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OCT ISSUE | OCT 202 1
THE ONTARION
Simone Biles pictured at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Biles withdrew from the 2021 Olympics women's gymnastics team final for mental health reasons. CREDIT: AGÊNCIA BRASIL FOTOGRAFIAS/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS LICENSED UNDER CC BY 4.0
Mental health challenges faced by athletes require specialized care, say U of G community members Gymnast Simone Biles’ recent step away from the Olympics prompts worldwide conversations on just how much support athletes need ELENI KOPSAFTIS Trigger warning: This article contains mention of eating disorders.
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t the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, American Gymnast and World Champion Simone Biles performed what looked like an incredible vault during her gymnastics team’s finals. She left the stage, returned with her trainer … and then withdrew from the competition. Biles later explained she suffered from “the twisties” during her vault, a dangerous state in which gymnasts lose their sense of spatial awareness while in the air. The twisties can be greatly exacerbated by stress, according to the New York Post. Biles’ withdrawal from the competition was a result of her needing to focus on her mental health and subse-
quently prevent herself from getting injured. While the global pandemic has highlighted the importance of mental health, the sports scene is often one that encourages athletes to ‘tough it out’ and focus squarely on physical performance. Even Biles faced harsh criticism from public figures for backing out of the competition, such as Broadcaster Piers Morgan calling her mental health concerns “a joke.” With mental health already so stigmatized, these additional struggles can cause athletic communities to suffer. Peter Disera is a Canadian mountain biker who finished 26th during the Tokyo Olympics. At the 2019 UCI World Champi-
onships, he finished 5th in the relay. What’s more, he is a 2018 graduate from the University of Guelph. Although he doesn’t identify as ever chronically struggling with mental health, Disera told The Ontarion that athletic cyclists — especially women — are more likely to suffer from eating disorders due to the balance between power and weight. He remarks having a friend and teammate who was very underweight but was fortunately able to achieve a healthier weight after listening to doctors, although “his relationship with food will always be tainted with the [idea] that food and fueling makes you slower.” Cycling has the added men-
tal health benefit of spending lots of time outdoors, but Disera states that “cycling and other weight based sports do provide an enablement and intensifies [eating disorders and illnesses].” In cycling, this is partly due to lighter individuals being able to go uphill faster.
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Some cyclists, such as Disera, will ‘lean out’ — or get their body fat percentage as low as possible — before a race. The safe way to do this is under the direction and watchful eye of a registered dietician and nutritionist, however, some athletes will continue or intensify the practice outside the recommendations. This is when eating disorders can emerge. These illnesses are as prevalent in other sports as they are in cycling. Former U of G athlete Samantha Beattie recalls running next to teammates who had fractured bones, anorexia, or bulimia while practicing for track and field. She even ran through colds, anemia, and allergic reactions herself.
