Leon Taylor has been encouraged by the number of athletes speaking out about their mental health at Paris 2024. 

Having struggled with his own mental health while competing as a diver, Taylor now speaks openly to set an example to others. 

The commentator was in the arena as fellow diver Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix delved into her mental health struggles as she missed out on an individual medal in the French capital. 

“Sporting careers are full of challenging moments, there are crisis of confidence, do I want to do it? Is it worth it?” Taylor said. 

“All of these challenges that athletes faces, when I look back on my career, there was a period where through injury and mental health challenges where I really really struggled. 

“And how I approached it didn’t work, I approached it in the era that I was in, it was a very tough way, I wasn’t going to tell anyone that I was struggling because I was a focused athlete.  

“And that was a mistake because the ninth-month period I am reflecting on was awful, I had a period of depression, my anxiety was through the roof, and it was off the back of injury and trying to come back and having another surgery.  

“It was time that I now look back on and I am extremely grateful for the learnings and the discoveries, I made.  

“I now sit here representing myself and also SportsAid and I get to speak to so many athletes, and share my journey and some of the things I did that I would do differently and one of those things is reaching out for help when things get hard.” 

Taylor was speaking at SportsAid Live, the 46-year-old serves as a mentor for the chairty and was on hand to give advice to the next generation of athletes. 

The 2004 Olympic medallist also reflected on what SportsAid had meant to him in his career. 

He added: “SportsAid gave me recognition, it was the first time outside of my family that someone within an organisation said ‘hey, we think you can do what you are dreaming about and what you are aiming for’. 

“And that is what made the biggest difference the recognition of ‘Oh, I could actually do this.’” 

SportsAid Live, hosted by Marsh McLennan, brought together over 40 athletes and their families, across more than 20 different sports, to meet each other and share their experiences and knowledge, while also benefitting from mentoring and valuable workshops in areas such as mind health, sleep, performance, wellbeing and building your brand.