs football court about Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelsey
as well. Of course, the players match time table is
a public information, so I guess part of their lives
are sort of an open book. So this is the
warning coming from sports authorities. Now, increase your security, step
up your game in terms of all of that.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Gosh, pretty brazen stuff, isn't it. Thanks Richard. That's Richard
Arnold in the US.

Speaker 1 (05:10):
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