Casey Stoner hung up his racing suit at the end of 2012, at the age of 27, after having conquered his second MotoGP crown (2011) and when he still had, at least on paper, several years of success ahead of him.
However, the Australian, who in his time at Ducati had already caused a long-term loss after winning his first championship title (2007), chose to hang up his overalls, in a decision that caught most of the paddock off guard.
Over the years, the Southport running back has been speaking more openly about the whole ordeal he went through due to the mental health problems he suffered, when from the outside doors everything seemed to be going perfectly.
Stoner, who was diagnosed with chronic fatigue some time ago, was never seen as comfortable dealing with the commitments that come with being a sports star, but then it was hard to think that being in those situations affected him so much.
“Recently I was diagnosed with anxiety, which at the time [when I was competing] I didn’t know existed. I thought it was stress, and of course, I was also convinced that everyone was stressed in one way or another. But now, the anxiety comes to block my back, to the point that I have two very bad records, which should be replaced”, says Stoner, guest of the podcast ‘ Gypsy Tales ‘.
“It was not easy for me to understand why it was more difficult for me [dealing with pressure and fame] than for other people. There are people, like Marc [Márquez] and Valentino [Rossi], who are not affected by it. I think about it and I believe that it would have been much easier to be aware of all this that happens to me, because I would have been able to handle it in a better way. I was never comfortable with the press, surrounded by people, “adds the two-time world champion in the heavy motorcycle category.
“During most of my career, probably until the last two years in MotoGP, the better the weekend went, the more I wanted to die.”
“I was sick as a dog, I didn’t want to run. I felt a lot of pressure from the team, from all the people who had helped me; sometimes a group that reached a hundred people”, deepens the Aussie runner.
“When you are the number 1 driver, and everyone expects you to win, that can affect you, like it did for me.” relates Stoner, who relates the point at which he currently finds himself, very physically limited for his age –”I have had to learn to walk everywhere, because I cannot run”, he says–, with the formula he used in his stage in the World Cup, to continue competing.
“We don’t know exactly what’s wrong with my body, but it probably has a lot to do with that way of disconnecting that I had. It didn’t matter how bad I was, or nervous or sore, I just said ‘suck it up and accept it, “concludes Stoner.
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Photo de: Ducati Corse
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Photo by: Ducati Corse
Photo by: Ducati Corse
Photo by: Ducati Corse
