Olivier had previously experienced mental health struggles when she was 18, before she met her now husband Gerhard.

The support she received from him, both during that period and more recently, was crucial.

“When he met me I was actually quite suicidal,” she said.

“For many years I never understood why he stuck around because I was this crazy chick and I was just dark and terrible to be around.

“This was similar, except for the fact that I had promised myself I would never allow myself to fall that deep again.

“That was why I was able to identify this was a bad spiral. He was there again and I am eternally grateful.”

From the middle of 2022, Olivier was “doing really well”, with her improvement showing in her competitive performances, but then medical issues in her family impacted her mental health.

On the final day of last August’s World Canoe Championships in Germany, Olivier received the dreadful news that her mother had been diagnosed with cancer and had been taken to a hospital emergency room.

“I knew she was ill before we left [South Africa], but we didn’t realise how sick,” she said.

“Her colon had burst. They found she had stage four cancer.”

Olivier travelled to Paris for another event but was unable to compete amid worries about her mother, and a follow-up operation to remove the cancer was unsuccessful.

“They ended up saying they can’t do anything,” she said.

“We are still busy with that fight.”

Just three days later, Olivier learnt that her aunt was battling sarcoma cancer and required a leg amputation.

“I got back from Europe and had to go through that with her. All of that short-term stress triggered me again and was horrendous.”