Pressure, purpose and change: Behind the touchlines at Dubai’s World Sports Summit
The inaugural World Sports Summit in Dubai brought together elite athletes and sports leaders to discuss the growing pressures of modern sport, mental health, faith and responsibility; and how that contributes to making sport a better human experience, way beyond competition.
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00:00Some of the biggest names in sport are gathering in Dubai for the inaugural World Sports Summit.
00:10The two-day event brings together current and former athletes, industry experts,
00:15and decision makers to promote sports as a positive force that transcends borders.
00:23Sport shows up in people's lives in different ways.
00:26For some, it's a career. For others, it's community, or something that shaped them from an early age.
00:33It's a beautiful, beautiful event here in Dubai, bringing together, gathering really the best of the best in the sports world.
00:43Of course, I represent football, which is the best sport anyway.
00:47But even just the football legends who are here, world champions, I'm just an administrator.
00:52These legends, they make the hearts beat in football, but also all the others who are here from the other sports.
01:00As sport continues to grow into a global industry, the conversations around it are evolving.
01:06The World Sports Summit, the first of its kind, brings athletes, leaders, and decision makers together.
01:12Not to compete, but to talk.
01:15To share experiences and reflect on where sport is heading.
01:19For many athletes, sport provides structure, purpose, and opportunity.
01:24But it also comes with pressure, often unseen and rarely spoken about.
01:28You know, it's not often that we do hear about those different struggles that exist in sport, especially regarding mental health.
01:36And I'm excited for where we are in this moment in history, where we're being open about those different struggles that we all face.
01:44The summit also discussed what many described as the darker side of sports, including the expectations athletes face from fans, media, and even those closest to them.
01:53I have to say I was lucky. But jokes on the side, you know, it's a part of it.
02:00You know, you have to kind of find the natural mix between all those things.
02:05I mean, media is very important for sports to promote, you know, good values, you know.
02:10But at the same time, you know, as an athlete, you have to find a way how to kind of protect yourself from a lot of, let's say, bad but false, false information.
02:18For some athletes, managing pressure isn't theoretical. It's ongoing.
02:24UFC fighter Michael Venom Page spoke openly about what that looks like in real time.
02:29It's an ongoing battle.
02:32There are times, you know, I think it's understanding that not all good times come solely by itself.
02:42Good times require bad times.
02:44You know, it's yin and yang in absolutely everything.
02:49And I've come to the realization that you have to accept some of the dark times.
02:53Even of recently, my frustrations were not being able to get another fight.
02:57I'm like, and I'm a person that loves to be active because, you know, I had a fight.
03:01I'm eager to get the next fight.
03:03And it's, you know, no responses, no this, no that.
03:05And I've got to wait.
03:06OK, pushing.
03:07It's a lot of waiting around for me.
03:09And that you spend a lot of time with yourself and then you start questioning things and so on and so forth.
03:16So it's an ongoing battle.
03:17And I know I'm speaking from present day of me having frustrations in myself today.
03:23But knowing that with the dark sides comes the light as well.
03:27In women's sport, these challenges are increasingly being addressed head on.
03:31NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman spoke about building structures that support athletes both on and off the pitch.
03:38Well, I think with success comes increased pressure and with increased pressure comes increased challenges.
03:46And so we have an infrastructure in place to support our athletes, whether it's through mental health professionals, both at a national as well as on a team level, as well as social media monitoring that our players can enlist in.
04:01And we also have an anonymous reporting system where if players need support or feel that they need help navigating different challenges, facing them either on or off the pitch, that the league is there to support them.
04:15Across the summit, athletes and leaders share different ways of navigating the darker moments of sport.
04:21One response was comfort, creating environments where athletes feel supported, understood and able to speak openly rather than judged solely by results.
04:31When the athletes, and you've seen the level of athletes that we had, the level of validation and comfort they had that we have really opened up to discuss the sports was amazing to hear.
04:45I feel like I have the best job in the world.
04:47We're very blessed to do what we love as a passion.
04:50And so I always focus on that.
04:53You know, every time I had bad stuff happening at the end of the day, you know, we have a great job, man.
04:58And we can inspire kids.
05:00We can inspire people.
05:02Sports bring people together.
05:03And I always focus on that.
05:05Another response was faith.
05:07For some athletes, belief offers focus, perspective and stability when performance and pressure collide.
05:14Believe to God, believe yourself and hard work, focus, and you will achieve all those you're dreaming for.
05:22My focus is Jesus Christ.
05:24My focus is God.
05:25Because God give me a chance.
05:29God give me everyday opportunity.
05:32Ukrainian heavyweight boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk discussed sports power to motivate people during wartime.
05:38Now it's very important because a lot of Ukrainian people, soldiers, child say, hey, it's important because you win.
05:49It's motivated people.
05:53People believe it's true.
05:55It's possible.
05:56And just as important is community.
05:59Having teammates, mentors and peers who understand the realities of life in sport.
06:04It's an incredible opportunity to learn from people around the world in our shared vision of using sport as a catalyst to unite communities.
06:15And I work in women's football.
06:19And with all of the activities happening around the world, investing in women's sport, it felt like a great opportunity to share some of what we're working on with the hopes that that can spread around the world.
06:31So for me, it's always an opportunity to listen, learn, you know, hear from masterminds and the experts from around the world.
06:40Not often or very seldom do you have conferences that represent all sports.
06:46What emerged over the course of the summit was not a single solution, but a shared understanding that the challenges in sport are real and that addressing them requires openness, support and collaboration.
06:58For the athletes, leaders and communities involved, the conversation doesn't end here.
07:03It continues beyond the summit and back into the world of sport itself.
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