Canadian Olympian Kyra Christmas has publicly announced her retirement from International water polo at the age of 26.
Citing her mental health as the primary reason for her reitrement from the Candadian national team, the Olympiacos left-hander ends her seven year tenure with Canada’s senior national team.
Christmas made the announcement in a heartfelt instagram post, saying, “Over the summer I took some time for myself and made the extremely difficult decision to retire from Team Canada.”
View this post on Instagram
She added that, “I’ve learned that sport is not always a happy ending. It’s rare that an athlete will retire completely satisfied with what they’ve accomplished. I feel like I still have more to give in the pool and I could keep pushing, however, for my mental health it was important for me to choose a different path.”
Christmas left the national team for four months back in 2018 to receive treatment for the mental challenges she had faced since joining the Canadian national team.
Christmas’s brave and open statement reccieved a huge number of messages of support from some of her past and current international and club teammates. Canadian captain Hayley McKelvey, lead the triubtes saying, “thanks for always being open with the world about what it’s actually like being an athlete. It was an honour to grow up playing with and against you”
Kyra Christmas’ statement in full,
“Made a tough decision recently and been trying to find the right words.
Over the summer I took some time for myself and made the extremely difficult decision to retire from Team Canada.
I feel very vulnerable sharing because I am still processing all of the emotion, but here is a bit of what I’m going through that isn’t talked about much in sport.
When an athlete puts their whole life and energy into their sport, it becomes a huge part of their identity. I thought that I was prepared for whenever I decided to retire and would have the perfect exit, but I was sadly mistaken.
This summer has been a battle to find myself outside of the athlete. Logically, I know that there is a lot more to me than being a water polo player. But emotionally I feel a loss. It’s a feeling of “I’m not important anymore, I’m not exceptional at anything anymore, I’m letting so many people down, and I have to start all over.”
I’ve learned that sport is not always a happy ending. It’s rare that an athlete will retire completely satisfied with what they’ve accomplished. I feel like I still have more to give in the pool and I could keep pushing, however, for my mental health it was important for me to choose a different path. I am at peace with this, but it doesn’t make it any less hard grieving the person I once was. Please be kind, be patient, and be supportive during this time. Limit the questions and the opinions, it is a huge life adjustment. Truly a mourning and healing process that takes time. For all the people before me who I know have gone through this, I’m feeling for you right now too.Things that have helped me get through this difficult period: My close people supporting me, my animals making me laugh, and therapy teaching me that I am so much more than an athlete. I hope that by sharing this, some others won’t feel so alone and I can educate people who might be in a support role of an athlete going through something similar.”
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