Six days before Christmas, Jenson Brooksby took to social media to share something he had "kept quiet for his entire life".
The 24-year-old American revealed he had been diagnosed with severe autism as a young child, and was non-verbal until the age of four.
The decision to go public had not been taken lightly, but was driven by a desire to help families living the same experience and any future professionals dealing with autism., external
"My whole life with my parents, it wasn't something you are very comfortable sharing because there could be consequences - especially when I was younger," Brooksby told BBC Sport.