Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Another revelation this week involved Toni Minichiello, the long-serving coach of Jessica Ennis, Britain’s leading all-round athlete and pin-up girl for London 2012.
However, describing this leading heptathlete as ‘all-round’ may be considered inappropriate given she was allegedly accused of being too fat by a high-ranking representative of UK athletics, much to Minichiello’s bemusement.
This came in the same week that Olympic triathlete, Hollie Avil, retired from the sport at the ripe old age of 22, citing recurring injuries brought about from eating disorders she developed earlier in her career.
Avil was only 16 when she was told to lose weight by one of her coaches, a comment that triggered a succession of disastrous consequences, starting with a desire to eat less yet leading, ultimately, to stress fractures in her shins. Disturbingly, her lower weight meant faster times which effectively masked the real damage she was doing to her body.
This has long been a cause championed by Dame Kelly Holmes who has hosted the Female Athlete Triad (FAT), which aims to highlight the need for proper nutritional advice that will lead to effectively converting fat into muscle and repairing tissue, rather than weight loss at any cost.
Insufficient nutrition leads to the loss of the menstrual function and low bone density – which causes the stress fractures experienced by Avil. There are even reports of extreme cases of 18-year-olds suffering from osteoporosis, further highlighting the need for proper education.
