WAG Ohashi blog on body shaming

[Flicfliclay]

I can tell you from first hand experience, what Ohashi describes is alive and well in NCAA...my daughter and her teammates were treated EXACTLY how Ohashi was....threatened with exclusion from practice, outright excluded from practice, "training tables" where the athletes supposedly ate but not much eating took place when 1 coach stood at one end and another at the other end to "make sure bad choices aren't made"; rampant eating disorders in NCAA, threatening of scholarships because they don't look like the 13 yo pre pubescent level 10 originally recruited.....NCAA takes fat shaming to an art form ,and because no one wants to lose their scholarship or place on the team , they put up with it.

I read her blog and sadly was not surprised in the slightest...

This breaks my heart to know that your daughter went through this recently. I have a young dd that dreams of getting a D1 scholarship, but man under no circumstances could i handle knowing this is the type of treatment she would endure. So much so that you think about getting your daughter away from the sport! Such a disgust!

 

[CuriousCate]

oh my gosh...

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I can tell you from first hand experience, what Ohashi describes is alive and well in NCAA...my daughter and her teammates were treated EXACTLY how Ohashi was....threatened with exclusion from practice, outright excluded from practice, "training tables" where the athletes supposedly ate but not much eating took place when 1 coach stood at one end and another at the other end to "make sure bad choices aren't made"; rampant eating disorders in NCAA, threatening of scholarships because they don't look like the 13 yo pre pubescent level 10 originally recruited.....NCAA takes fat shaming to an art form ,and because no one wants to lose their scholarship or place on the team , they put up with it.

I read her blog and sadly was not surprised in the slightest...

I'm sorry your dd had to go through that. Do you think/know if this is rampant in most D1 schools or is it more prevalent in the top ranked schools? Just wondering if a mid to lower ranked school would also have the same pressures?

 

[notthatmom]

I'm sorry your dd had to go through that. Do you think/know if this is rampant in most D1 schools or is it more prevalent in the top ranked schools? Just wondering if a mid to lower ranked school would also have the same pressures?

I think it's more of a coach-based thing rather than a D1/D2 school based thing...
While body shaming of course is not acceptable in my book, I think basic health and lifestyle choices are important for any athlete (or anyone for that matter) I think down the road, once the sexual-assault guidelines are taken care of and in place, that the safe sport program should also include guidelines on health base aspects of the sport. Something needs to be put in place that addresses safe and healthy ways to promote health, which should be something that all USAG and college gym coaches should be required to follow, which would also have preventative steps to ensure the athletes are not being abused in ways that lead to eating disorders and the like.

 

[coachmolly]

I think it's more of a coach-based thing rather than a D1/D2 school based thing...
While body shaming of course is not acceptable in my book, I think basic health and lifestyle choices are important for any athlete (or anyone for that matter) I think down the road, once the sexual-assault guidelines are taken care of and in place, that the safe sport program should also include guidelines on health base aspects of the sport. Something needs to be put in place that addresses safe and healthy ways to promote health, which should be something that all USAG and college gym coaches should be required to follow, which would also have preventative steps to ensure the athletes are not being abused in ways that lead to eating disorders and the like.

I get where you're coming from with this, but unfortunately there are coaches out there that make these kinds of comments/statements and qualify them by saying it's for the athletes health. Negative comments about a child's food choices disguised as guidance to make healthier choices, telling an athlete certain foods are bad, suggesting an injured athlete could have prevented the injury by being a few pounds lighter. A coach figure can disguise all kinds of negative and hurtful things as "promoting healthy habits." I've seen it done. So it's best to leave that stuff up to the qualified professionals, and while some coaches do happen to have credentials in both departments, most do not. I work with a young man who took a few nutrition classes at a community college and feels he is qualified to make concrete statements about healthy eating for the sake of "health" (fortunately never to the athletes, though I do watch him like a hawk). And no matter how well trained you are, you don't know an individual athlete's circumstances. Leave it to the parents and medical professionals. Though as seen here, sometimes parents are part of the problem.
Not sure I would entrust USAG with knowing how to broach that topic either, they published an article on healthy eating for child athletes in a recent issue of Technique magazine from a licensed nutritionist that was absolutely absurd.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

What coachmolly said.

JMO the USAG should not be involved in the nutrition business, beyond perhaps directing athletes to their own (as in athletes) MDs and nutrition specialists.

 

[bookworm]

I totally agree with you coachmolly....there's no "best interests of the athletes health" in any of these behaviors or statements....it's pure BS and plain and simple body shaming. And Ohashi , even in her Jr Elite heyday was never "heavy" by anyone's stretch of the imagination, including Valeri's. And think of it, Nastia was painfully thin until she "retired" and ate a sandwich or 2...so I'm guessing the philosophy was promoted at home as well. It amazes me that Ohashi has turned out so normal and able to compete NCAA after all her years with the dragons of GAGE and WOGA. I'm guessing that although she had doubts about the behaviors and statements back then, she put up with it because she was on top...and if her parents weren't even in her corner, then where was she to turn? Kudos to Katelyn for surviving it all and she looks fabulous in NCAA

 

[ayyyrial]

I'm not familiar with this website so I had a question about whether it was authentically written by those athletes, but I checked out their Twitter and it looks like Katelyn and Maria both mention the Behind the Madness things on their official Twitter accounts. So seems like it's legit. A little off-topic but I'm glad they're both taking the time to reflect and write and contextualize their experiences in and out of the gym. They're good writers!

On-topic, I'm 0% surprised. Puberty usually makes gymnastics harder for women. Coaches and athletes try to fight it, sometimes parents too. You know, plus all the discomfort and pressure about their bodies that young women have to deal with outside of the sport. I know I achieved my personal bests in the gym, especially on bars, when I was unhealthily restricting my diet to keep my weight low.

And I think people have the perception that when an athlete gets to the point of unhealthy, excessive restriction it will damage their performance in the gym. That's just not always true. There are many athletes who are very successful under those conditions, at least for a while. I'm sure those of us who were watching Ohashi from 2010-2013 didn't think she was going through that.

 

[CoachAlex]

I was fortunate enough to train at gyms that were NOT like this - I encountered way more teammates with eating disorders/food issues in college than in club (and it was not at all encouraged by our coach - unfortunately it was more teammate-to-teammate influence).

The gym I coach at now is also not weight focused - but that doesn't mean that they aren't exposed to body image differences at school, etc - we have been lucky that we have not had to real with it yet, but as the girls I coach get older, I do worry about it.

The thing all athletes and parents and coaches need to remember is that food = fuel, and yes it should be healthy, but healthy doesn't mean lettuce and water.

As awful as it is to read about her experience, unfortunately, I'm not at all surprised. It's not right but there is a darker side to high level/elite/college/professional sports - what you see on tv, or in the media is the finished product. The road to get to the top is not pretty, and at times it is downright brutal - there is a reason that the percentages of people who play collegiate sports is smaller than those who play high school sports and the percentage of athletes who end up going pro or to the Olympics, etc. is so small.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

A gymnasts career is very short compared to their expected life span. So yes, it may help short term, wonky eating. But the long term effects are just not worth it. Said as a parent in her upper 50s .

Eating disorders of any kind, while in the moment may provide physical benefits, are on,y detrimental long term, physically, mentally and emotionally. How detrimental is a question of degrees.

Watching a relative struggle with a long term disorder. She is in her early forties, she seemsfinally ready to meet the challenges to overcome it. And while I don't say it out loud, the damage to her heart may kill her anyway.

 

[notthatmom]

I get where you're coming from with this, but unfortunately there are coaches out there that make these kinds of comments/statements and qualify them by saying it's for the athletes health. Negative comments about a child's food choices disguised as guidance to make healthier choices, telling an athlete certain foods are bad, suggesting an injured athlete could have prevented the injury by being a few pounds lighter. A coach figure can disguise all kinds of negative and hurtful things as "promoting healthy habits." I've seen it done. So it's best to leave that stuff up to the qualified professionals, and while some coaches do happen to have credentials in both departments, most do not. I work with a young man who took a few nutrition classes at a community college and feels he is qualified to make concrete statements about healthy eating for the sake of "health" (fortunately never to the athletes, though I do watch him like a hawk). And no matter how well trained you are, you don't know an individual athlete's circumstances. Leave it to the parents and medical professionals. Though as seen here, sometimes parents are part of the problem.
Not sure I would entrust USAG with knowing how to broach that topic either, they published an article on healthy eating for child athletes in a recent issue of Technique magazine from a licensed nutritionist that was absolutely absurd.

I absolutely agree with you. In that case then, gyms should be completely restricted from talking to athletes at all about food, health, and weight. Which is probably impossible to monitor/manage, but a gal can dream...

 

[bookworm]

This blog by Ohashi is exactly why I was concerned when Valeri was named NTC....there have been rumblings for years that WOGA treated it's gymnasts exactly like Katelyn described...and he's now head of the National Team, hmmmm. He says he's changed in his "approach" (ah, is that what you call it) but I'm not thoroughly convinced. I think the Simones, Alys, and Lauries who aren't rail thin and ARE successful have helped change the climate to a degree but the jury is still out on the NTC....let's hope he's as changed as he says and 10 years down the road we don't have to read another heartbreaking blog by another body shamed gymnast....

 

[azara]

Very sadly, I'm not at all surprised. Ohashi is not the only elite/NCAA gymnast who has, or has had, an eating disorder. A sport in which children and teens spend most of their waking hours having their bodies and "lines" scrutinised by adults, and which naturally favours thinner, lighter athletes, is bound to have such problems. That must be acknowledged. What absolutely disgusts me is the combination of people which basically encouraged Kaitlyn's behaviour: her parents, Valeri, his wife, probably others at the gym, too. In no world should a 13 year old be writing about measuring her thighs with her hands, sneaking around the house finding food hidden by her own parents. I contrast that with my own, joyful, childhood, and tears come to my eyes...

This happened only five or six years ago, and now Valeri is NTC. I'm so over USAG. Their culture is poison. They need to burn themselves to the ground and reform, immediately. I don't care about the medals, or the results, or the prestige - in fact, those actively harm reevaluation. They've been hiding behind good results to justify all of their dodgy practices, and resist change. The same goes for NCAA: the ends appear to justify any means. I thought when all the Nassar stuff came out, and the Thompson scandal for NCAA, that maybe this would be end of it (although that was by far bad enough), but it looks like the scandals are just unearthing more and more disgusting, putrid laundry. Even a few days after this episode, Kathy Klages has been hired by Twistars, and Geddert is being sued by his own insurance company for not firing Nassar, or something along those lines.

Hasn't enough harm been done to American girls? What more do they need to suffer, for serious change to occur?

 

[bookworm]

1. This breaks my heart to know that your daughter went through this recently.
2. I have a young dd that dreams of getting a D1 scholarship, but man under no circumstances could i handle knowing this is the type of treatment she would endure. So much so that you think about getting your daughter away from the sport! Such a disgust!

Point 1: yes , as recent as in the last 5 years so that is why I say that the behavior is still alive and well in NCAA. And she wasn't the only one of her friends that this happened to...most of her friends ( if not all)who did NCAA experienced it to some degree...and it ranged from kids competing up and down the rankings.. she had friends on top 5-10 teams to middle of the pack teams and even Ivy league teams and all had some form of body shaming all 4 years. Some times it wasn't outright , "you're fat" but things like:
* the coaches not buying leotards bigger than adult small and telling girls to "deal with it and fit into them or don't compete" ;
* not giving girls their school gear "to keep" until they "looked like a body the university would be proud to have in our gear" ( they would have the girls wear the school shirts/tanks/shorts etc for a photo shoot where everyone is smiling for the camera at "getting their gear" , only to have it taken back when the photographer left...)
* buying the gear in smaller sizes than the gymnasts they recruit and telling the team "sorry, Nike/Under Armour/ Adidas etc doesn't make these in larger sizes"....sorry, but they do if you order them in larger than Adult XS and Adult small.
* weighing them before practice and posting the weights on the locker room wall for all to see.

Point 2: We had no idea that this could happen either as we really hadn't experienced this in club. We had one coach for about a 2 year time period that could get a little bit edgy on the weight/food issue but to their credit, the HC at that gym shut him down and told him to knock it off. Otherwise, my girls did well in their sport with the bodies they have and no shaming (or bullying because that's what it really is) until NCAA...and boy was that an eye opener. It was a hellacious 4 years from a parent point of view as I dreaded any contact my daughter had with those coaches because they were just awful people. I literally was counting the days until her last meet from sophomore year on down...it was awful. When we did recruiting , round 2 with my younger daughter, I ruled out many a school and the ones we went to I flat out asked for a list of former parents I could speak with about their program....no list given; not interested in your team.
I'm happy to report that my daughter did survive her 4 years but my heart breaks even writing that because that's not how I envision one's college experience...it shouldn't be that you "survive" horrible people ; it should be a great time in your life. She did enjoy her school but it seriously could have been a much better experience....

 

[Flicfliclay]

Point 1: yes , as recent as in the last 5 years so that is why I say that the behavior is still alive and well in NCAA. And she wasn't the only one of her friends that this happened to...most of her friends ( if not all)who did NCAA experienced it to some degree...and it ranged from kids competing up and down the rankings.. she had friends on top 5-10 teams to middle of the pack teams and even Ivy league teams and all had some form of body shaming all 4 years. Some times it wasn't outright , "you're fat" but things like:
* the coaches not buying leotards bigger than adult small and telling girls to "deal with it and fit into them or don't compete" ;
* not giving girls their school gear "to keep" until they "looked like a body the university would be proud to have in our gear" ( they would have the girls wear the school shirts/tanks/shorts etc for a photo shoot where everyone is smiling for the camera at "getting their gear" , only to have it taken back when the photographer left...)
* buying the gear in smaller sizes than the gymnasts they recruit and telling the team "sorry, Nike/Under Armour/ Adidas etc doesn't make these in larger sizes"....sorry, but they do if you order them in larger than Adult XS and Adult small.
* weighing them before practice and posting the weights on the locker room wall for all to see.

Point 2: We had no idea that this could happen either as we really hadn't experienced this in club. We had one coach for about a 2 year time period that could get a little bit edgy on the weight/food issue but to their credit, the HC at that gym shut him down and told him to knock it off. Otherwise, my girls did well in their sport with the bodies they have and no shaming (or bullying because that's what it really is) until NCAA...and boy was that an eye opener. It was a hellacious 4 years from a parent point of view as I dreaded any contact my daughter had with those coaches because they were just awful people. I literally was counting the days until her last meet from sophomore year on down...it was awful. When we did recruiting , round 2 with my younger daughter, I ruled out many a school and the ones we went to I flat out asked for a list of former parents I could speak with about their program....no list given; not interested in your team.
I'm happy to report that my daughter did survive her 4 years but my heart breaks even writing that because that's not how I envision one's college experience...it shouldn't be that you "survive" horrible people ; it should be a great time in your life. She did enjoy her school but it seriously could have been a much better experience....

I don't even have words to reply I am so disheartened. What I can say is that I am so happy that you continue to belong to chalkbucket to help inform us parents experiencing this for the first time. And I hope you continue to help educate us on the cold hard facts. Thank you

 

[cyclopsmom]

* the coaches not buying leotards bigger than adult small and telling girls to "deal with it and fit into them or don't compete"
* buying the gear in smaller sizes than the gymnasts they recruit and telling the team "sorry, Nike/Under Armour/ Adidas etc doesn't make these in larger sizes"....sorry, but they do if you order them in larger than Adult XS and Adult small.
....

Holy Crap! My just turned 12-year old seventh grader is starting to wear adult small GK and UA leos now! And she has almost no signs of development.

 

[Jard.the.gymnast]

* the coaches not buying leotards bigger than adult small and telling girls to "deal with it and fit into them or don't compete" ;

This would make me feel even worse than plain out telling me I'm fat. Size is not all about waist size. I wear AM/AL, because I am too tall for AS. Then it would feel like they would put me up against my own nature of being a tall gymnast... I am not the only one who thinks like this, right?

 

[notthatmom]

Was reminded of this post and body shaming today...my younger DD was getting her haircut and I was sitting next to this man who's son was getting his haircut...we started chatting randomly and got on the topic of kids, and he said something like "yeah having a kid will make you gain weight" (mind you, he knew I was there with my child!). I just said "oh, ok" and started looking at my phone. Maybe he felt ok saying that because I'm small, I weigh like 112 pounds...but what in the world? I know he didn't mean anything by it, but what a weird thing to say to a stranger!

 

[bookworm]

This would make me feel even worse than plain out telling me I'm fat. Size is not all about waist size. I wear AM/AL, because I am too tall for AS. Then it would feel like they would put me up against my own nature of being a tall gymnast... I am not the only one who thinks like this, right?

No you are not...because you are a normal human being.

 

[Ms.Pak-Man]

Point 1: yes , as recent as in the last 5 years so that is why I say that the behavior is still alive and well in NCAA. And she wasn't the only one of her friends that this happened to...most of her friends ( if not all)who did NCAA experienced it to some degree...and it ranged from kids competing up and down the rankings.. she had friends on top 5-10 teams to middle of the pack teams and even Ivy league teams and all had some form of body shaming all 4 years. Some times it wasn't outright , "you're fat" but things like:
* the coaches not buying leotards bigger than adult small and telling girls to "deal with it and fit into them or don't compete" ;
* not giving girls their school gear "to keep" until they "looked like a body the university would be proud to have in our gear" ( they would have the girls wear the school shirts/tanks/shorts etc for a photo shoot where everyone is smiling for the camera at "getting their gear" , only to have it taken back when the photographer left...)
* buying the gear in smaller sizes than the gymnasts they recruit and telling the team "sorry, Nike/Under Armour/ Adidas etc doesn't make these in larger sizes"....sorry, but they do if you order them in larger than Adult XS and Adult small.
* weighing them before practice and posting the weights on the locker room wall for all to see.

Point 2: We had no idea that this could happen either as we really hadn't experienced this in club. We had one coach for about a 2 year time period that could get a little bit edgy on the weight/food issue but to their credit, the HC at that gym shut him down and told him to knock it off. Otherwise, my girls did well in their sport with the bodies they have and no shaming (or bullying because that's what it really is) until NCAA...and boy was that an eye opener. It was a hellacious 4 years from a parent point of view as I dreaded any contact my daughter had with those coaches because they were just awful people. I literally was counting the days until her last meet from sophomore year on down...it was awful. When we did recruiting , round 2 with my younger daughter, I ruled out many a school and the ones we went to I flat out asked for a list of former parents I could speak with about their program....no list given; not interested in your team.
I'm happy to report that my daughter did survive her 4 years but my heart breaks even writing that because that's not how I envision one's college experience...it shouldn't be that you "survive" horrible people ; it should be a great time in your life. She did enjoy her school but it seriously could have been a much better experience....

This is why I discourage my DDs from college gym. I'd rather them not feel they are property of a university during this time in their lives. Luckily there are some really great club programs available in our area with reasonable in-state tuition to boot. Now if it happens that dd was one day offered a scholarship and is hell bent on it, then we'll cross that bridge later. But I kinda laugh when the level 4 parents are so excited about their 9 year olds college plans for a D1 school. "Really, that's my worst nightmare!"