Winning a medal in the Olympics seems like the pinnacle of achievement to a normal person, but according to Olympians, it’s not what made them happiest — or even what they remember most from the games.
Instead, it’s the friendships they built. The pursuit of doing things they love. Evolving and growing as a person.
Gold medal gymnast Aly Raisman, figure skater Jason Brown, and Paralympic silver medalist snowboarder Amy Purdy shared insights on how their idea of happiness has grown with age as part of a panel hosted by Hershey’s on Tuesday. The Hershey’s happiness-themed campaign is the brand’s first in eight years.
Raisman, who captained the USA’s women’s Olympic gymnastic teams in 2012 and 2016, said that people would talk about her athletic success as if it were never enough.
“When I would finish, no matter how well I did, a question I got very quickly after I finished competing was ‘What about the next Olympics?’” Raisman told amNewYork. “What I feel so grateful for is the friendships that I made along the way, and those are really my moments of happiness.”
Purdy shared how she put a lot of pressure on herself in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi — it was the first time that snowboarding was a Paralympic sport, and Purdy was one of the top contenders going into the games.
Going into her second Paralympic Games in 2018, she thought to herself about how she just wanted to enjoy the ride, instead of feeling that pressure, because she wouldn’t have it forever. Purdy medaled in both Olympics — bronze in 2014 and silver in 2018 — but injured her leg in 2019 and is now retired.
“In my darkest days, literally going through injury and recovery and uncertainty and change in transition, I found moments where I was really, really happy,” Purdy told amNewYork. “I realize that it wasn’t because any outcome happened. It was because I was pursuing things with purpose, and I was taking action, trying to problem-solve, and figure things out.”
Similarly, Brown shared a message about originally focusing on the wrong things when it comes to being an Olympic athlete. He talked about having tunnel vision, and he learned over time that when you have ambitious goals, it can get harder and harder to achieve them, yet you want to grip on tighter and tighter.
“Every day, no matter what you achieve, you’re gonna wake up determined and hungry for more,” Brown told amNewYork. “I think that constant searching and evolution and growth and using every opportunity that you go to go through and every experience of the learning one is such a huge, huge mentality.”
That mindset, Brown said, is how his idea of happiness and success has changed over time. Brown, who won a bronze medal in the 2014 Olympics, competed in the U.S. Championships this year to qualify for the upcoming Olympics in Milan, but had enough mistakes in his routine to ultimately not be selected.
Like Purdy, Raisman is retired from her sport, and she’s involved in a lot of advocacy work for mental health.
“It’s hard to be at your best all the time; it’s impossible,” Raisman said. “Allowing ourselves that grace is something I’ve had to learn and work on, and being okay with that and asking for help has been one of the biggest gifts I’ve given myself.”
