For 19-year-old Charlotte Henrich, the stress of taking on Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson on the track demanded all her focus. At the UK Athletics Championships in Birmingham in June, Henrich lined up for the women’s 400m and, ahead of the race, she deleted her Instagram. It worked for Henrich, who finished third in the final, clocking 50.58s. After the race, Henrich revealed that deleting the social media wasn’t just symbolic.

“It’s scary, not going to lie, to be lining up with an Olympic champion right behind you. All I had to do was run my own race and kind of ignore it… Before it was like, ‘Pretend the crowd is cheering for you.’ I actually deleted Instagram so I wouldn’t see the predictions [for the race] and stuff like that.” Henrich told the BBC as per WalesOnline.

Hodgkinson, the reigning Olympic 800m champion from Paris 2024 and silver medallist from Tokyo, was using the 400m as part of her speed work. However, staying away from posts and outside noise helped right from the start. In the heats, Henrich ran a personal best of 51.20 seconds, beating Hodgkinson, who finished second in 51.62 seconds, to qualify for the final.

Hodgkinson, however, did not start the final, pulling out moments before the race. “I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent standing on the start line, so I made the tough decision to step away and not race. I didn’t want to risk anything ahead of this summer,” said an emotional Hodgekinson. Her coach, Jenny Meadows, explained she had felt a small twinge in her final strides before the race.

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old produced another strong finish in the final. Amber Anning won in 50.16 seconds, with Yemi Mary John second in 50.23. Henrich, despite finishing third, still set a new Welsh record. Michelle Scutt’s previous record of 50.63 seconds had stood since 1982. However, if you thought deleting Instagram ahead of the event may have been overkill, social media has hurt athletes on bigger stages.

Instagram ended an Australian athlete’s Olympic dream

At the Paris 2024 Olympics, Australia’s Olli Hoare competed in the men’s 1500m. In his opening heat, he ran 3:39.11 and finished 13th, missing direct qualification for the semi-finals. After the race, he faced heavy online criticism and backlash, and that made things even worse. He later admitted that the impact of those comments was stronger than even he expected.

“When you’re at a very low point mentally or physically, it’s very easy for things to seep through that usually don’t seep through, and that sort of stuff got to me quite a bit,” he told ABC Sport in January 2025. He also pointed out that much of the abuse came from people who were not even track and field fans, but the “general public.”

The pressure built further online. Hoare admitted his Instagram was flooded after the race, saying, “It was a terrible race, and I’ve been abused on Instagram, so I had to delete it.”

Despite that, he returned for the repechage round, where he finished fifth with 3:34.00. It was not enough to reach the semi-finals, so ending his Olympic campaign. Seen in that light, Charlotte Henrich’s decision to step away from Instagram before her race feels like a simple but smart way of keeping control over her own focus.