Elite women athletes called 'fat' by senior UK Athletics officials

[FairPhyllis]

The Telegraph is reporting that the heptathletes Jessica Ennis and Louise Hazel have been criticised by senior people within UK Athletics for being fat. This comes the day after former world junior triathlon champion Hollie Avil announced her retirement following an eating disorder. FFS! How hard and utterly depressing must it be to be a woman athlete if your own governing body snipes about you to your coach?

I also see that the BOA is trying to get athletes at the Olympics to sign a good behaviour contract - perhaps officials at UK Athletics should be forced to sign an agreement that they won't spend the build-up to a massively important championship maliciously attacking their own women athletes and disrupting their preparation?

[lardylump]

I'd swap bodies with her! She is a fantastic healthy role model, and she should be proud of her accomplishments through hard work and dedication.

Ignore them Jessica, we think you are great!

[Longtalljosie]

I"ve long thought the weird body weight attitude we've had in this country cloaks itself in a "health" message but actually is more about straightforward body fascism - and a desire for women to be as skeletal as possible. Because there's a far greater spectrum of healthy weights than the fashion media / general public on their comments boards will allow.

I'm surprised and disappointed it's even raised its head in a sphere which should be all about fitness, rather than physical appearance. The full quote was "she?s fat and she?s got too much weight" so the Telegraph didn't misquote, the Independent just ran the last bit of the quote. Presumably because grammatically it doesn't make much sense - but we all get the idea...

[SamuelWestsMistress]

Well I'd love to be as "fat" as her!

[mollymole]

It is fortunate that Jess is such a strong character and Toni (her coach) will not take any shit. Whilst I appreciate that the idiot at UKA does see Jess I think that the majority of the public, who only see athletes on TV, would be amazed at how tiny a lot of them are when seen in real life.

[fretfree]

Jessica Ennis has my dream physique!! I'm seriously thinking about putting a small picture of her up on the fridge for when I start my get-back-to-fitness campaign after my LO arrives (if he actually bothers. 40+6 and getting very frustrated).

She looks healthy, toned and there is no way you could compete at that level if you weren't doing something right! Good article in the telegraph from annabelle croft commenting on how outrageous the pressure is (and was also for her as a tennis player)

[HeathRobinson]

Fat?! What planet are those officials on?

[HmmThinkingAboutIt]

UK Athletics need their eyes testing and their mouths sealing with cellotape after they have removed their size tens from it.

How do that comment help anyone? It doesn't help the general public and it doesn't help Jessica.

I think UK Athletics have brain malfunctions.

[HipHopOpotomus]

The unnamed official from UK Athletics who made this comment should:

A be named & shamed; and
B Fired.

It's beyond disgraceful behaviour - it's idiotic, damaging & shameful.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Agree - disgraceful comment.

Go Jess!

[ivykaty44]

The unnamed official from UK Athletics who made this comment should:

needs to become famous

[EightiesChick]

Let's see the 'unnamed official' made to run the 800m and do the other events alongside Jessica (with crowds allowed in to point and laugh). Then we'll soon see who looks like they're 'carrying too much weight'.

[Ormiriathomimus]

I wish I was 'fat' like that.

Ridiculous. I'd love to know the justification for that comment.

[nikita1987]

Jessica Enis fat? That's probably the most ridiculous statement I've read this month.

[Eliza22]

Jessica Ennis is a top, world class athlete. She is not a fashion model (and man of THEM admit, years later to eating disorders). This was a ridiculous and potentially damaging remark to make and there's nothing funny, nothing to "laugh off" about it.

Many years ago, I trained in classical ballet. It gave me a body which was slender and muscular and strong. I was 5 ft 6in and weighed at my best performance weight, 7 stone to 7 and a half stones. When told by a tutor, that I might lose a few pounds in order to optimise my "look", I went down to 6st 10lbs. Made myself I'll. Didn't have the physical strength to walk about never mind do class, rehearse and perform. I ended up in hospital, rather ill.

Athletes today have very careful physical monitoring. Trainers/physio/nutritionists. That's for a reason, to keep them in peak performance and well, psychologically as well as to achieve in their field.

Clearly the writer was clueless.

[Eliza22]

Sorry, the person who made the comment.....was clueless!

[geegee888]

As a teenager track runner, I found that athletics coaches thought female runners should be tall, thin (and preferably blond). If you're not that shape, they tend towards disinterested/derogatory, no matter your results. Going abroad to race and train was a revelation.

Jessica Ennis cannot be overweight if her six pack is so visble. She is a power athlete, not a 10000m runner or marathon runner, and if she lost any weight she would most likely lose muscle mass and performance, rather than make any gains. Her pb for 800m is 2:07 which is extremely fast from someone training for 7 other events and impossible for someone overweight.

Pointless comments. My guess would be that they came from an old fashioned distance running coach.

[theboutiquemummy]

Well ahah to Jess Ennis she has just set a new World record ! Fat i dont think so ! positive image for healthly young women Tick Go Girl

[MarysBeard]

5'4" and 9 stone - blimey, I was that weight and height at 14, and wasn't muscly but neither was I fat. It's bang in the middle of the healthy range. If she lost weight she could also lose power - a heptathlete has to keep that balance between power & speed. Also if they are too light & weak they could get injured more easily - as many underweight athletes do, constantly. I'd say she looks smaller & lighter than most other heptathletes.

Let the results speak for themselves anyway, Jess.

[piprabbit]

I really think that the person who made these remarks should have the courage to justify them in public. Of course, if they are unjustifiable then the person concerned may wish to reconsider their position with UKA as they obviously don't have a fucking clue.

[SardineQueen]

So basically some bloke has said he doesn't fancy her. That's what it boils down to isn't it. Nothing to do with how good at she is at her sport, he has had a look and decided she would please him more if she was thinner.

What a wanker.

[Flimflammery]

The 'unnamed official' should be made to appear in public wearing skimpy shorts and no shirt, pose for photos, and grovel.

[mumeuro]

Well I can tell you from personal experience that there are men involved in British Athletics with highly questionable attitudes towards women in general, so this kind of statement is kind of par for the course, unfortuately...

[geegee888]

mumeuro: Well I can tell you from personal experience that there are men involved in British Athletics with highly questionable attitudes towards women in general, so this kind of statement is kind of par for the course, unfortuately...

Absolutely. Unfortunately for the good coaches, there is an element of men attracted into coaching young female athletes who are good for no-one.

Another heptathlete, Louise Hazell, lost her UKA funding last year despite winning Commonwealth Gold for the year of assessment (it was reinstated on appeal). Double standards as there are many male athletes supported year after year who never win any kind of medal...in fact the real problem that needs addressed in UK athletes is the decreasing levels of performance in terms of times and medal winning performances (with a very few exceptions) of male athletes...yet UKA are silent on this.

[EightiesChick]

What is the point of UK Athletics exactly? Do they do anything useful?

[Want2bSupermum]

They both look like athletes to me. I will say that some of the black athletes here in the US are very muscular, much more than these two. I think it is genetic and given that both girls are from the UK and while I can't tell their heritage, I can tell that they are not the same heritage as the black athletes that I see here in the US.

The man who came out with their comments should let the girls show the world what they can do. The last thing they need are distractions and more pressure. FWIW I saw Michael Phelps in RL and I thought he looked podgy but you could tell underneath the podge was a lot of muscle. I guess the fat helps him float!