The death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore confirmed warnings journalist Dana Johannsen had long been hearing about the mental health risks for elite athletes. Her reporting would go on to expose the dark underbelly of high-performance sport in NZ.

Content warning: This podcast discusses mental health and suicide.

Watch the video version of the episode here.

When Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore died in 2021, journalist Dana Johannsen was shocked – but it wasn’t completely out of the blue. For years, athletes and their advocates had been sounding the alarm over a silent mental health crisis gripping elite sport in Aotearoa.

As speculation over the death swept the nation, Dana’s unrelenting coverage sought to understand how the system had failed a gifted athlete so badly at what should’ve been the prime of her career.

In this kōrero with broadcaster and media chaplain Rev Frank Ritchie, Dana also discusses reporting on the America’s Cup and Olympics, the reality of working in lockdown, and her love of home DIY.

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Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Dana Johannsen | The System that Broke Olivia Podmore