There are definitely issues with respect to expectations.
Rather than focusing on trying to change society (which is needed but a bigger, long term ask) my mind goes to each individual athlete and the need for them to have the right team around them to properly manage training, nutrition and the mental challenges of competing and being a public figure in an aesthetic sport. If you're surrounded by the right people who can help install the right perspective and habits that are safe and healthy, you can block out that noise most effectively and just do your thing.
I'm hoping we can soon move out of the dark ages of believing that weight management has a bigger role than it does in skating well. It's a piece of the puzzle but shouldn't be exclusively relied upon. There's an awesome video out there somewhere on Meite and the 2014 games that breaks down the science on the factors the influence performance as a singles skater. Of course you don't want to have any non-productive mass (ie weigh whatever, but make sure you're harnessing that weight to your advantage), but the focus is on so many more science-based tactics to improve your performance.
My feeling is that if we can make use of much better science, we can give athletes so many more tools to succeed so we don't need to focus on what the scale reads on a daily basis.
Rather than focusing on trying to change society (which is needed but a bigger, long term ask) my mind goes to each individual athlete and the need for them to have the right team around them to properly manage training, nutrition and the mental challenges of competing and being a public figure in an aesthetic sport. If you're surrounded by the right people who can help install the right perspective and habits that are safe and healthy, you can block out that noise most effectively and just do your thing.
I'm hoping we can soon move out of the dark ages of believing that weight management has a bigger role than it does in skating well. It's a piece of the puzzle but shouldn't be exclusively relied upon. There's an awesome video out there somewhere on Meite and the 2014 games that breaks down the science on the factors the influence performance as a singles skater. Of course you don't want to have any non-productive mass (ie weigh whatever, but make sure you're harnessing that weight to your advantage), but the focus is on so many more science-based tactics to improve your performance.
My feeling is that if we can make use of much better science, we can give athletes so many more tools to succeed so we don't need to focus on what the scale reads on a daily basis.
