Kate Nye
WeightliftingUnited States
Kate Nye is an American weightlifter who became the youngest U.S. woman to win a senior world championship in 2019. She later won silver in the 76 kg category at the Tokyo Olympics, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic silver medal in weightlifting. [1][2]
Career and work
Nye became a leading U.S. weightlifter after winning the 71 kg title at the 2019 Pan American Championships and then sweeping the snatch, clean and jerk, and total gold medals at the 2019 World Championships. At age 20, she became the youngest U.S. woman to win a senior world championship in weightlifting. [3][1]
At the Tokyo Olympics, Nye won silver in the 76 kg category, setting American records in the snatch and total. It was the first Olympic silver medal won by a U.S. woman in weightlifting. [2]
What has been publicly discussed
- Nye was diagnosed with bipolar II disorder in the summer of 2019, during the Olympic qualification period. She sought professional help after a severe depressive episode, and after assessments with several mental-health professionals she received the diagnosis alongside mild ADHD. [1]
- She later disclosed the diagnosis publicly, including in a 2019 social-media post and a detailed first-person ESPN account in 2021. [1]
- Nye has described years of alternating depressive and hypomanic periods before her diagnosis. During hypomanic periods, she said she could sleep for less than two hours and still feel energetic the next day; depressive periods could last for weeks. [1]
- In June 2019, she experienced a particularly severe depressive episode during Olympic qualification. She said she barely got out of bed, struggled to eat or care for herself, lost interest in weightlifting, and at times did not know whether she would “live to see another day.” [1]
- After her diagnosis, Nye worked with her doctors to find medication that worked for her and to identify triggers for depressive and hypomanic episodes. She has said that medication helps regulate her mood swings and depressive episodes. [1]
- During the COVID-19 pandemic, Nye briefly stopped taking her bipolar medication on her own to see how she would manage without it. She later concluded that she functioned better while taking it and resumed treatment. [1]
- Nye said that over the months following her diagnosis she began to feel better and more comfortable with it. In 2021, she said she still experienced difficult days and continued to live with depressive and hypomanic episodes, but that “bad weeks” had become rare. [1]
- Nye has used her platform as an athlete to speak openly about bipolar II disorder and mental-health stigma. She has said she wants to make bipolar disorder better understood and to challenge the idea that mental illness is incompatible with elite athletic performance. [1]
“My diagnosis means freedom to me.”
— Kate Nye [1]
Sources and other resourcesExpand to view the sources used in this profile and resources to learn more.
Sources used for this profile
The following sources contain information that supports the claims made on this page.
ESPN“Olympic weightlifter Katherine Nye on how her bipolar II diagnosis changed her life” First-person account covering Nye’s diagnosis, mood episodes, treatment, recovery and advocacy.
USA Weightlifting“Kate Nye Wins Olympic Silver Medal in Tokyo” Official account of Nye’s Olympic silver medal and American records.
Team USA“Kate Vibert” Official athlete profile documenting her Pan American championship and Olympic career.
Learn more
Recommended books and other resources about Kate Nye and their experiences.