How did Federica Pellegrini deal with the media spotlight?
No one knows about the pressure of being a swimmer better than the legendary Federica Pellegrini.
The Italian was 16 when she won the women’s 200m freestyle Olympic silver at Athens 2004, and struggled with the spotlight that followed her, which was then magnified when she won gold at Beijing 2008.
“I had a 20-year career in swimming, so I’ve basically been living in a swimsuit for every day of that,” she explained to Olympics.com
“Your body changes a lot from the age of 12 to your 30s, and everyone around you is watching you, especially if you are successful like I was lucky enough to be at such a young age.
“This period was really tough for me because all the media in Italy were focused on me at every moment and picked up when my body started changing. It was a time when I didn’t necessarily like what I saw in the mirror. So I had trouble in my early years being in swimsuits every day. It wasn’t easy.”
Pellegrini, who won eight consecutive 200m freestyle medals at the World Championships and gained a following of almost two million people on Instagram, quickly realised that she would not be able to handle the constant scrutiny and popularity on her own.
“After one year, when I had a lot of problems being constantly judged, I decided to call a psychologist, and I’ve had a mental coach beside me at every moment until this point in my life.”