3 Case study: Ellie Simmonds
Ellie Simmonds is a swimmer for Team GB who won eight medals at three Paralympic Games (2008, 2012, 2016).
Activity 4 Did Simmonds experience burnout?
Watch the video of an interview with Ellie Simmonds at the link below and respond to the two questions that follow. Note that Simmonds came close to retiring from the sport two months after this video was made.
- To what extent was Simmonds experiencing burnout with reference to the three dimensions of burnout (emotional and physical exhaustion, a reduced sense of accomplishment, and sport devaluation)?
- To what extent are the terms ‘dropout’ and ‘burnout’ related in sport?
Watch the first 1 minute 24 seconds of the video: www.bbc.co.uk/ sport/ disability-sport [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)]
Notice how Ellie Simmonds talked about ‘finding herself’, including new identities – independent person, traveller, charity worker – when she went travelling. It is worth keeping this in mind since you will come across this again when you explore the role of identity in burnout later in this course.
At the start of this session Jonathan Trott’s condition was described as ‘stress-related’. In the next section you will explore how accurate such a description is.