Amid Rising Mental-Health Concerns Can American Gymnastics Find Way Ahead Through Britain’s Landmark Weighing Laws

Gymnastics have been a sport of grace, poise, litheness and precision. Through the years, balance, artistry, and agility are seen as cornerstones. From wars to the stages of the Olympics, gymnastics has gained popularity alongside newer lanes and rules. And through the process of evolution, the sport has grown to consider one factor amongst many: weight.

For decades, weighing has been a part of gymnastics. Various disciplines have held a perception that body weight acts as a pivot behind the execution of skills and overall flair. However, how far is this factor allowed to stretch and what impact has it borne?

Why does emphasis lay on weights in gymnastics?

Gymnastics, as a sport or practice, constitutes complex movements and intense skills. The facts hinge on the weight of the performer. However, the ultimate requirement stops at a healthy weight. But unfortunately, for years, the factor is said to have been in practice for varied reasons, including aesthetic preferences, societal misconceptions about weight and fallacies on lower body weight impact whilst ignoring skill requirement. It is believed that the lower body influences greatly on the actions involving acrobatics. When in reality, agility has been far more critical. Apart from speculations, monitoring for training, and physical development have been key factors of weighing.

This reasoning, however, has pushed athletes to maintain extreme diets or overtraining. According to a study conducted on 147 competitive gymnasts, 16.3% were revealed to have succumbed to eating disorders. Succumbing to bulimia and other eating disorders is bound to create negative self perception. While 30% were found suppressed under coaches’ weight pressures, appearance and performance weight pressures, and body mass index. The presented numbers are an enclosed reality to the very, very few exposed cases.

Instances of pressure

a. Christy Henrich is one of the early victims of an eating disorder result observed in a gymnast. The World champion gymnast was obliged to miss out on Olympic entry twice and both resulting in unkind consequences. The 1988 Olympics was the first entry she missed the team by a fraction of a point. From then on, Henrich set out to be an Olympian. However, was stricken by anorexia and bulimia before the next. The effect initially led to her withdrawal and eventually to her death in 1994. The gymnast, before her death, pointed out the causes behind her eating disorders twice.

The first one was towards her coach, Al Fong, who had compared her to the Pillsbury Doughboy and pressured her to lose weight. Secondly, to a judge at an international competition in the late 1980s; who told her she needed to lose weight, resulting in actions towards implementing.

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b. More recently, the list added Bailey Ferrer. The LSU student was a former elite gymnast forced out of a career due to eating disorders. “I wanted to please everyone; I wanted to be the perfect gymnast instead of working on what my perfect was,” she says on cutting food groups. According to her interview with the Washington Post, Ferrer’s school coach ‘praised her weight loss as she spiraled into an eating disorder, then retaliated when mental health treatment prevented her from training.’ Though now on the path to feeling better in her own skin, the pressure pushed Ferrer to call it quits prematurely.

Moreover, the New York Times states that many broadcasts routinely included gymnasts’ heights and weights. In one of the cases, Olympic gymnast, Kerri Strug was described as ‘ballooned’ for gaining five pounds, and another called one, ‘the biggest, but not the worst.’ The accumulated pressure throughout the years has pushed organizations towards putting forth various measures to ultimately take on the biggest step yet.

A new step ahead

Recently, British gymnastics announced that the weighing of gymnasts will be restricted under the new rules. According to the report, athletes over 11 can only be weighed with their permission and parents’ if under 18. The weighing needs to have a ‘scientifically valid rationale’ and must be done by either medical practitioners or sports science. As for 10 and younger, weighing is completely set out of practice. Moreover, gymnasts will also be allowed to hydrate regularly when practicing and be allowed visits to the restroom when needed. The move was a measure to tackle a recorded pattern of abuse and make the sport safer for athletes.

“While practices have moved on a long way, we know there has been a poor practice in these areas,” CEO Sarah Powel said. She further added that through the implementation of policies, everyone involved will understand ‘what is OK and what is not OK’ and help prevent any further damage.

A way through for gymnastics

Mental pressure and mistreatment have never yielded good experiences; gymnastics or otherwise. Thousands of youngsters join the gymnastics program every year for either the passion and talent they hold or for what the sport has to offer. However, with stated instances and everything they entail, the enthusiasts are seldom going to be devoid of the pressure; fetching negative impressions.

Kara Eaker, Simone Biles, Kim Tessan, Jordan Chiles, and more have been a voice of the exploitation swept under. They have brazenly spoken against, rather vehemently, at the injustice meted out and their voices did echo far and wide. After all, our hearts beat as one. However, the progress has been slow and the instances, rare. Moreover, according to recent studies, The NCAA reports that gymnasts show a much higher rate of disordered eating than other athletes, with levels at between 51 and 62 percent. But if authorities are to align with the intent of Sarah Powel, and pinch the root of the problem so clearly mentioned, the gymnasts may find themselves on a brighter path.

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