In fact, during my time as the Team USA men’s water polo head physician at the Games, it was the number one problem medical staff dealt with - how to keep our top athletes operating at peak performance while they were dealing with crushing isolation, the pervasive threat of the ongoing pandemic, the uncertainty of whether they would be able to compete, and the loneliness of missing their family. 

In essence, the Olympic teams’ medical staff became mental health first aid responders.

But this problem is not just faced by our country’s top athletes. The increase in teenage suicides and debilitating anxiety and depression is an unintended and dire consequence of the pandemic.

For example, a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study has shown that during the pandemic, 37.1 per cent of students experienced poor mental health, 44.2 per cent experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, 19.9 per cent seriously considered attempting suicide, and nine per cent had attempted suicide.

In my two trips to the Games, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, I realised that the training entourage of an Olympic athlete - a trainer, dietician, psychologist and so on could and should be available to everyone, not just elite athletes training for competition. 

The idea of having these resources available to everyone, especially in schools for youth, led me to create the MAX Sports Health digital platform, which implements what I call the whole-person approach to health and wellness.

In 2022, I was invited to pilot a new 10-week programme with the Greater New York City Law Enforcement Explorers (LEE) programme to determine if 14-20-year-olds would be able to pass the law enforcement fitness test (historically, this is one of the top reasons entrants fail to enter the forces).

Out of our 110 programme participants, the majority were relatively uninformed about the basics of health and wellness. At the start of the programme, they downloaded the MAX Sports Health Pro app and used the interactive platform with short lessons that covered the basic concepts of physical, mental and emotional health and well-being.

The outcome of the 10-week trial was astounding. We tracked participants’ performance and saw increased physical activity and knowledge of how to exercise safely and remain active.

The stand-out statistic was that 89 per cent of the participants felt more confident in themselves, and 93.1 per cent felt more confident in their ability to manage stress. We also learned that 86.21 per cent felt better prepared to make healthy eating decisions, and there was a 24.22 per cent reduction in overall stress.

While I was thrilled with the results, the takeaway was distressing. Our youth is in the middle of a mental health crisis that is affecting their performance.

Performance is not just for elite athletes - I see it as a way to measure ability in whatever one wants to do in life.

In the trial, we tracked variables linked to improvements in physical fitness, mental health, nutrition, self-esteem, and personal relationships. Just like Olympians, users were encouraged to interact with a health coach and fellow team members.

In fact, isolation was one of my biggest concerns during my time at the Games in Tokyo with the strict lockdown rules. These young athletes had trained for an extra year due to the postponement of the Games and could not have their families and loved ones there to support them.

I often became their surrogate parent or family member, providing in-person support that a video chat with their family could not provide. I also practised mental health exercises with them, visual imagery and mindfulness techniques, for example, to help when anxiety got high. 

These same mental health techniques can be taught to any person in order to provide support and reinforce positive behaviours.

It is now more evident than ever that it is time for a new approach. 

By implementing the whole-person approach - care for mental, physical and emotional health simultaneously - combined with the idea of Olympism, which shows how sport can improve lives through the combination of mind, body and spirit, we can find a solution to the mental health crisis.

For the first time, the meticulous preparation, performance training entourage and secrets elite athletes use are being applied to the average person. We can set a new gold standard for health education and care for a new generation, whether for future Olympians, educators, doctors, law enforcement officers or any path they choose.