Top cyclist reveals anxiety disorder

Ellesse Andrews appeared invincible as she rode her way to three gold medals at the Commonwealth Games.

The track cycling star won the individual sprint, team sprint and keirin in a perfect Games debut. But away from the bike the 22-year-old has revealed she has been dealing with an anxiety disorder.

‘‘General anxiety is something that is really common and has affected me for a while, in personal life and also [in sport] with performance anxiety,’’ Andrews said.

Andrews is using her profile as an Olympic and Commonwealth Games medallist to help spark a conversation around mental health and sport as part of Voices of Hope’s Behind the Jersey campaign.

She is one of 17 elite New Zealand athletes who have shared their own personal struggles with mental health, with four of the athletes, including former All Black Israel Dagg, telling their stories in in-depth interviews that can be seen on the Voices of Hope website, ThreeNow or TVNZ On Demand.

Andrews said the death of her former team-mate Olivia Podmore to a suspected suicide last year compelled her to be part of the campaign and really hit home the importance of mental wellbeing.

‘‘It has been a really tough year for me personally and for a lot of people in our sporting community and, yes, it is a driver for me to try and help in the ways I’m comfortable with my own journey,’’ she said.

‘‘It’s also a driver for what I want to create in cycling and the legacy I want to leave behind, and what we can do as a women’s team by supporting each other.

‘‘I have been passionate about that for a long time but after the year we’ve had it has become even more important to engage in the ways I feel comfortable around mental health especially.’’

Andrews was not ready to talk publicly in great detail about her battle with anxiety, but she felt that it was important to put her hand up and say that she too struggled with her mental health, even though she was a successful sportsperson.

‘‘Obviously it does go deeper for me but those stories are a bit more personal and it takes time for someone to feel comfortable sharing that publicly,’’ she said.