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Win a gold medal for your country at the Olympics, and your name goes down in history.

In South Africa, that doesn’t mean a life of riches, however, and the story of 1996 Olympic gold medallist Josiah Thugwana is proof.

The likes of Michael Phelps (above) and Shaun White can’t relate, as their success on the grandest stage of all has made them wealthy, but they too understand the emotional toll that comes with achieving ultimate success.

A new documentary from HBO, The Weight of Gold, takes a closer look at “post-Olympic depression”, and how a singular mindset aimed at standing atop the podium has knock-on effects for what comes next.

More from Rolling Stone:

…athletes open up about how “40 seconds will dictate our human lives,” before the Olympic Village gates close and they’re sent home, with or without medals, to live on beyond the Games…

The documentary includes interviews with Apolo Ohno, Katie Uhlaender, Jeremy Bloom, Lolo Jones, Bode Miller, Gracie Gold, Jonathan Cheever and David Boudia.

It also features an archival interview with bobsledder Steven Holcomb, who died from a combination of alcohol and sleeping pills in 2017, and an interview with Linda Peterson, mother to three-time Olympian aerial skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, who died by suicide in 2011.

Directed by Brett Rapkin, the doccie first aired last week in the US.

Here’s the trailer:

As things stand, the Tokyo Olympics are due to take place between July 23 and August 8 next year.

There will be gold medals, and there will be more stories like those you see above.

[source:rollingstone]