I'm trying to let winning the world championships settle in right now before I begin training again shortly. During the skating season, we skate on average 20 kilometres a day. On top of that, we're riding a lot and lifting a lot of weights.

All the physical comes from the mental.

Sport that consumed me for over two decades . . . is now gone. Now it's just me. No pressure, no expectations, no need to be fast, good, strong or to even improve. Yet I can't let go of this idea that I always need to be more than I am. And it is eating me alive.

I was, without exaggeration, a delinquent teenager.

I'll skate on concrete if I have to. I'm not worried about how fast the ice is. I'm worried about how fast I can go on the ice.

The only reason I've shared my story is to take that tiny baby step of breaking down the stigma attached to depression.

I love skating so much and I feel like every time I step out onto the ice, that's what I'm meant to do.