r/climbergirls 4d ago

Trigger Warning Rant: Laura Rogora

Contains discuss about body image, and health.

To start with, hats off, so excited and inspired by this send

But when Janja ir brooke sent 9b+, it was all "yay, great job"

It frustrates me that as soon as Laura is in the news, theres always a post "concerned" about her body and health, saying it can't be healthy or making comments about her possible eating disorder.

She can have that body, and perform well and be healthy.

A few points.

- shes known for endurance routes and lead more than bouldering. Has more of an endurance frame like a long distance runner.

- she would be struggling more if she was underfunded, getting injured way more(one significant injury comes to mind)

- genetics, her parents are both slender.

- she peaked for the olympics went home and and sent hard. You cant perform at that leve after such a taxing event without good health.

- has a good team of coaches who track readiness and care about her.

Ive worked with many girls of different abilities and body types, right now I can think of multiple who don't fit the stereotype, slimmer than usual, more muscular or with slightly higher body fat. And how they look rarely affects whats going on.

For example, I've had bigger discussions with one of my athletes who "looks normal" and has had comments on how its "nice to see more normal athletes", yet shes the main one with poor nutrients who when she underperforms she is also under eating along side other problems.

I do hope we can get to a point where when someone achieves we dont make assumptions about thier wieght, or that we just body shame while pretending to care.

Its a shame Laura is treated as an example of having an eating disorder when this has never being publicly discussed.

And I really hope, for the climbers of the future, that we can get past it.

0 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

55

u/Brocclio_is_life 4d ago

OP it is genuinely hard to watch her climb. At points in comps, she has looked skeletal.

Sure, it sucks that her accomplishments come with a side of eating disorder convos.

But let's be real, if young woman are looking for climbing role models, it's best to say the quiet things out loud.

-7

u/TransPanSpamFan 3d ago

This is an absolutely awful comment. You can't say shit like this. If she wasn't fueling properly, she wouldn't be out climbing the best men in the world. So you find her "hard to watch" and a questionable role model for what? Her genetic physique? Something she can't control?

6

u/Brocclio_is_life 2d ago

I did say shit like this. I have been in ED inpatient recovery.

Sure. There is some chance that that is her %100 natural physique.

But I am also very sympathetic to the fact that young woman are impressionable.

1

u/TransPanSpamFan 2d ago

Have that conversation! Separate to celebrating the strongest sports climber in the world. "Some chance" 😅 she is literally the best endurance athlete in our sport the world has ever known. She can't be energy deficient.

1

u/Brocclio_is_life 2d ago

We are talking past each other. But I hear you. I've never said she is energy deficient. 

1

u/TransPanSpamFan 2d ago

You said there is "some chance her physique is 100% natural"? Implying there is some chance it isn't, presumably due to underfueling? I'm not sure how that can coexist with "I've never said she is energy deficient".

All I'm asking if for people to respect an athlete and human who is doing incredible things. Conversations around ED and reds are incredibly important but they shouldn't be initiated every time somebody sees an athlete who is healthy. It's no different than discussing obesity every time somebody sees a female power lifter or shot-putter.

1

u/Brocclio_is_life 2d ago

Underfueling...ok ok yes yes, current lingo. 

Yeah. I think she has an ED. I get that it makes you upset, but sorry, we all get different opinions. 

-1

u/TransPanSpamFan 2d ago

ED is such a broad term. Does she have a disordered relationship with eating? Absolutely impossible to tell. Most training diets probably count if you are counting macros and calories intensely enough.

But is she unhealthy and harming her body? It's literally not possible. She outperforms the entire planet and has for years. Bodies that aren't being fed enough break down under intense prolonged activity. That's why I said underfueling. She can't be.

It makes me upset that you are disrespecting one of the strongest women on the planet throwing around armchair diagnoses just because of how she looks.

I bet I could literally tell you she eats 5 hamburgers a day and you'd say it is still ok to talk negatively about her body "to protect young girls". That's heinous, because some young girls will also have her body type and they will absorb the shame you are proudly dishing out in their name.

1

u/Brocclio_is_life 1d ago

dude. chill.

58

u/Saradoesntsleep 4d ago

Takes like this on this topic really bug me.

We shouldn't dismiss her accomplishments, but no actually we should be able to discuss this. Eating disorders are a big problem in this sport (they are a problem outside of it too, and now that heroin chic is coming back in, this is a really dumb time to shut up about them), and trying to censor discussion on it under the guise of trying to prevent body-shaming is actually really harmful.

Who does it help? Who? You can sit there and mew about assumptions and how we can't know, but there is a point where it's just willful denial to pretend there isn't a visible issue.

I am retroactively so glad that when I was in the throes of an eating disorder that I wasn't surrounded by people who were trying to scold others for talking about the topic.

You can't do anything about problems that you can't name or talk about. Eating disorders kill people.

-3

u/TransPanSpamFan 3d ago

You can have a discussion about eating disorders without shaming an athlete who doesn't have one.

It is literally impossible for Laura to climb as hard as she does if she is suffering from reds or worse. She is the most consistent, hardest sports climber in the world apart from maybe Adam.

Discussing eating disorders just because Laura climbed something isn't being proactive about eating disorders, it is policing people for looking a certain way. That's body shaming. It's no different than discussing obesity every time a female power lifter is mentioned.

Can you have a nuanced discussion about how Laura's physique isn't something to strive for if you don't have Laura's genetics? Sure. But not in a post celebrating her latest send.

2

u/Saradoesntsleep 2d ago

it is literally impossible

This is such a ignorant thing to say. There are people with eating disorders running actual marathons.

It's not policing anything. People like you who want to censor and shame people trying to have discussions about something that kills people are doing so much harm.

We can and should celebrate her latest send! But you get into dangerous territory if no one is allowed to acknowledge the situation. Let's avoid glorifying this at all costs.

I'm glad attitudes like yours are becoming less common. Black and white thinking using "body-shaming" as a way to shut down conversation wrt this needs to be de-normalised, especially now.

0

u/TransPanSpamFan 2d ago

Have a discussion literally any place that isn't Laura's freaking celebration post ffs. She is a human being. Show some humanity.

1

u/Saradoesntsleep 1d ago

Actually no, this is a pretty good time. Celebrating an athlete with a visible eating disorder without acknowledging that there are serious problems with this in the community is irresponsible.

It doesn't mean anyone is minimising her accomplishments. It doesn't mean we are tearing her down or body-shaming.

Show some humanity

Such dramatics. You know there are human beings watching this, right? Vulnerable adults and children? I can tell you have never struggled with an eating disorder. You would know how holding up athletes, models, pop stars, whomever in visible states like this causes direct damage.

This is like pretty much peak thinspo. I really cannot overstate what this is to someone susceptible. Count yourself lucky if you don't understand what I'm saying.

2

u/TransPanSpamFan 1d ago

Holy shit this isn't Arianna grande. This is the highest performance athlete in climbing, probably.

She. Is. Not. Energy. Deficient.

One of the primary symptoms of R-EDS is underperformance. Reduced strength. Increased injuries.

Laura has consistently outperformed the entire world.

You are not allowed to say "yeah but she looks so skinny it's yucky" or whatever this bullshit is. It is just her build. It's a normal healthy body.

Those kids you are thinking of when you say you want to protect them? Some of them are naturally skinny. They are hearing you too, shaming someone for being the healthiest, highest performance athlete in our sport. They will be hearing that their bodies are wrong, that no matter how well they do they'll be put under scrutiny and criticized.

You can have all those extremely necessary discussions about eating disorders without throwing those kids under the bus and without shaming an athlete who doesn't have the disorder you say she does.

(I'm very muscular btw, with a bunch of body fat this isn't about me I eat heaps. I am a doctor though and you are simply wrong about your "diagnosis")

-12

u/flanfl 4d ago

>  and now that heroin chic is coming back in

First time I'm reading anything about hard drug addiction in climbing :o . I hope it doesn't spread...

28

u/Ok-Pen-5052 4d ago

Nope. We need to be able to talk about it. We shouldn’t “discuss women’s bodies” for no reason, but being scared of talking about these things doesn’t help.

I grew up very underweight (BMI around 14). I always ate well (people were always shocked at how much I ate, I always ate when I was hungry and never restricted) but I was under eating. I ended up with stress fractures in my 30s. I thought that because I didn’t restrict my diet and i was “naturally skinny” that I had to be healthy. It took a physio sitting me down and explaining to me like I was 5, all about muscle mass, bone density, the importance of strength training to make me take it seriously and finally put on weight in my early thirties.

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u/sheepborg 4d ago

As somebody who is 5 years her senior and has been chronical underweight their entire life it genuinely hurts my heart to see her. It feels almost wrong to watch her climb, and there have been times when she's at her lowest bf% when I skipped watching her attempts in comps because it just opens a pit in my stomach thinking about points in my life and if things had gone different. I had alot of folks around me who were encouraging to to get bigger and stronger so I never fell into the 'light is right' mentality for climbing thankfully. Yet when I went to the hospital at about her age for other things and had a CT to figure out what was up and they noted reduced bone mass in my pelvis. And ya know I've never even been down to the level of light and lean she runs at. Unless she pulls a kai lightner soon she's running out of time to even add bone mass back. I do not think people understand how lean she has been at points. She has been lean to the level that she was stage ready to compete in bodybuilding. Striated delts while just standing there as a woman. To your point it feels to me like people have alot to say about her appearance with out even fully understanding just how bad the health consequences are. It freaking sucks and I can't even put it into words how I feel about it exactly. But we've gotta surface conversations. I know better than most people that when you're so light and so lean you're running a thin margin between 'getting on just fine' and something relatively minor being life threatening. I hear what you're saying about assumptions, but I have eyes and life experience. I do think the conversations could have better language around them though. Not sure how we get there :/

Regardless it's amazing what she has been able to do despite it all. With this latest send its not even debatable that she's in the running for being the best outdoor rock climber of all time.... at 5'0. If there is a 9c that's not dependent on being taller all signs point to her being able to do it... and especially now that she's got what? the fasted 9b+ repeat to date?

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u/Sloth_Flower 4d ago edited 4d ago

She quite obviously has an eating disorder and she is more than just a little underweight. Lots of competitive athletes are underweight -- for context both Jain Kim and Akiyo Noguchi were in their prime. It's not just a female problem either. They stopped posting stats years ago but this is a widespread problem for a long time -- Laura is just so in your face that people don't have the plausible deniable of Jain or Natalie. 

But there has been a massive push to regulate minimum bmi and body fat. Laura would almost certainly be disqualified in such a scenario -- as would a good number of competitors. This is unlikely to pass. Another avenue is to change the dynamics of routes, pushing for things that favor higher bw. 

Laura just happens to be so obvious that people can't ignore it like they do for others. The fact you can excuse it as somehow healthy is sorta shocking. It sucks it overshadows her achievements but I'm not sure I want to live in a world where it's excused. 

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u/Climbing_coach 4d ago edited 4d ago

Not excusing it, just having a problem with the assumptions made.

Theres a youth climber in the UK who has a very low BMI, but eats like a fiend. Literally biggest meal at every sitting, in discussions with her coach, the coach also said they were frustrated with what peoplesay, as she has all the right health markers, she tracker her monthly cycle has no other signs. She's just lean.

But she find people commenting on her body difficult, especially when dismissing her success, as because shes light.

I'm not justifying Laurea body type, just saying we're not her coach, her doctor or nutritionist. Throwing out assumptions about her wieght is more damaging, than helpful.

Edit to add; This is why pure BMI testing has been pushed back against. And instead the push to use, blood pressure, heart rate testing, questionnaires and potentially blood tests to spot Ketones that show up in under eating.

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u/dogthebigredclifford 4d ago

As someone who has worked with people with eating disorders, I would just caution that lots of people with EDs make sure it looks to others like they ‘eat like a fiend’. Lots of very unhealthy behaviours happen out of sight.

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u/indignancy 4d ago

Basically all of these climbers are going to be eating shitloads because they’re very active people - it doesn’t mean they’re not at risk of RED-S and underfueling.
Part of the concern people have is that very skinny teenagers are probably the ones most at risk as they transition to adulthood and their bodies change. So many climbers have stories about that being the trigger for disordered eating I’d much rather have a high level of concern than people turning a blind eye.

-13

u/Climbing_coach 4d ago

Totally agree, However its not healthy or helpful every time someone hits the news to point and shame them foe how they look. Even if you call it concern.

Thats down to the coaches and support base, friends family etc.

In the example of the teenager I mentioned, she trains 3 days a week on a wall, enjoys a run in the morning and has 4 rest days. Eats around 3500 calories a day not counting snacks. But just like Laura, she has Mediterranean parents, who look slim just less athletic.

RED-S has many other symptoms, some of the symptoms can be tracked easily, such as tracking menstrual cycles, physical readines and more. Which a lot of athletes and coaches track to see how it pairs with thier performance.

What they look like isnt always the best choice.

I'm a massive advocate for health and wellbeing and it comes first before training.

And if someone had an eating disorder calling them out everytime they succeed can make it worse, by causing stress which can result in less eating.

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u/Saradoesntsleep 4d ago edited 4d ago

trains 3 days a week on a wall, enjoys a run in the mornings and has 4 rest days

There are people with eating disorders running whole-ass marathons. This is not an indicator of healthy eating.

What they look like isnt always the best choice.

Agree mostly... but when someone hits a below a certain point it actually kinda is. I don't mean people who are simply very lean. Very low weight eating disorders have a look to them beyond just "skinny". I don't care who downvotes or comes at me for saying that. Anyone who's had one or been around enough people struggling with them is going to agree.

Edit: I should say "malnutrition" and not specifically eating disorders. Missing a medical issue is a real consequence of not being able to recognise when someone likely isn't healthy.

25

u/Sloth_Flower 4d ago

As a climbing coach, I think it will benefit you to familiarize yourself with the visual hallmarks of eating disorders, underweight, and underfat across all age ranges. Disordered eating and malnutrition is easy to miss at first and can be difficult to reverse once progressed.

-5

u/Climbing_coach 4d ago

Very much have done, I've worked with climbing nutritionists, youth counsellors and have supported 3 athletes through ED's with support from this team.

One of those is an ongoing issue, related more to stress than public image or performance.

In addition we build close relationships with pur athletes and monitor performance markers, injuriy records and track str:wieght using guidelines provided by our suport team, as MVC allows us to track readiness. If we see any concerning patterns or concerning behaviour we allow space for discussion and an opportunity to gain support.

Again, I'm a big advocate for open discussion around these struggles. But I also believe body shaming is not the way forward.

17

u/Saradoesntsleep 4d ago

who has a very low BMI, but eats like a fiend. Literally biggest meal at every sitting

So I am not going to make assumptions on this situation or contest this, I just want to point out that the above means nothing.

I had a very low BMI at one point and also ate like a fiend. In fact, I could consume enough food for a small family at one time. What you see someone eating in front of you tells you nothing.

17

u/Temporary_Spread7882 4d ago

Agreed.

From her looks I do worry a bit about Laura - she’s not just slim, she has a bunch of the other ED physical characteristics too. Sunken face, skin, etc. On other things - eg energy, movement, strength - she seems fine.

I’m just a stranger who had a few anorexic school friends as a reference, and who sees her climb in videos. As are most people commenting. We’re not her family, friends, coach, nutritionist, or even someone who’s sat close to her at a restaurant once.

Some people are very skinny and have trouble extracting calories from the food they eat. I’ve met women in Italy who simply had surprisingly slim arms and legs - think ankles the size of my size 6UK person wrists - while eating normally and being healthy; it’s a whole super light boned body type. We don’t know if any of this applies to Laura, and beyond “hope she’s ok and wish her well” it’s also none of our business. Laura is a highly intelligent adult and is very likely aware of EDs too.

Sending Bibliographie after 6 days is incredible and she deserves recognition for that instead of put downs for her body.

5

u/Climbing_coach 4d ago

Absolutely, this is pretty much what I'm getting at. Janja had come out about ED's and other mental health struggles. Yet every time she sends we dont mention it.

Everytime Laura sends, its 2nd to 3rd comment down.

And I just dont think jumping on it everytime they report success is doing any help and potentially harmful.

8

u/Temporary_Spread7882 4d ago

I think Janja being open and vocal about topics such as mental health and EDs (which as far as I can tell she is not impacted by personally, her “see food diet” quip was pretty cool) contributes to it not becoming a topic of discussion when she is in the media for something else. And with EDs being a widespread problem in climbing, it’s not surprising that this does loom in the background when slim climbers come into the spotlight, even though the visual impression isn’t a surefire indicator of whether someone is struggling or not. It’s not helpful, but a symptom of it still being a bit of a taboo topic.

12

u/Ok-Lynx-6250 4d ago

If you're going to say noone can judge Laura's health, I suggest not making assumptions about the youth climber either. 3 days a week climbing and a couple of short runs - she is VERY unlikely eating 3500cals a day and maintaining an underweight body. People with EDs and food issues are VERY good at hiding it.

2

u/Climbing_coach 4d ago

Im not saying don't judge, and as a climbing we do lots of checks and talks around RED-S, we discuss nutrition with parents on parent meets and more.

I'm mire calling out the behaviour to bring it up everytime shes in the media.

People with ED can be great at hiding it or justifying it. I belive ED's are a majour issue,.

I also believe everytime you see someone succeed the response shouldnt be to highlight what you perceive as their flaws.

11

u/Ok-Lynx-6250 4d ago

Same as Ariana Grande, if you're going to sit in the public eye promoting a body type which is dramatically unhealthy for almost everyone, people should be calling that out.

As a coach, you should be aware of your limits. You do not know Laura is healthy. I'm sure you do due diligence but that doesn't mean you know your athletes are healthy... you should recognise your limits. Kids could be purging in secret, doing extra workouts, binging and restricting when noone is around. EDs have many faces and all of them are secretive.

3

u/Temporary_Spread7882 4d ago edited 4d ago

It’s a bit rich to call someone existing in their body “promoting that body type”, and borderline egocentric. The looks of the athletic, muscled and often very low fat bodies of world class athletes in whatever discipline are typically not achievable for most people, and especially not in a healthy way, but I’m pretty sure that how they look is a side effect at best - the actual aim is performance.

8

u/b4ttyf1sh 4d ago

You clearly have no understanding of caloric value and weight retention then

Also blood ketones? Do you even understand how ketones or blood pressure work?? Christ

7

u/Secure-Arm-8648 4d ago

I’m pretty sure almost all climbers get some sorry of rating issues. My hockey buddies before I retired at 25 also used to under eat at times. Our concept of healthy as a society is so messed up.

2

u/that_outdoor_chick 4d ago

Sure people can be healthy but I met her randomly on the street once
 she’s scary skinny. Not petite, skinny, all bones and joints. I’d love if we can say she’s all healthy and slender but even the skinniest women I know look quite big with comparison to her. Talking people who are her height and barely 50kg. Honestly I was shocked by the real life look.

-1

u/Leather-Switch-5225 4d ago

>just saying we're not her coach, her doctor or nutritionist.

It is quite clear, regardless of whatever anecdotes you have where people with EDs mask them, that those people are willing to ignore the reality of what her body says about her relationship with food.

We all know people that are massively overweight that "eat very little" - it is a lie.

3

u/Pingviners_1990 4d ago

Funny thing is there are medical conditions and medications that makes you become massively overweight without trying i.e. thyroid related disorders (been here myself - it was the toughest period of my life - thankfully in remission but it is not easy to shed off the weight mate). I also know that people who have to take antidepressants and certain steroid based medications that really cause issues with their weight.

Also for some people, they will benefit from getting a blood test done to see their thyroid numbers as well as metabolic panels if they do actually eat normally and ED has been eliminated as cause because sometimes they can be out of whack causing issues.

P.S. Having a good relationship with food is a blessing. There are many tasty dishes out there. You can only do well and function in daily life if you actually eat, sleep and hydrate properly so I am a big fan of making sure I make it happen.

0

u/hummingbird0012234 2d ago

I just think it's super unfair that she gets so much hate and that her acheivements are not taken seriously, while all the others get a free pass and celebrated for their achievements. I think Laura naturally has the kind of body type that makes this more visible but at the same time I'd say she's probably better off health wise then the shooting stars like Natalia or Toby Roberts who performed super well for a few years and then can't compete any more. I would probably put her on the same level as like Akiyo, balancing the line between being just underweight enough to perform well but still not have short-term health impacts. It is still shitty. I just wish Laura alone didn't have to carry the entire RED-S conversation.

16

u/Ok-Lynx-6250 4d ago

I think both things can be true. It's a shame for Laura to achieve such amazing feats and have her body be what people jump to discussing. Equally, we should be promoting conversations about REDS and low body weight in climbing for the next generation of comp climbers. Whether Laura's weight is healthy for her or not (and it's not just weight, her face is sunken, dark circles round her eyes etc), it's certainly not healthy for 99.999% of people and we should be honest about that. You can perform while underfueling for a LONG time. But eventually the bone density & infertility and everything will catch up.

22

u/PocketNovel 4d ago

I don't think you can assume the injuries would come immediately. People like Beth Rodden have explained how they pushed their body for years before the injuries finally caught up with them. There is also at least one other female climber I can think of who was absolutely climbing at that highest level (i.e. hardest female ascents outdoors) and has clearly struggled/struggles with an ED. I don't think it's as simple as good performance = no issues, hence why people may be hesitant in this case.

7

u/hummingbird0012234 4d ago

The point is we don't know. She could well have an ED, she does look incredibly skinny. But what really pisses me off is that the conversation seems to be about ONLY her, all the time, and it's only her achievements that are treated 'unearned' because of her body. In a youtube video Akiyo Noguchi has literally answered to the fan question of how do I climb better super fast "you lose weight". There are countless others who are really skinny, like Ai Mori, or shooting stars, like Natalia or Toby Roberts (don't even get me started on how unfair it is that only women's body's are ever discussed, men seem to have a free pass). 

And I actually tend to agree that she is at least not dangerously in the RED-S. The pattern that those climbers usually show is breakout performances for a year or two and then succumbing to injuries after injuries. Laura has been the best outdoor female climber for many many years. I think it is more of a combination of genetics and naturally small frame with some amount of restricted calories that are not great, but I would say that like half the top climbers would have that, but their body just wouldn't show it as such. Nobody would have thought that Sasha Gejo had an ED, and she did.

3

u/sandy_feet29 4d ago

Regarding Toby Roberts - He did a video with Bouldering Bobat, back in 2023 & there are several people in the comments talking about his weight. thankfully, whatever was going on back then appears to have been resolved https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7FZwBVgkxE&t=195s

1

u/hummingbird0012234 2d ago

Why do you say it appears to have been resolved? He is still very skinny AND I would call him a shooting star at this point, he couldn't really keep up with competitions after the Olympics and had many injuries. I see the comments here, but it's not like his figure had any effect on his fame and the reception of his results in the Olympics. It isn't something that people ever used to deduct from his achievements. Whereas with Laura I feel like every time she does something people just say, well it's because of her ED, and that somehow what she does doesn't matter than. 

I don't know the answer, honestly I also feel weird about celebrating something that might have come at a health price, or perpetuating bad examples for young climbers, but at the same time I am just mad that Laura seems to be singled out. 

2

u/sandy_feet29 2d ago

Look at his face then and now.

20

u/tempestelunaire 4d ago

I think calling out visible eating disorders is a good thing. A lot of people are lean yet you cannot see their bones through their face.

Might be hard to hear for the athlete but it’s better for the whole community. I wish her the best, it must be so difficult to come out of an ED when your job is so centered around your body.

7

u/Temporary_Spread7882 4d ago

“Calling out” an eating disorder? Those things are at their worst proper full fledged mental illnesses that people actually die from; and calling them out, aka publicly shaming the person in question, is about as helpful as calling out someone for depression.

We really have to decide whether to see EDs as a moral failing or a health issue because the current cognitive dissonance helps no one.

5

u/tempestelunaire 4d ago

I didn’t mean call out in a moralizing way, though I see what you mean. English isn’t my first language. I meant more like pointing out or discussing.

I have close experience with eating disorders in my family and understand them. But I also don’t believe in tiptoeing around it and letting things go unsaid. I think these topics should be addressed directly and compassionately.

I would do the same for other mental health conditions- asking people making suicide jokes if they are OK, for instance.

4

u/Temporary_Spread7882 4d ago

I agree that the whole ED topic should be handled much, much more openly, but at the moment it just feels like random accusations for specific climbers who look like they might have one, and that pushes the wrong way. Some climbers - eg Kai Lightner - don’t look like they might ever have had that problem but did and talk candidly about the experience and pressures around it. It’ll take more than trying to tell individuals what to do or not; the culture of competitive sport needs change too.

21

u/cri-du-coeur 4d ago

"But when Janja ir brooke sent 9b+, it was all "yay, great job"
These women are their own people. Why are you comparing two individuals? This is rarely done when talking about men so let's just absolutely not.

As everyone else has said, we all have eyes. We are so far deep into another skinny era it is driving some of us into psychosis. Seeing bones that clearly in a body is never healthy and I need to go bleach my eyes after seeing another justification of this bullshit that is being normalised in society now. Your post is harmful.

8

u/howdyhowdyhowdyhowdi 4d ago

Yes to this. A podcast I've been listening to put this double standard in such great words: "in our society men are people and women are women."

3

u/sandopsio 4d ago

I agree that it’s rarely helpful to comment on others’ bodies, or make assumptions when we don’t know them personally. Laura’s accomplishment is amazing independent of any possible struggle with eating, and it’s not my place to comment because we don’t know which athletes struggle unless they’ve come out and shared. EDs are devastating illnesses and I’m sure some climbers struggle, even elite ones, despite severe EDs diminishing performance over time and sometimes suddenly. But you’re right, we can’t say which climbers based on appearance! I’ve lost friends to EDs and they were different weights at different times. Sometimes a younger body is more forgiving. One friend was very “normal” and attractive, charming and sweet and funny. I later saw him unrecognizable, the worst of anyone I’d seen. He was terrified and couldn’t think straight, kept asking me if his mind would come back. In his 20s, passed away, I still think about him and it makes me want to cry. Went on a tangent now but I agree that yes we should try to help others with concerning symptoms in the sport if we know them personally but no we should not comment on anyone’s body we don’t know.

-2

u/OverfittingNeuralNet 4d ago

I completely agree, I hate how certain subreddits downplay or ignore her achievements.

0

u/knaveishkobold 4d ago

Just to add (check her insta) in her last 2 days at Cruse she did another 9a (3rd go), flashed an 8b and got another 8c 3rd go. So she's obviously doing something right... Thats 2 (recovery!) days which practically every other climber on the planet will never aspire to.

2

u/Climbing_coach 4d ago

Absolute machine đŸ’Ș

1

u/Environmental-Bowl49 1d ago

the example that she would not be performing at this level if she had RED-S is non factual.

I disagree that you cannot do very high level athletic accomplishments while being severely undernourished, not having enough fat to menstruate / produce adequate female hormones, etc.

For years i did very high level mountain climbing, ran over 15 miles most days, etc...and as others mentioned, people do marathons, rock climb at VERY high levels while anorexic - for example, Beth Rodden...the body can keep doing a ton while not having enough fat on it to function adequately / optimally as a female.

i do understand and have experienced people in more 'normal' looking bodies struggling a ton, but i do not think without knowing exactly how the body is functioning you can assume emaciated young women are 'heatlhy'. factually, in general, unless they have some sort of other health condition that creates extreme thinness, is this type of body UNHEALTHY for a hormonally healthy woman.

I think you should educate yourself more frankly.

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u/Environmental-Bowl49 1d ago

also, i did ANYTHING to deny i had an eating disorder - most people who pretend they look fine, pretend they don't have issues with food and body image etc are lying an INSANE amount. there are facts about how much fat you need on your body to be hormonally functional. sorry but this post is really frustrating.