"Young Athletes Collapse Due to Anorexia" Plea from Climbing's First Gold Medalist [Paris Olympics]

Climbing Tokyo Gold Yan Ya Ganbrett Criticizes Eating Disorders
"Some Players So Thin Like Skeletons Should Not Be Allowed to Compete"

Janja Garnbret (25, Slovenia), an eight-time world champion and the first gold medalist in sport climbing, raised her voice along with fellow athletes about the taboo issue of eating disorders in the climbing community.

Janja Garnbret (25, Slovenia), an eight-time world champion and the inaugural gold medalist in sport climbing, raised her voice alongside fellow athletes about the taboo issue of eating disorders in the climbing community.
[Photo by AP]

On the 5th (Korean time), the US AP News reported that Garnbret and other sport climbing athletes have spoken out about eating disorder issues.

Garnbret reached the pinnacle of the climbing world by winning eight world championship titles and is the greatest female climber in history, having won the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where sport climbing was included as an official event for the first time.

She has begun to bring to light the eating disorders and health problems of athletes, which had long been taboo topics in the climbing community.

Regarding her decision to bring this issue to the surface, Garnbret said, "I decided to speak up after hearing young girls say that losing weight would help them climb faster."

Sport climbing favors lighter athletes. A lighter body weight is an absolute condition for climbing higher and faster, and many athletes have risked eating disorders to lose weight.

Garnbret told AP, "Everyone knew this and talked about it behind closed doors, but no one spoke out. Some athletes look like skeletons and are so thin that they should not be allowed to compete."

She added, "It is good to see that health checks and supervision of athletes are being taken more seriously, but it all means something only when athletes who do not meet health standards are actually prevented from participating in competitions."

The International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC) has started health screenings, including for eating disorders, before competitions for the first time at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

This measure was introduced following the impact of a post Garnbret made on Instagram last year. Previously, Garnbret posted a message saying, "Do we want to raise the next generation as skeletons? Let's not turn a blind eye."

Many sport climbers suffer from Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). RED-S is a condition caused by energy deficiency when highly active athletes do not consume enough calories. It can impair metabolism, bone health, immune system, cardiovascular health, menstrual cycle, mental health, and even athletic performance.

There are sport climbers who have confessed to having eating disorders. Melina Costanza, a member of the US climbing team for the Paris Olympics, had to undergo surgery for a foot fracture caused by a condition suspected to be related to bone density loss.

Costanza admitted, "I believed that to excel, I had to starve myself and ignored the warning signs from my mind and body. I suffered from energy deficiency. Everything was affected, from my sleep cycle to concentration at school."

Veteran Swiss climber Petra Klingler also began to think about weight loss after seeing athletes improve their performance following weight reduction.

In an interview with AP, she said, "I have competed in many competitions over the past few years and have seen many athletes struggle with eating. Even I had an eating disorder at some point. It was unhealthy."

She emphasized, "Food is fuel. That is why we need to talk about all these positive things. Everyone can change the culture of eating disorders in sports, and there needs to be more discussion about eating disorders from youth athlete days."