How to be a stoic in the modern age — by an Olympic medallist

One cornerstone of ancient Greek stoic philosophy is that a setback is a signpost — not a stop sign. Mark Tuitert discovered this the hard way aged 20, when he was the biggest speed-skating talent in the Netherlands (where the sport is huge), training for the 2002 Winter Olympics with a massive sponsorship deal behind him.

On top of that pressure, “my parents were fighting each other, going through a divorce”, he recalls. Yet he was so determined to be the next speed-skating star that he pushed himself relentlessly, skipping rest days and living and breathing a “winning is everything” mentality.

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It backfired. His overtraining led to burnout, and he missed out on qualifying altogether. Instead of